Since, I didn't want to go with my driver to the big city, I decided to go the old fashion way... the big ol' bus.
It takes about 3 hours to drive from my village to Riyadh, with a bus it takes about 4 hours. So, by the time I got to Riyadh, I was ready to go to bed.
However, the big buildings, the busy traffic and the buzz of the human noise, I was pumped to get out there and pain the city red with my village colours.
When I arrived at the bus depot, I soon yelled for a taxi to take me to the big city. After a serious amount of misunderstandings of where I needed to be, eventually the little Arabic that I have made all the difference and we all agreed I needed to be in Olaya Sulumaniyah.
I totally digged the Saudi taxi driver, he was fast and EFFICIENT!! Never thought I would use that word in this country "Efficiency!!" and drove that taxi like he was riding his dear horse for life.
We made it to the Sulaminiyah Hotel, which is the "best hotel" for drive by shopping and over night stays for us village people.
If you are a foreigner and happen to be a woman, if you need to get a room that is not too shabby and want to stay in Riyadh, then I would suggest this hotel. They ask no questions, they only take your iqama, make you sign some papers and give you a room key. Fabulous!
However, when I got to the Sulamniyah, they didn't have any room available. However the one guy pointed me at another hotel that was near by. I went there, and that is when all the problems started.
Me: Do you have a room available for one night?
Front desk: Yes. What is your nationality?
Me: South African
Front desk: A room for you and your husband?
Me: No, just me. I am not married.
Front desk: You are not married?
Me: No? Problem?
Front desk: Yes. Madam we can't let you book a room, because you are single.
Me: What?
Front desk: So sorry man. But please leave your name and number and I will ask my boss if he can make an exception
Me: Great
By this point I was directed to another hotel.
Me: I heard you have rooms available
Front desk 2: Yes.
Me: Let's get straight to it. Single room for a single woman
Front desk 2: Single room available, but not for a single woman
Me: Only married women right?
Front desk 2: Only married women. There is another hotel ma'am just down the street please ask them.
By this time, I was so defeated and in such a hurry that I just decided to go back to the Sulimaniyah hotel.
The one gentleman told me to wait at the waiting room. So, that is when my brilliant mind sparked with some ideas. Thank God for technology. I went online ,searching for hotels with numbers and addresses that took in single women. Soon, I called Tulip Inn that also allow single foreign women to reserve a room. I was amazed by their services.
However by the time I was ready to leave the Sulamniyah hotel, the bell boy told me a room just got available and they will prepare it for me. So, you can only imagine the relief that I had by this time.
Luckily, I didn't cry or feel any kind of depression from this, because I refuse to be put in a box just because I am not married.
Eventually I got myself together and hit the road to the malls of life. I really enjoy Olaya Mall, Sahara Mall, Riyadh Gallery and the Faisalilah Mall. However my favourite mall is Riyadh Gallery. Why? Well, their shops are really neat, well organised and it is a big mall, but not so big that you can't cover it all.
I happened to enjoy NEXT store. They sell the most amazing summer tops, sandals and handbags. I bought a lovely scarf from them that is nice to wrap around the neck.
I was desperately looking for a new abaya that I can wear inside and outside of Saudi. I know that I can't wear my penguin suit abaya in Turkey let alone in South Africa...people will think "she comes from the middle ages". So, penguin suit abaya will have to stay in Saudi. You might think that an abaya is just a black cloth and there is nothing to do. Well, women have made something into it...a lot. It is crucial to find a nice abaya. There are so many beautiful designs, patterns and decorations to choose from. Some are sparkly and bl inky and some are beautiful Arabic and African embroidered. There is a store that has them all. TWAILA. It is a beautiful and elegant shop that has the nicest abayas you can imagine. There were some abayas that were marked down to 150 SAR, and some that were more sophisticated that were priced at 350SAR. The owner of the store, he can even cut and restitch the abaya to suit your body. How nice is that. So, I walked away with a beautiful and modest abaya that I can wear in Saudi and outside of Saudi.
I am not a make-up girl, so I skipped Sephira and Max stores. However, I did see that they had most of their make-up on sale. I went in there once just to get some eye liner. They have the gorgeous Christian Dior eye- mascara and eye liner that actually have some serum that can make your eye lashed grow thicker and longer. They have all kinds of funky fashionable eye make up and lip wear. I am not that adventurous with make-up....so if you do go to these stores...knock yourself out.
Eventually I made my way to MANGO. I am a MANGO fanatic!! I mean! I love MANGO. My best winter coat I got from MANGO. So to my surprise, I got into Mango and bought myself a pair of gorgeous skinny denims hat were only 150SAR... I know very cheap. I skimmed about and found gorgeous JTI tops that came in all colours and were only 35SAR. The nice thing about Mango is that they have sizes that are inbetween...you know... if you are not exactly a size 10 but you are a 9, they have those sizes available.
Finally, I couldn't resist myself from this store called MILANO. The last time I was in Riyadh Gallery I bought myself, gorgeous Italian makes shoes from this store. This time I was looking for comfortable pumps. I couldn't find nice pumps, or lets say, they didn't have them in the plain colours I wanted. However, my eyes fell on a lovely bag!! I needed a big bag that can can accommodate my hectic life in it. I am a big bag girl . Any bag that can take in my laptop and my files, I am happy to buy it. I also stopped by some store called LYNE'S. They specialise in shoes and bags. They also have those crop shoes...those beautiful flats that come in nice bright colours. However, my eyes fell on the beautiful beige pumps that had floral designs inside. Bingo! My shopping was done!
Starbucks in Olaya area, the family sections there sucks. It is literally an open area. So, what is the point of a family section if everyone is going to see everyone. It should be called a "women section". Literally I couldn't take my niqab off, because some man was also chilling there........""dude..... just go outside."" I'm the kind of girl that takes full advantage of the family section. It is an area where women can take this niqab off and therefore it should have those enclosed tables with the swing doors. Olaya Starbucks have nothing, just an open area....so some next man can see your face. Epic fail! They need to re-design that Starbucks.
However, I was really happy with Riyadh this time. It really kept me busy the whole day and night. It was nice enjoying a nice evening with friends and talking about girl things. What I love about Riyadh is that the women there are so free. You see girls as young as 16 years old chilling in Starbucks together at ungodly hours and then sharing drivers to go home. So, with all these rules, ladies can still enjoy themselves.
I headed back to my hotel room and had a good nights rest. The next day I had to wake up at 7 just to catch my bus so that I can come back to my village. It was nice to be back in the village. A long the way I saw some Bedouin tents and camels and it was a nice feeling coming home.....scary......getting used to the village life.
So, Riyadh is super nice for that one weekend dose of madness, shopping, rushing, smells of different restaurants and people.
Yala Riyadh. *
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