# [SA] Saudi Arabia | road infrastructure



## SIMSI (Mar 16, 2005)




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## mgk920 (Apr 21, 2007)

Haljackey said:


> Wow... talk about putting one religion above all others.
> 
> So I couldn't visit Makkah as a tourist if I wasn't Muslim?
> 
> Coming from a multicultural, multireligious society, this baffles me. :nuts:


And women are *PROHIBITED* from driving a car, among many other things, there, too. Every couple of months I hear a story on the international news wires about the latest antics of the Saudi 'Religious Police' (I forget offhand their official translated title) and they do seriously enforce this stuff.

It's not one World out there.

At least we Infidels CAN 'visit' those two cities using Google Earth high-resolution aerial images as well as the ground-level images that are posted in great quantity here in SSC.

(I'd use the 'cheers1' smiley here, but beverage alcohol is also *PROHIBITED* in Saudi Arabia.)

BTW, there are *NO* Christian churches in Saudi Arabia, too, although I did hear some mention not long ago of the Vatican being close to being able to build a church there, likely in Riyadh/Al Riyad.

Mike


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## ImBoredNow (Jul 2, 2008)

mgk920 said:


> *And women are *PROHIBITED* from driving a car*,
> Mike


I don't see how that's a bad thing. I believe their accident rates are the lowest in the world...............Just Joking.:cheers:


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## wyqtor (Jan 15, 2007)

It's a shame the country is so conservative, they would be even more developed than they already are thanks to oil if they at least followed Dubai's relative relaxations of sharia law.


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## ttownfeen (Nov 30, 2004)

How do they determine your religion? Most passports that I know of don't mark that one down, exactly.


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## rafaelfri (Dec 12, 2006)

Muslim only??? Is this serious? Fraking racist people!!!!
Imagine if we had a sign in the Vatican saying Christian only ...


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## FM 2258 (Jan 24, 2004)

Looks really nice. I wish they'd relax their visa restrictions so I can visit!


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## SIMSI (Mar 16, 2005)

rafaelfri said:


> Muslim only??? Is this serious? Fraking racist people!!!!
> Imagine if we had a sign in the Vatican saying Christian only ...


That's right :bash: I asked in tourist agency for a 1 day tour to Mekkah, their reaction :bleep: Non muslims are not welcome in this country. hno:

some of my pics you can find here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1125863


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## Alexriga (Nov 25, 2007)

mgk920 said:


> And women are *PROHIBITED* from driving a car, among many other things, there, too. Every couple of months I hear a story on the international news wires about the latest antics of the Saudi 'Religious Police' (I forget offhand their official translated title) and they do seriously enforce this stuff.
> 
> It's not one World out there.
> 
> ...


I would never visit that country, for me it is heart of world's problem like supporting radicalism all over the world with it's wicked ideology. 

Hopefully one day the world will need no their oil anymore than this mascaraed will finish and world terrorism/extremism will go down.


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## Muttie (Aug 16, 2007)

SIMSI said:


> That's right :bash: I asked in tourist agency for a 1 day tour to Mekkah, their reaction :bleep: Non muslims are not welcome in this country. hno:
> 
> some of my pics you can find here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1125863


There are a lot of other muslim-countries you can visit.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

FM 2258 said:


> Looks really nice. I wish they'd relax their visa restrictions so I can visit!


I doubt if it's possible to visit this country as a non-muslim tourist at all. Business, yes, but tourism? I doubt it. I wonder if you can drive as a western passport holder from Jordan to the UAE in transit through Saudi-Arabia.


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## Muttie (Aug 16, 2007)

ChrisZwolle said:


> I doubt if it's possible to visit this country as a non-muslim tourist at all. Business, yes, but tourism? I doubt it. I wonder if you can drive as a western passport holder from Jordan to the UAE in transit through Saudi-Arabia.


I don't think so. They even have quota's for the amount of people allowed during the Hadj. This means even muslims (with or without western passport) can be denied entry.


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## vatse (Apr 17, 2009)

ChrisZwolle said:


> I doubt if it's possible to visit this country as a non-muslim tourist at all. Business, yes, but tourism? I doubt it. I wonder if you can drive as a western passport holder from Jordan to the UAE in transit through Saudi-Arabia.


You can apply for transit visas if you are using your own vehicle and you can prove that it's the only way to travel for you. Like driving from Jordan to UAE or Yemen. People have done it but I don't know what is the real chance to get the visa. And transit visas are good only for a very short time. Was it 36 hours or something. So concerning the distances you would be really on the transit to get out of the country before your visa expires.
Some travellers have even got a transit visa for taking a public bus from UAE or Yemen to Jordan but it's more complicated to get it because you have to prove that you can't take a flight.

As a tourist you can only visit as part of the group. There are about 10 companies who are allowed to organize tours for western tourists. So no independent travelling around the country as a tourist. Of course you can go alone and take your own tour guide and travel almost everywhere with him without problems. But it would cost a lot.


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## rheintram (Mar 5, 2008)

rafaelfri said:


> Muslim only??? Is this serious? Fraking racist people!!!!
> Imagine if we had a sign in the Vatican saying Christian only ...


I totally agree with you. The landscape looks wonderful and I'm sure some of their sites and cities are too. But the regime there is just nuts. Freaking religious extremists hno:


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## Gadiri (Oct 30, 2009)

Everyone can visit Saudia for tourism with a tour operator. Only the area around Medina and Mekkah are not allowed to non-muslims. That is quite small for this big country. 

