While it seems that this section should have been written first, it has taken me much longer to write as there just isn't much to say about a train ride in either direction. In addition to that, I neglected to take pictures, so there is really nothing to show...
It was a fight to get away from work in order to get back to the apartments with adequate time to properly prepare ourselves for the two day-ish journey that was to follow. What should we pack? What should we wear? What is or is not allowed? Normally these questions would not phase me, but with my unsureness in dealing with Saudi culture, I tend to over-think just about everything. Eventually we managed to escape, and with the generous help of a coworker, we made it to the train station with time to spare.
As the train was pulling away from the station, they made an announcement over the PA system. Part of this was a recitation of a part of the Koran which is said for travelers. It was s very interesting thing to listen to (unfortunately, it was in Arabic, so all I understood was the description they gave in English before hand).
The 4.5 hour ride went fairly quickly. We chatted a bit, watched a couple of kids watch their movies and play their games, and had a nice unhealthy meal in the meal car: a cheese sandwich, two small bags of salt and vinegar chips (crisps for you British types), a can of Coke, and a Bounty (think Mounds).
The return trip was basically the same, though quite a bit more subdued. We spent a few minutes in the first class lounge before heading to the train, and we were able to get the seats we had been assigned. It was the last train of the night, and it wasn't overly populated. After the rather disheartening meal of fast food, and the long day we had spent on the tour, we were ready to sleep, and sleep we did... for a while at least.
When we arrived at the station in Dammam, we realized that we didn't know the name of the compound in such a way as to communicate it to a taxi driver without them thinking we needed to go far beyond where we need to. This leads to an extreme increase in price, unnecessarily. Thankfully, there was someone there who spoke both Arabic and English AND actually knew where we were talking about! He helped us negotiate a fair fare, and we were able to learn that the name people are going to know is quite a bit different than the actual name! Thank goodness for my bed!!!!
It was a fight to get away from work in order to get back to the apartments with adequate time to properly prepare ourselves for the two day-ish journey that was to follow. What should we pack? What should we wear? What is or is not allowed? Normally these questions would not phase me, but with my unsureness in dealing with Saudi culture, I tend to over-think just about everything. Eventually we managed to escape, and with the generous help of a coworker, we made it to the train station with time to spare.
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| http://www.panoramio.com/photo/25527386 Dammam |
We entered from the front and went to the left where we showed our ticket and had it scanned. We then went through the "door" to another space where they once again checked our tickets and ids and put our backpacks through an x-ray scanner. We then pick up our "luggage" and proceed to the train bypassing the first class lounge we would have been entitled to use had we arrived earlier.
We exited through the back making our way to the train. We boarded and were led to our seats. The ones whose numbers matched the ones on our tickets were at a table, but a woman and two children were sitting there. We were shown to different seats. My seat was facing the opposite direction than the train was going, but I didn't really notice, even with the large window I had been fortunately seated next to. It would have been a great view if it wouldn't have been dark!
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| /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_stations_in_Saudi_Arabia |
The 4.5 hour ride went fairly quickly. We chatted a bit, watched a couple of kids watch their movies and play their games, and had a nice unhealthy meal in the meal car: a cheese sandwich, two small bags of salt and vinegar chips (crisps for you British types), a can of Coke, and a Bounty (think Mounds).
The return trip was basically the same, though quite a bit more subdued. We spent a few minutes in the first class lounge before heading to the train, and we were able to get the seats we had been assigned. It was the last train of the night, and it wasn't overly populated. After the rather disheartening meal of fast food, and the long day we had spent on the tour, we were ready to sleep, and sleep we did... for a while at least.
When we arrived at the station in Dammam, we realized that we didn't know the name of the compound in such a way as to communicate it to a taxi driver without them thinking we needed to go far beyond where we need to. This leads to an extreme increase in price, unnecessarily. Thankfully, there was someone there who spoke both Arabic and English AND actually knew where we were talking about! He helped us negotiate a fair fare, and we were able to learn that the name people are going to know is quite a bit different than the actual name! Thank goodness for my bed!!!!
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