cherrick

Crew,
My short-term assignment to Riyadh brings me on a business visa (no Iqama) for June, July and probably part of August. I understand I'll be staying at the Four Points Sheraton with a long weekend out-of-country every 30 days (Hi Istanbul! Hi Dubai? Hi Delhi, India?).

Yes, the hotest time of the year. And Ramadan.

Please help me set my expectations and preparations. Should I stock-pile bottled water? Do they really turn off all the taps? In the Sheraton? What do I need to know?

alfrombarking

Allahu Yaa Alaam

cherrick

On the other hand, I did find this:
http://www.virtualmosque.com/islam-s...-by-amatullah/

Interesting. Google Translate has no success with this. I can only imagine that it translates to "good luck". YMMV.

Millhouse

In the hotel it is fine. Room service during the day, breakfast in the back room, and dinner as normal.

Outside the hotel... forget it. But you won't be working past 3pm so it doesn't matter.

I did once get a cup of tea during Ramadan at Riyadh airport (international departures).

I love Ramadan. Really looking forward to it this year.

super_hans

Don't we all, personally I get off the roads by 5pm and hunker down in the compound for the duration. Usually get a few iftar invites, might venture out if it's the Hilton or similar but otherwise survive on meals from the compound restaurant and food from the compound shop and patiently wait for it end.

Irishbeekeeper

^^ what he said. If you will be out and about in a car then yes keep a few bottles about you, just remember to be discreet about drinking it if in public i.e. make sure no one is around
Weekend trip I would have preferred 'Hello Istanbul' as Dubai would be as hot as saudi and as dry as well. I havent been to Istanbul but I would assume it would be a bit better weather wise and maybe a little 'wetter'?!?

Meow

There are no legal restrictions in eating and drinking during Ramadan in Turkey. Discretion is appreciated but not expected.

Gobobo

Also smoking isn't allowed, if memory serves me correctly. I did a stint during Ramadan back in 2008, a hotel would only provide food if I hid in the back of the restaurant and consumed off premises, although in my private room.

Gordon Barlow

Oh, for the good old days! I backpacked with a girl companion through much of the Middle East, a hundred years or so ago. (But not the Emirates, which were out of bounds back then.) We didn't even know what Ramadan was, and had no problem eating and drinking in public. Ignorance was bliss, I guess. We only discovered the existence of the fasting requirement when we were invited to eat with a bunch of shepherds in Jordan (which then included much of what had been Palestine), and they asked us to be sure to arrive back at their camp before the sun went down. I'm sorry to say we didn't quite make it - and the poor hosts couldn't start until we were sitting down with them. Sad to say, I am more embarrassed today, remembering, than I was then.