April 9, 2023 – Day 109 Easter Sunday
Arriving at the port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as the sun rises and the ships bars are closed per Saudi Arabian law.
Skyline of historic Jeddah, Saudia Arabia.
We arrived in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia on Easter Sunday. Jeddah is the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia. It has been a major trade port since the 7th century and the gateway to Mecca for Muslim pilgrims. Currently, Saudi Arabia is investing lots of money into developing its tourist industry. Which was evident in the amount of renovation and construction being done in and adjacent to their historic Old Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In our opinion, they’ve got a few things to overcome before they’ll be able to compete with other Middle Eastern destinations.
Since our visit coincided with the Muslim month of Ramadan, this meant that the Saudi citizens were fasting from sunup to sundown. Also, during this time, shortened work hours were in place and businesses were closed between morning and mid-day prayers. So, our tour of the ancient shopping district was disappointing as all of the shops were shuttered and the streets were deserted. I’m not much of a shopper, but I would have liked to experience the energy in the open marketplace.
The marketplace all shuttered until 1:00 pm due to Ramadan.
Prior to going to any port, we always have a ‘Port Talk’ where we are told how we’ll get through immigration, what documentation we’ll need, any specific cultural or other information that might be useful. In order to go ashore in Jeddah, we were instructed to be patient and respectful to all officials, dress modestly, shoulders and knees covered and remove religious jewelry. No head coverings were required unless we planned to go into any mosques and if we did, men would need to take off their shoes. We were also told that since our hosts would be fasting for Ramadan, we should not plan to eat or drink in public.
Jeff and I took separate walking tours of historic Jeddah. Jeff’s tour was a mixed group of men and women with a male guide. I had an opportunity to go on a ‘For women, by women’ tour so chose to have that experience. It didn’t turn out to be as advertised, but our guide was the lovely woman you see pictured below. (We did have a male driver and a male ‘assistant’). We didn’t really get much time for ‘girl talk’, but our guide told us that women here are now allowed to drive and are educated, boys and girls together until age 9, then separately through high school. Women are allowed to work in all fields they want and can go out in public without a male member of the family. We learned that our guide, who’s family immigrated from Burkina Faso, is 42, was engaged at 12, married at age 14, and lived with her husband in their own home while she finished high school. She didn’t say how many children she has but did mention that she had recently been in London for one of her son’s college graduations.
You’ll notice our guide is totally covered, in a heavy black material no less. Our tour started at 9:30 am. It was already close to 90 degrees and surprisingly humid. Fortunately, our guide encouraged us to take a bottle of water with us, but she was fasting and was not even supposed to have water. As the day wore on, and we’d been walking about 3 hours, she became ill from the heat, so we surrounded her to shield her from view and gave her water to drink. She even loosened her head covering to try to cool a bit, but when some workmen came around the corner, she quickly covered herself and handed off the water bottle.
Shortly after we found a coffee/tea shop opening for tourists and were able to get out of the sun to rest and cool off.
The coffee/tea shop we stopped in.
In the picture above, the green, elevated couches are in a little nook, a window seat of sorts. The shutters are open in this picture, but that is not the norm. In the picture below you can see the outside of similar window seats with the shutters closed “to protect the privacy of the family” – meaning to keep the women from view.
These window seats are under renovation, but the idea was that since the women were not allowed out of the house, they could sit in these window seats, with the shutters/screens allowing a breeze and sound to filter in. They called these the social media of the day. The women might not have been able to go out, but they could hear everything going on in the street below!
Soon we came across the neighborhood mosque and were able to see into the window below.
This is the men’s prayer area at this mosque.
The men and women do not worship together.
You are seeing mostly tourists in the street above, but as noon prayers finished, the streets began to fill with locals and the shops began to open. We were told that as sundown arrives the area turns into a party atmosphere with food stalls and music as the people break their fast.
One of the shops I stuck my head into as our tour was coming to an end (this picture would make a great puzzle!).
Back at the ship, at the end of the day, our expected sail away time came and went. We didn’t know why, but it seemed that the staff was awaiting a delivery. Usually, semi-trucks make deliveries every few ports while we are all out exploring. But this time, up pulls a panel truck, the doors swing open, and the crew unloads the truck in minutes.
What treasures were in the delivery? We were happy to see much anticipated fresh blueberries and strawberries (we consume a whole lot of fruit on this ship!). But even more important… tissues and toilet paper! Disaster averted!
Our Hotel Manager acknowledging the cheers of the crowd. (Toilet paper availability has been a bit of a problem as we’ve traveled around the globe.)
Ever wonder how large vehicles, in this case military, are transported by ship? Probably not, but we found it interesting! There was a whole fleet of vehicles and equipment strapped to open containers as we looked down from our ship. Don’t know if these were being delivered here or on their way somewhere, but it was interesting to see how they were ‘packaged’.
As we left Jeddah, reaching open water, the sun was setting and the ships bars were reopening, much to the delight of many a passenger. We are glad to have had the experience of visiting Saudi Arabia, but it’s not a place we’d be yearning to return to.
Tomorrow we are at sea sailing to Aqaba, Jordon where we will visit Petra!