I have just started today with Redbubble and have filled in all the requested details. I am now going to have a look at the design sectio…
I have just started today with Redbubble and have filled in all the requested details. I am now going to have a look at the design section for a closer look and hopefully get some products uploaded for sale. All exciting stuff, so fingers crossed.:-)
In case you hadn’t heard, Stephen Conroy (ALP’s minister for broadband) is proposing mandatory filtering of the Internet by all Australia…
In case you hadn’t heard, Stephen Conroy (ALP’s minister for broadband) is proposing mandatory filtering of the Internet by all Australian ISPs, to ensure that children do not see “online pornography” or other “inappropriate content”. If you don’t want your internet feed filtered, then users will need to opt out of the “service”. Read more about it here / A few questions for us all to consider if this goes ahead unopposed: Who will decide what is “pornography” and “inappropriate content”? How will we know what is on the list? If a site contains one piece of “inappropriate content” will the whole site be filtered? If a site is incorrectly put on the filter list – what is the appeals process? Why has this become an opt-out system when it was clearly stated that it would be an opt-in system before the election? Will this really stop children seeing inappropriate content? or will it make parents lazy? How will this filter (aka censorship) affect the speed of the internet? How will the government guard against mis-use of this filter? How long before this morphs into George Orwell’s “Ministry of Truth”? While no-one is advocating that children be exposed to unsuitable material, this scheme is highly impractical and won’t work anywhere near 100%. / In addition, the costs of such a system will be high and will undoubtedly be passed on to the consumer… Welcome to the Nanny State! I would urge people to protest against this scheme at every opportunity… / If you’re on Facebook, then you can join this group
up it goes”> / http://images-3.redbubble.net/img/art/cropp…
up it goes”> / http://images-3.redbubble.net/img/art/cropped/size:small/view:main/1467809-1-up-it-goes.jpg is now featured in Abstract Art and Digital writing !!!! thanks for the vote of confidence in my Art…. wof wof wof…..howllllll!!!! RedBubble Rockssss…..
I saw Stuart Chapmans latest journal today, continuing his brilliant Redbubble tour aroun…
I saw Stuart Chapmans latest journal today, continuing his brilliant Redbubble tour around the world… todays entry was highlighting images from Western Asia and the Middle East / It soon became apparent after reading the first few comments that people knew so very little about these countries, which got me thinking… With all of my recent uploads coming from my trip to Canada in March, some may think that I am treading on the toes of our fellow Canadian Redbubblers… my profile explains that I am currently in Saudi Arabia, but from all of the snow and ice on show, who would know! Thinking about it, perhaps I have been neglecting my “home” a little. With my pending departure from Saudi Arabia in December to return to the UK, after 7 years of emptying sand from my shoes, then maybe it should be time to reflect on what I have on my doorstep and pass on some of this knowledge. Seven Years in Arabia… there is a film title there somewhere! So, why stay in Saudi? Well, for one, the Barbers offer a lot more for the weekend… And secondly, it turns out my favourite shop now does home delivery! Ok, joking aside, I came here in October of 2001 at the ripe old age of 27, giving up my job in the UK to follow my career as an Interior Architect working with members of the Saudi Royal Family, designing projects from small cafes and exclusive apartments through to Palaces on the grandest of scales, whilst throwing in my first love of furniture design along the way. As well of course, photography… If I were to ask you what your impression of Saudi might be, I’m guessing I could probably reel off your answers right here, now. Being the birthplace of Islam and with so many important traditions to uphold, Saudi Arabia is a country with a lot on its shoulders. It is a very conservative country, trying to hold onto its own image and not be swallowed up by the fast pace of the West. It is a hard place to live, both because of its unforgiving climate, with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees in Summer before plummeting in Winter to a dry cold that reaches right to your bones and of course the many negative points that I’m sure your are aware of… or perhaps not. When I first arrived, a friend said to me, be prepared to give up the “3 B’s”… the three things that all men love… Beer, Bacon and Boobs – not necessarily written in order of preference! Since that time I have had to put up with quite a lot that you wouldn’t ordinarily have to deal with… The prohibition of alcohol amongst other things, a lack of bacon and other pork products, putting up with laws that state unmarried men and women cannot mix unaccompanied… I find myself breaking the law on many counts just by driving some women (who are by law unable to drive) to a party and enjoying some homemade “tea!” Of course add