nathanielrichard1604

What can anyone tell me about social networks and activities in Kohbar, KSA? My wife will be joining me here soon and I want to establish some social connections. Its awful not having a social network one can link into over weekends.

sicklyman

well a lot depends on your own status. Are you in a compound yourself or living outside one? If so, your compound should have stuff going on which is usually posted on a noticeboard somewhere.

Do you have friends who work for Saudi Aramco (aka A******* - why the heck does this forum flag A r a m c o n s as a rude word?? There's some irony in that methinks!) or BAE Systems? If so, they can sign you in so you can get involved in some stuff on those compounds. Be aware that they both have draconian security restrictions e.g. neither officially let guests stay overnight and BAE has an 11pm curfew for guests to leave which is usually when things just get interesting there unfortunately.

Often though, particularly during winter months, there's stuff going on outside compounds e.g. in the desert which you can join in with (camping, dune bashing). Saudi Aramco has a daily email going out about events/stuff for sale/etc. You could get yourself on that mailing list.

Outside working communities, I attended a few get togethers and social outings through the Couchsurfing group in Khobar. Women attended these too. Sign up at couchsurfing.org to find the group.

Desert Designs (on Dammam/Khobar highway on the left heading towards Corniche near GMC/Chevrolet showroom) is a great Arabian art shop which has an art gallery and cafe upstairs. They have events connected with art e.g. artist workshops etc and attending these would give your wife some connections.

You need to work a bit harder in SA than in other countries I've lived in to build a social network that is fulfilling. But I did find that it was very much worth the effort. I've heard that once women are in the network, they can very easily find themselves with plenty to get involved in.

nathanielrichard1604

Thanks for this advice sicklyman. I will follow up on some of these pointers!

What about sport - is there any walking/jogging club or squash club here? I know the only golf course is inside Saudi Aramco - I guess one has to be invited to play there?

Regards

Richard

nathanielrichard1604

Oh, forgot to add - I live outside. I work in retail and they simply don't pay enough to warrant living in a compound. I understand that these can be very costly eating up 1/3 or more of ones pay.

DubInRiyadh

You are in Khobar so look a little further east and will will find a little island called Bahrain where all things are available. But seriously, people worry too much about what they can do here. What do you normally do at home on a Monday night...maybe sitting on the sofa eating a curry watching Coronation Street....well you can do that here too !
'Dune bashing' ? as if

sicklyman

If someone signs you into the Aramco compound, you aren't officially allowed to use the facilities there so don't hold out any hope of golfing there.

I went dune bashing at some huge dunes near Shedgum a couple of times with a group from Aramco that do it regularly. It was fantastic. We took quad bikes, motorbikes and Land Cruisers and spent the whole day out there eating round a campfire in a canyon at night. Gorgeous.

So yeah dune bashing...