Nic1

Hi, yes you can go to the mall alone in the car with your driver - you sit in the back seat. You can walk round the malls alone with no problems. I think some familes do have husband to drive and wife to clean - but I guess you get better value with one person who does the whole lot (thikn I've been here too long . . .) LOL

I know a couple of British couples who live off compound and they have no security worries as far as I know. One of them speaks fluent Arabic which helps with the neighbours, the others don't.

I would imagine (but not 100% sure) that you are probably safer off compound than on as it's the compounds that have been targetted in recent years.

A friend of mine lives off Suttein (sp?) Street and walks the area at night with no worries of personal safety.

Hope this helps
Any other questions, just ask
Cheers
N

jia

Thanks you so much Nic1, i am relieved that there are other people that do live off compund so i guess we should be fine.
i would like to ask you few more questions as you are fimiliar with the city, how much will it cost us to furnish a 3 bed villa,
i asked the shipping agent and they said it will cost US $6200 to ship our stuff to riyadh,
The company is giving my husband 25000 riyals for furnishing but as we rented a new villa it only has split A/C, rest of the appliances and the furnishing we have to buy ourselves.i need to know how much aprox a fridge,stove,washer ,dryer, vaccum cleaner, television LCD 46", plus furniture for 2 bedroom including nice wardrobe, living room and dining room will cost,
I cant find anything on the internet so cant guess about the prices, we have to make a decission of whether to bring our stuff or to buy it from their.
I am so sorry to ask you so many questions, but i really appreciate all ur help.

Nic1

Hi, sorry I don't really have an idea abou furniture costs as our villa was furnished and we shipped stuff with us. But there are loads of furniture shops around - might not be to your taste - and there is a large Ikea too.

If you get shippng costs paid by the company and a furniture allowance it might be worth shipping some of your stff and buying other stuff (such as white goods which don't always travel well) here. Depending on the time it takes for your cntainer to arrive you could be camping out for a while - but that just adds to the experience!

Cheers
Nicola