JEDDAH
Meeting Bike Girls
18th October - 21st October | 2023
The next morning after I packed up, I carried on to Jeddah, where I had booked a hotel for 2 nights. Also, will I meet two biker girls that I found on social media. Well, actually one happens to be responsible for the social media of BMW Motorrad Saudi Arabia - how cool is that! The other one seems to be a real biker chick, with offroad and street bikes. I am really looking forward to meeting up with them!
During the morning I was again driving through Lava fields, and then coming towards Jeddah I suddenly had some serious curves. It has been a long time since I was on a curvy road as so far only long straight roads ;-) I arrived about lunchtime as I only stopped for fuel and some cold drinks; temperatures were still over 35ºC. The hotel in Jeddah was pretty central and had secure parking. So far I had no issues with roadside parking, all seems to be very safe. However, when parking overnight at the roadside I still use the steel cores for my panniers - better is better!
I went for some dinner to a close by Lebanese restaurant and, hurray, first time since being in Saudi Arabia, I had proper cutlery :-D
The next morning I tried to find a laundry that was supposedly close by. It took me a good hour as I got sent around by all sorts of people I asked in the street. That was depressing as it was only 600m away from the hotel as the crow flew - dressed up in long clothes like a woman, at nearly 40ºc! However, once I found the laundry, they charged by item, so in the end we had to count it displayed on the counter as it was mainly small items like socks and underwear. It was a bit embarrassing as the shop owner was a man and another one was translating.
As it was too hot during the day, and Sam had to work, we agreed to meet at 18h00 at the BMW Showroom in Jeddah. I received a very warm welcome from the staff there and we were talking until Sam arrived. Sam was the first woman who just had her hair covered with a scarf but wearing otherwise normal clothes - how fantastic is that! Later on, she explained to me that the women here in Jeddah were always a bit more liberal and a bit more free than the rest of the country. Now Riyadh is about to “overtake” them.
It was so fantastic to meet up with a local female rider. Her friend Ahmad, a photographer, joined us during dinner. She wanted me to meet up with Ahmad during my time again for a photo shoot, how cool is that! Also, were we planning to meet up again before I leave. After dinner, they followed me in a taxi to film me, but I am not sure how fast I lost them in the crazy traffic in Jeddah, also as it was already dark. That was a great experience :-D
The next morning I was meeting Heba, the girl from BMW, for breakfast. And again, she came without any head or face cover - amazing! Reader, please do not get me wrong here, as I respect every country and its laws or religions, but it is still amazing to see these young ladies living their “modern” lives. Also for me, it is fantastic to read expressions on faces, which is a bit difficult if you only can see eyes ;-)
Late afternoon I took an Uber to the old town of Jeddah, called Al-Balad. You can get lost in the streets of the old town with all the beautiful old buildings and the shops. Currently, they are revamping this part of town and I hope it will not lose its charm. I planned to get an Uber back, but that was about 18h00 and I forgot it was prayer time, so it took the driver a long time to arrive. Funnily it was the same driver that took me here.
The next morning, I made my check-out but asked if they would have perhaps a room free later and for the same rate as I might come back. I somehow had the feeling I would need another night as I later met with Ahmad and there was another overlander couple in town tonight.
After all packed up I went to BMW Motorrad, another shop, to pick up a spare part I needed. I had ordered through Heba, well, through their Instagram account. Due to Heba, it was already there and their manager was expecting me already on Thursday to meet me and hand me over the piece. Arriving there, nobody knew about the part and the manager was not even there as it was still the weekend for him. That was a bit annoying as it sounded like it was there already Thursday. Well, it is what it is! So I asked them to send it to BMW Motorrad in Riyadh as I would be there next week.
I met up with Ahmad for some pictures along the waterfront, which was nice. However, in Jeddah, we still had temperatures around 35ºC and humidity of 60/70% - and me in my Rukka sauna suit ;-) We had a lot of fun taking pictures, but by lunchtime, I had enough as I needed to re-check in at the hotel. Luckily it was, as discussed in the morning, still possible, even in the same room.
Later in the afternoon, Ahmad picked me up to meet with Sam for dinner. We went to a really delicious Indian restaurant. We ordered far too much food, but as Sam has her roots also in India, she picked the dishes. As she was not feeling too good the last few days (flu), it was again Ahmad and me for a bit more sightseeing, which included the famous King Fahad’s Fountain. One of the highest fountains in the world, up to 200m gets the water ejected into the air - amazing!
Back at the hotel, I met up with Fillip and his wife Roxana who travelled the Middle East with their Land Rover for the past 6 months. They even flew into Syria for a visit - amazing stories they could tell!! They are now on their way back to Europe - time to earn some more money for their next adventure.
I hope you enjoyed with me the time in Jeddah and while you are waiting to get with me into the mountains, please enjoy yourself an ice-cold coke.
Places | Cities:
Jeddah.
Driven km | Trip:
Total | Steffi: 25050 km
Information Border Crossings:
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Maintenance | Breakdown:
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Health issues:
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Special thanks to:
Sam to make time to meet and giving me a bit insight of being a female motobiker.