Here are a few pictures from the camel farm. As you can see, they were right up close and personal. Liability lawyers in the US would not approve. The gentleman is the owner – he knows every camel and all the details about them. I would too if I had that much invested. He had camels worth $5-$8 million dollars each.
I also put a few more pictures of the Gara Palace and Ib Rashim Pasha in the previous blog. It is beautiful
My hotel room is incredible. A small balcony provides this view of the Red Sea.
I will take some more pictures and show you the place. It is incredible.
Today we began with two stops in Jeddah. That allowed us to see some of the beautiful city. Jeddah is called the “city of art” and every
boulevard has sculpture galore. I think I will just get a big book when I return so I can learn more about their art. The building architecture is also very exciting. And well done. We had lunch in the conch shell restaurant on the right in this picture. As usual, they had arranged for locals to eat with us. Often they are speakers from the morning. Today I ate with a woman who owns a marketing firm. She was WONDERFUL – helped us to understand a bit of what happened on the airplane last night and
told us about the other side of Saudi life- the one you don’t see from the bus. She is standing in the middle. According to her, Jeddah has a more outside influences because everyone comes here from all over the world to do their Haj (the pilgrimage to Mecca required of all Muslims). She rolls up her eyes at some of the oddities of the Saudi culture but loves it very m
uch.Then we went to a private home owned by a Islamic architect and his wife who is an interior designer. They designed and built the house in 8 years. (They volunteered that they could do it for us in 3 years) It was unbelievable. And the picture doesn't do it justice.
Tonight we went to dinner at a seafood restaurant. We all sat on the floor and ate a delicious meal. Interesting arrangement of b
uildings- lots of separate little buildings allow different groups to eat out - for example, women can eat together in a little room and pull the curtains so they can remove their abayas. Same for families. And of course, men can do whatever they wish.
