I had no intention of going anywhere after I had abandoned my Edinburgh trip (weather-related).
As I am often wont to do, I started looking at flights for this week and I was looking to see where was cheapest.
The place that was always showing up as the cheapest was Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
I had a look again and it came back as Jeddah being the cheapest. I decided “what the hell” and booked it around 21:15 on the evening of the 27th. I had about 12 hours before I would have to leave for the airport.
I got my visa approved in about 5 minutes. It cost £80 and that includes the compulsory insurance that the country makes you buy. I then got my train tickets and they weren’t overly excessive. I was expecting them to be about £90-100, but they were £57.
Luckily my bag was still packed from Edinburgh so I only had to pack 2 more days of clothes and that was it.
I can’t believe I booked something so last minute. I found myself a hotel and then went to bed.
I got up and showered and went downstairs to get some drinks for the trip down to the airport.
I was flying with Wizz Air from Gatwick. That train journey is 2.5 hours. It was fairly uneventful thankfully.
I got to the airport and just made my way to departures so I could sit and relax. I am feeling tired after not sleeping very well these past couple of weeks.
It came time to board and my backpack was deemed to fit within the rules, which was good.
As we were going to sit in the boarding area, the UK Border Force were out checking passports of random passengers. They were asking where they were going and for how long. I’m guessing to try and catch out anyone who shouldn’t be in the UK.
It came time to head to the plane and it was weird the way they did it. We were in the south terminal, but had to get a bus to the plane all the way past the north terminal. It took about 15 minutes to get to the plane. Very weird.
I got on and heard the familiar call of “boarding complete”. Result for me. I got a row to myself. It was so nice.
I asked the cabin crew if I was able to eat my ham sandwich on the flight. They said they had no restrictions, but to be mindful of the people around me and our destination.
Saudi Arabia doesn’t allow pork products in the country, so I needed to eat it before we landed.
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I landed at around 00:10 and we had to get a bus to the terminal. I was able to get off the plane really quick since I had a whole row to myself and didn’t have to wait for anyone to get up.
I got to the terminal and it was set up with a specific area for people performing Hajj and then a queue for citizens and a queue for foreigners. I got across the border fairly quick. They just checked my passport and then scanned my fingers and then stamped the passport.
Once I was across, I had to put my bags through an X-ray before I left the area. I got through to arrivals and messaged my friend to let him know I was there. He said he would be another 20 minutes and I waited inside in the cooler air. Even this early in the morning, it was still 23 degrees.
He turned up and it was nice to see him face-to-face. We got in the nice cold car and we headed to find some food. I ended up just getting fries from the embassy as I was so tired.
We headed to the hotel and I had a much needed shower and some much needed sleep. We decided we would go out about 1 to the mall and to have a look around the city.
I commented I was surprised how busy it was at 01:30. He said it comes alive at night – I guess that is because of the temperatures during the day.
We met in the lobby and then we went to the mall. I was impressed with how clean it was everywhere. My eyes lit up when we went to the food court. I saw and Arby’s and I said we should have that. I love Arby’s so much. The food is so delicious. It was every but as nice as I remembered. I sent a message to my friend at home showing him Arby’s and then telling him where I was.
We then had a look around the mall as my friend wanted some trainers and some shorts. We then left and headed back to the hotel for a couple of hours. Mostly to cool down and have a power nap.
We then went back out and went to a place called City Walk. It’s sort of a theme park and amusement arcade. We walked around here and then went to walk along the sea for the sunset views. They were amazing. The sun set so fast here though. I turned around and then back again and the sun was halfway into the horizon.
As we were walking, we saw so many cats. My friend was loving it. He has rescued cats before and is in love with them. It was nice to see.
We then walked some more and went for ice cream and sat and chatted by the Jeddah sign. It was really nice. There was a nice sea breeze too.
We got back in the car and went to a restaurant to have some dinner. We went to an Italian place and the food was so delicious. I had spaghetti and meatballs with some chicken tenders. The food was so good. It was a little after midnight by this time so we headed back to the hotel so we could get some sleep. We agreed to meet in the lobby about 13:00.
Total steps: 16,123
Total miles: 7.06
Total kilometers: 11.36Below are some pics from today
I got to the airport and I had about 5 hours until the flight. I found somewhere to sit and keep my phone on charge until the check-in desks were shown. I then went and got my boarding pass. They also checked my passport.
I then headed through security. My friend said I should try Al Baik there and get the chicken bites. I did that and they were delicious.
I was glad when it was time to board. I went to the gate and they were doing random checks of persons and bags. I got selected. Everything was fine though.
It came time to get the bus to go to the plane. We seemed to sit on the bus for ages until they allowed us to get on the plane.
I found my seat. I got an aisle seat a couple of rows from the back. Some guy asked me if I would switch with his wife so she could sit next to the children. I checked where she was sitting and it was the other aisle seat on the same row, but there was a middle seat free. I was happy to oblige.
It was nice to have the seat empty. I wasn’t a fan of the shouting and screaming children in front of me though.
I think I slept for a couple of hours on this flight. I was so glad to be back at Gatwick. I was also happy to be on the train home.
All in all though, it was a good trip and I got to meet a new friend in person.
Total steps: 29,887Total miles: 13.13
Total kilometers: 21.13
View all of my Jeddah media here