AboutLauren Gilkey Expertise I can answer questions pertaining to local culture and daily living for Westerners (expats) and what they do for vacation within Saudi. I am limited to questions about the Western Coast, since I never visited the Eastern part of the country. I have knowledge about Yanbu, Jeddah, Medinah, and Abhah. I can also answer general questions about what it was like to live there, etc.
Experience I lived in Yanbu for 4 years and did some travelling in the country.
Expert: Lauren Gilkey Date: 3/9/2004 Subject: Travel and Laws
Question Lauren,
I am interested in finding out unfamiliar laws that a traveler from the United States might encounter in Saudi Arabia. In other words, are there restrictions - cultural and legal - that a U.S. traveler might not expect while traveling in S.A.? I assume that country has certain laws that differ from ours. Can you e-mail me a description of these restrictions? Thank you very much.
Answer Dear Win,
Well, some of the laws may be quite shocking when you travel to Saudi. Where do I begin?
1. Women may not at any time or anywhere drive any sort of vehicle. In two cities they are allowed to ride bikes.
2. Dress. Shorts are allowed nowhere in public for either sex. Children may wear them up to about age 10, then pants are recommended. Women should not wear any tight clothing. Shirts that go to the elbow and down to the butt are highly recommended... I cannot stress "loose fitting" enough. A man's shirt would probably be best. Pants should go down to the ankle - no cropped pants. Again, they should be loose fitting. For men, pants and a regular t-shirt are fine.
3. Prayer times. In Saudi Arabia, Muslims pray 5 times a day. Sunrise, mid-morning, lunch, mid-afternoon, and sunset. At each of these times, every commercial and recreational center closes. This means that everyone in the shops must exit and the shop will be closed for 15-30 minutes. Even in a "public pool" (women or men only, of course) all swimmers must exit the pool the entire time during the prayer.
4. Alcohol, drugs, and pork are strictly prohibited and illegal. I think cigarrettes are as well, but don't take my word on that - I could be very wrong.
5. Any other faith than Islam is strictly prohibited. No wearing of crosses or any other religious symbol will be tolerated.
6. The Matawuh (religious police) will chase you and click your heels with their wooden sticks if they find you in violation of any of the above... This doesn't happen very often, but it is advised not to provoke them.
7. Weekends are Thursday and Friday, with Friday being the holy day. Saturday and Sunday are regular days of the week.
8. Culturally, anything "western" is looked down upon - even though McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, etc. have found their way into the culture.
9. Public beaches mean that you can go and look at the water. To get in, you'll need a westerner to show you a hidden path across the desert to an "undercover" beach. Its recommmened to have a four wheel drive (my family did fine with out one, even though we did have some scares...) for the drive across the sand. The coast card does patrol these beaches and they love to stare at the women in swimsuits - I would suggest wearing very modest swimsuits.
10. While driving in small towns, stoplights may not mean very much. In large towns, the white stripes that indicate lanes are only viewed as a recommendation. In Jeddah, we have been on a "4 lane" road that was being used as a 6-7 lane road.
These are all that I can think of, at the moment. If I think of any more, I'll let you know. Are you really going to Saudi? You'll love it - its not nearly as oppressive as it may seem in this email. I love that country deep in my heart and I'm aching to go back.
