weasel central

Having been here for a bit now I was wondering if there are a few things to do about here that I have overlooked so far. Filling in time off has become a bit of a chore, so aside from going to Malls so far I have gone these places..[complete with rating ]

The edge of the world ..cliffs on the outer reaches of riyadh where the plateau ends and drops down to the desert below. A solid 7/10 for a bit of an off road jaunt then some pretty decent views of the cliffs.

Hidden Valley does what it says on the tin. One for the terminally bored I think 3/10. Only gets a 3/10 because I am sure there is worse out there but I havent experienced it yet.

DQ embassy nights..getting drunk with your work colleagues and various liggers on. First night 8/10 on a sliding scale thereafter as the faces and stories remain the same each subsequent time...

Old Riyadh lots of mud huts and old (relatively) palace bits. Whats so different to modern Riyadh I hear you ask? Well they couldnt quite stack them as high back then ..interesting nonetheless 6/10.

Batha Market on a thursday night, the hustle and bustle and smells of Riyadhs very own little calcutta/manila. Surgically attach your wallet before going there, although outdoor this one is not for the claustraphobic..you'll know what I mean if you go. The philipino end has a few decent and fairly authentic asian restaurants worth the food posioning risk. 7/10 worth it for the experience.

Reem racetrack way out of town, has a carting track, motocross track and proper (smallish) race track. Always seems empty but you can sometimes get free passenger rides in the racetracks own cars. 8/10 worth it for the spin.

western compounds with bars (no names under pain of death) worthwhile way to spend a relaxed evening with a few (home)brews and the ubiquitous sid. Getting on the list and the security can be a pain but a good one a month jaunt, if you are not living there already. for atmosphere think all enclusive spanish sun holiday feel. 7/10

Kingdom tower restaurant on the 77th floor, reasonable food high prices. Better to go for just an afternoon tea. Skywalk on the 99th well worth a look for the 25 riyals, see the vastness of the city. 7/10

Various hotels and restaurants places where a single man can entertain a single lady, hmm well they do exist. 9/10 depending on the company


I am sure there must be some more...so add away below please

flares

was pleasantly surprised by Dirab Golf Course - 9/10 for golfers, less for non-golfers I guess

summer in comparison to the gulf coast 10/10 - no humidity life can go on

typical

I prefer the Faisaliah Tower restaurants to the Kingdom Tower ones. Better food, lower prices.

The carting track is great fun if you can get a group to rent it out with.

Victor Meldrew

To the Op, I think you have summed up most of things which are available quite well.

The compound I lived on with most of the other staff I worked with, we used to have impromptu 'drop in' sessions - movie, pizza, home brew - which were fairly low key but socially, probablly the most enjoyable part of living there for me.

There are other embassies to try and get in to (particularly the US embassy).

In addition the MoD compounds are good.

There was a compound which used to do quiz nights, but I can't remember the name (was about 6 years ago when I was there).

But yes mainly:
Shopping
Desert
Embassy do's
compound bars

The three years I spent there (Riyadh) were 3 of the best years I have had.

Shawlands

Good list, thanks -im sure this will fill my weekends until back home in November.

as im sick of seeing the same people at work and after, anybody looking to join me for the edge of the world or the Reem racetrack?

maximuss

so anything else to do there too

Victor Meldrew

Not really.
weekend away/drive to Bahrain? Scuba diving in Jeddah?

lionheart

Why doesn't that surprise me, you grumpy old man.

arthurdaily

Wow, I have lived a sheltered life here and only experienced a trip to the Lovely Bartha. After surviving that, it's just work / sleeep and reverse the same in my non compound apartment.....Groundhog Day

There are only so many movies and mall runs that one can take
What with the Holsten Apple and Orange Juice, I'm living the dream !!!

Someone help me to break the cycle please......and no, going home is not an option for my mortgage at this time.

Arthur

NaimTakieddin

Ok, this topic is old enough but out of my experince in Riyadh I can say * in such a conservative closed saharian environment where Black and white colors reflects the mentalities of all inhabitants the best thing to entertain your self with is : Watching TV ...

Shawlands

^ load of shite.

weasel central

hmm seems you cant edit the original post .. anyhow to futher add.

some sports:

Riyadh Rugby Club based in Salwa compound on the thumamah road.

Riyadh Gaelic Football based in the British school.

As someone who is now about to leave Riyadh I can say i was lucky enough to work with a lot of ex-pats and get dragged into their social circle but I understand how easy it is to settle into a rut here and just basically exist to work.

norsk

That's not just a problem in Saudi mate. It happens all over the world..

So where are you going next?

weasel central

yeah true but its very easy to slip into here, too easy. anyhow further to my begging in the jobs thread it seems my skills are somewhat required at the moment. so in the next week or so i think i shall be having my final exit visa from here.

i wont say where for now so not to jinx myself but yes still in the middle east. all to be revealed in 10 days or so

norsk

you're right of course, and i think the main difference is that in saudi you feel like you don't really have a choice whereas in the real world people are too lazy to get out and do stuff and prefer to sit at home surfing t'internet and watching tv...

sounds good. good luck with the escape! looking forward to hearing your next destination..