By the past, jews lived in Medina with Mohamed Prophet. They didin't respect some engagements. The treaty was cancelled. Since that time, this is only for muslims.


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## ProudArabian (Jul 31, 2009)

I will post some personal pics later that i took last year when i went to saudi. its on my lap top, so please wait


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## Alqaszar (Jan 18, 2008)

No-one say that there is no progress in Saudi-Arabia: The fire brigade is now allowed to rescue women from a burning building. Before, they had to burn down with it.

But of course, dirty infidels can't be allowed to got to Mekka. Maybe they even touched a dog or -- Allah may help us -- ate pork.

That would really disturb the Muslim community there from letting their women burn.


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## Palance (Mar 23, 2005)

ChrisZwolle said:


> I doubt if it's possible to visit this country as a non-muslim tourist at all. Business, yes, but tourism? I doubt it. I wonder if you can drive as a western passport holder from Jordan to the UAE in transit through Saudi-Arabia.


Last year there has been a Dutch TV travel show ("3 op reis") in which the host Floortje Dessing really visited Saudi-Arabia. She made two episodes from that country which really showed a beautiful country with friendly people.

The discussion whether not to visit a country is interesting. For example: I am pretty sure that a lot of people who are against capital punishment visit the U.S. When doe people decide to visit or not to visit a country?

For my self: I am aware of the problems in a certain country but as long as it is safe enough to travel to it, I don't see any problem to visit it. I also really want to visit Saudi-Arabia when I should have the possibility.

Don't forget: A lot of people (including myself) have visited the neighbouring U.A.E, a country also with a very conservative groups of muslims, a country without freedom of speech and a country where human rights are violated. There are differences between KSA and UAE, that's for sure, but there are also a lot of similarities. Somehow, few people would refuse to visit the UAE.

Strange, isn't it? :nuts:


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## SIMSI (Mar 16, 2005)

Muttie said:


> There are a lot of other muslim-countries you can visit.


I've been to a few of them, but this one was really different. Anyway I can not say all people there are not welcoming foreign non muslim tourists. I found many of them really nice and helpful. To be honest I think most of them are really afraid to have a contact with other, non muslim people.

Going back to the matter of this thread roads seems to be in a good condition comparing to other Middle East asian countries, but in cities very crowded.


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## ProudArabian (Jul 31, 2009)

post the landscapes of hejaz, especially between Makkah and Medina, it feels like you are on another planet


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## hakz2007 (Jul 1, 2007)

*750 km Saudi-Oman road construction gathers pace*


> JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has stepped up efforts to open its first land border point with Oman in 2012 by constructing 592 km of road through the Empty Quarter, one of the largest deserts in the world. “We have completed 89 percent of the road project,” said Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry.
> 
> The road project, linking the two GCC neighbors, began in 2007 to construct 750 km of road. Diverted from the Khorais-Bathaa Road, the new road passes through Shayba and Umm Zamoul.
> 
> ...


http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article223182.ece


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## Palance (Mar 23, 2005)

What tourism? AFAIK it is not possible to enter Saudi-Arabia as a tourist.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

This road will require extreme care and clearing otherwise it's underneath sand dunes within a year. 



> What tourism? AFAIK it is not possible to enter Saudi-Arabia as a tourist.


But Saudis can go to Oman I suppose...


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## snowman159 (May 16, 2008)

Palance said:


> What tourism? AFAIK it is not possible to enter Saudi-Arabia as a tourist.


Well, they were probably refering to tourism between Saudi Arabia and its neighboring countries. Tourists from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and UAE don't even need a visa, afaik.

Other nationalities can also visit Saudi Arabia as tourists, but they need to apply for a visa and book an organized tour. It's obviously not as easy as a lot of other countries, but it's definitely possible.


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## khoojyh (Aug 14, 2005)

how they diferrentiate the driver is muslim or non muslim?


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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)

> If anyone knows which countries are actually and frequently posting these numbers it would be interesting to know.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Mashreq_International_Road_Network


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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)

any news? any updates? any photos? any thing at all?


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## GCarty (Dec 4, 2010)

CalifaCityRider6.9 said:


>


Might the Yemenis, Qataris, Emiratis and Omanis not find that sign a tad threatening?


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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)




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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)




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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)




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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)

Makke


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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)

(Road 299)


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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)




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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)




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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)

Jedda
جده


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## Nima-Farid (Jul 13, 2010)




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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Highway 75 is part of the main road network in Saudi Arabia. Interestingly, its southern terminus is in the middle of nowhere in the Rub' al Khali, the road just ends in the desert, not near a town or village, it just ends. Maybe they wanted to construct a road to Oman, but realized it's impossible to keep this road passable becuase it passes through 600 kilometers of absolutely nothing, apart from shifting sand dunes.


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## eskandarany (Oct 15, 2008)

GCarty said:


> Might the Yemenis, Qataris, Emiratis and Omanis not find that sign a tad threatening?


Why? :?
I am puzzled as to why foreigners have this impression of Saudi Arabia. Everyone I know who's visited the place liked it...


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

Is true that Western tourists aren't allowed to visit indipendently that country but they have to join guided tours that take them where the government wants?


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