The fact that other ideals apply in other countries could not be overlooked on the plane from Dubai to Baku. The botoxed lips of some female passengers were remarkable – the aesthetic ideal is called “Russian Lips” (examples can be found here 😀) … and became less common once we left the airport.
Entering Abu Dhabi, everything was dressed up: the superlative shining Sheikh Zayed Mosque (90000T white Macedonian marble, largest hand-knotted carpet, largest marble mosaic and third largest chandelier (11T) in the world), the shopping mall in front and the crowds of tourists in shorts or miniskirts. After two weeks on the dusty road, these were unfamiliar views.
Within a few minutes we packed the bags on the bike and left the hotel in Abha. After several one-way streets and U-turns in the opposite direction, we thought we had lost the escort😊.
After a relaxing “vacation week” at KAUST, we found it difficult to get back into everyday life in Saudi Arabia. We had hardly started our journey to Jeddah when we were stopped by the police. According to them, it was much too dangerous and not allowed to ride a bicycle on the highway.
Already for three weeks we are doing what would have been unthinkable ten years ago: We are traveling by bike through Saudi Arabia. It was only in 2013 that women were allowed (at that time only in recreational areas, accompanied by a male and in compliance with the dress code, i.e. with abaya and veil) to ride a bike. Since 2018, women have been allowed to drive cars, dress codes have been lifted, and tourists can enter Saudi Arabia eVisa. All these measures are part of Vision 2030, with which the crown prince wants to reduce the country’s dependence on oil.
