Arrival in Dammam International Airport, KSA

(Late late late the night of 4/11, or early morning 4/12, however you want to think of it!)

Immigration was as tedious as everyone had warned. The shorter line I moved to was still awfully slow. In total it took 2 hours to work through to the front of the line. Then it took 5 minutes to scan my fingerprints, take a picture, wait for the computer to load everything, and get my visa stamped. Not awful, but chaotic.

I left the immigration room and sent around the corner to baggage claim. It took a minute to find my bags because the baggage carrousel had the wrong flight number on it. After checking them all I came back and scanned through the bags. Most of the bags had been removed from the carrousel and placed on the floor. I found mine together – someone had matched them up, very kind.

After baggage claim was customs, which I expected to be tougher than it was. Most countries make you fill out forms, answer questions, and wait in line. Having just spent 2 hours in immigration lines I expected the worst, but came to the customs room and followed the example of the 4 travelers in front of me.  Simply placed my bags on a conveyor, walked to the other side while they were x-rayed, picked them up and walked on! Three officials were there, talking and having a good laugh, and I suppose one of them was watching the x-ray scans, but I couldn’t really tell. They apparently didn’t see anything alarming and I was done in less than two minutes, and exited to the arrival area.

I had been forewarned by a nice Irish fellow in my immigration line to ignore the line of taxi drivers waiting outside customs. He said these fellows were right there and handy, but would also charge 3 times the going rate for taxi service, and to go outside and across the street to find an Indian driver who would charge a fair fare.

I knew my company had arranged a limousine (taxi) and that the driver should be waiting for me, but at one point waiting in the immigration line I remembered international travel rule #14 – don’t carry a lot of currency from home; it does you no good abroad! I needed to exchange some money so I could tip my driver, and sure enough right past the line of taxi drivers (I didn’t see one for me) was a sign that said “Money Exchange.” Tired but determined, I gathered my bags (backpack, big rolling suitcase and big carry suitcase which may stay here because I don’t want to have to carry this thing again!!!) and went off in search of “Money Exchange.” I went all around the first level and didn’t find anything, so I finally stopped someone and asked, to be told it was upstairs. This area was like a three-story mall – shops, food, etc. on all levels.  I went up the escalator to the next level and again went all the way around with no luck, finally asking another fellow and was told “upstairs.”

So up I went to the next floor. Now my on-the-road-for 36-hours body was starting to feel the journey, mostly in the arm carrying a bag!  I walked all around this level and still didn’t find anything.  I asked another Saudi if he could direct me, and he pointed down a hallway of shops and told me it was on the left side. I must’ve looked tired because he laughed nicely, and said “Just leave bags here and come back – they’ll be fine!”  Being an American, though, leaving my bags sitting in the middle of a busy public area would be like parking my Mercedes with the top down at the mall, keys in the ignition, and a sign saying “Please take me!”  So the bag drag continued to the end of the corridor where I found the bank.  It was now 12:20 a.m., and the bank was closed with several men standing in front talking. I looked for any sign, but not finding one I asked the men if the bank was closed for the night. “No,” one of them said, “he took a break. He’ll be back in 25 minutes.”  At this point, tired won out and I refused to wait any longer, went over to the ATM, and withdrew 250 Saudi Riyals from our checking account (about $67)! I figured that would be enough to get me through a day or so, and that the hotel could exchange my dollars.

Money in pocket I found the elevator this time and went back down to the arrival level. The elevator opened onto a service corridor loaded with baggage trollies that I hadn’t noticed before and which would have saved me significant exertion, but I was glad to find one now and put my bags on it for the shortest trip of the night! I went back to the taxi line and scanned the signs the men were holding, and found the one I was looking for: a tired-looking chap holding a sign that said “Mr. Mark William” (my middle name).  Making a snap judgment that this was my man, I caught his eye and pointed at my sign and off we went to the door.

The driver went to get his car and I stood there for a few minutes letting the sweat drip off me. Lugging that 45 pound bag half a mile or so while looking for the bank was quite an exertion at the end of a long long travel day, but I’m glad I did it. It’s good to have a little exertion to work out the stiffness after sitting for most of two days!  I still felt good, alert, and ready to go, just tired.

With the bags loaded my driver set off on the 50 minute drive to Dhaharan. Turns out he arrived at the airport at the same time I did, and had been standing there for 2.5 hours waiting for me, so he deserved to be tired too! His English wasn’t great but he was working hard on it. He only arrived in KSA two weeks ago from the Philippines! He had wanted to get out and see the world, and found a website for jobs in Saudi Arabia. A few months later he was driving a taxi in a huge city and having a great time!

It took 45 minutes to reach the Dhahran International Hotel. It has seen better days but it is perfectly functional.  I was pleased to find out that it is aggressively no-smoking! Smoking is allowed in the smoking room or outside, and that’s it! Surprising. the front desk was all ready for me, so it only took a few minutes to get to my room, with one bellman bringing my bags, and another carrying a fruit plate just for me!

Once I got to my room I figured out the wifi password and skyped with my lovely for about an hour - just couldn't go to sleep until we'd shared some time together! I am 8 hours ahead of U.S. central time, so it was an evening call for Dana. The room is simple and neat, and should work fine for a week and a half until I move into the dorm on camp.  I took a shower, did a little unpacking and arranging, put a note on Facebook and went to bed around 5 a.m.!

Welcome to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia!