I had meetings in Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia. I usually stay in Bahrain but this time I had no meetings there, so I flew direct to Dammam. It was prayer time when I arrived so we waited twenty minutes before the immigration guys returned. One by one. There were four queues by then and they chose to open the windows where no-one was waiting. I think they enjoy seeing the scramble. I did.
Unfortunately I didn’t see Al Khobar but I hear from everyone that it’s a beautiful city especially by the Corniche.
Departing from Dammam airport is also miserable. It’s a beautiful building with good size halls and check-in desks – but it lacks any life. Once you go through to the gates, there is one shop (like a large Baqala) and a sign for a restaurant that I couldn’t find. I thought Kuwait airport was bad until I saw this one. The photograph is of the aeroplane I took back. This was the only clean spot I could find on any of the windows. Compare this with Bangkok!