another count, when you manage to enjoy a bacon buttie for breakfast when someone has been able to bring home the bacon from neighbouring Bahrain… a small island off the east coast of Saudi which like Dubai, is more relaxed and used by many expats and Saudi locals alike as a weekend playground! I have had to fight the government censors in a country that censors everything from newspapers and magazines, CD covers and packaging for underwear through to television, Hollywood movies and the internet. Last August, a couple of days after I signed up to Redbubble, my activity must have been picked up on and the site was blocked. The government frowns on many photography websites where a little too much naked flesh could be on offer! Well, I’m not one to let little setbacks like that stop me… I had tasted the fruit of Redbubble, and I wanted more! So with lots of persistence and letter writing, I was thankful to be able to plea Redbubbles innocence, get the site unblocked and reactivate my account a month or so after I had last visited it… Happy to be back online I had a shot of some camels featured a couple days later. Whilst on the topic of photography, I have even been chased down the road by an angry beduoin guy who took offence to me taking pictures of some old mud buildings. I am thankful for two things… one, that I am a faster runner than him and secondly it was only a rock he was carrying. I have experienced a total of 7 months of Ramadan in an Islamic country that forbids anyone; locals and foreigners alike from eating or drinking in public during daylight hours… watched locals led away by the Matawa (religious police) to prayer, or worse if they appear to have broken one of the many laws… seen women have to endure wearing their black abayas in public and being told to cover their hair or even legs if a little too much ankle is on show! I have put up with the honking of horns at traffic lights as soon as the colour turns green, even watched drivers blatantly ignore traffic lights… put up with men driving at twice your speed suddenly appearing in your rear view mirror, virtually touching your rear bumper flashing their headlights and forcing you out of their way. I’ve seen drivers drive on the hard shoulder to beat the traffic, kids racing and ducking and diving between cars on the highway… I’ve seen the results of horrific accidents; I’ve even been forced off the road by a lunatic who cut me up, sending me airborne off the tarmac careering towards a concrete wall… I’ve seen my car with bent axles, punctured tyres and dented body work… luckily that day I saw myself looking back only in shock! I’ve received terror alerts and steps to be taken from the British Embassy… advice on varying your route to work each day, checking beneath your car and around the wheels for suspicious looking objects and trying not to get boxed in when stopped at traffic lights. I’ve even read notices from the Saudi police stating not to trust Saudi police on the road unless they are in an official police car… the advice goes on to read that it is better to get help and tackle them than to be led away. How it would go down if you actually tackled a real policeman, I’ll never know! I have woken to the news of terror attacks on residential compounds more than once… countless people killed in bombings and shootings and I have been thankful each time that it was no one that I knew and always heartbroken for those that have lost loved ones. I have even felt my house shake and windows rattle as a terrorist attack was foiled leading the suspects to detonate the explosives prematurely only a kilometer or 2 from my house. I have heard myself saying, “I had gotten used to the bombings, but the shootings in the street and beheading of captives was a different matter… it might be time to leave” I have experienced all of this and more in the past 7 years… and when I say more, I mean so many more good things other than the bad times that I have just listed. When I first arrived I remember being told by someone that when you arrive in Saudi Arabia, you are given 2 buckets to fill… 1 is for all of your money and the other is for all of the shit thrown at you. As soon as one of them is full, then it is time to leave! I like to think that I actually acquired a third bucket along the way which is brimming full of all of my good memories. It’s these good times that I want to centre on now… so many good times, but where to begin? I’ve been going through some of my pictures and will try to portray these good memories in some new journal entries with uploads of different landscapes from my travels within the country and aspects of life in Saudi Arabia… I’ll apologise now for the quality of some of the shots as a few of them have been scanned from negatives when my old SLR used to get some action and before my entry into the world of digital photography. Anyway, I Hope that this will interest a few of you and bring a bit of Saudi Arabia into your living room. Now, I must get back to the archives and perhaps out and about to get some new shots to accompany the old… did I mention it is now legal to take pictures in Saudi? Dammit! My Saudi Arabia – Part 2, It’s Not About The Sand
This is the second part of my journal reflecting on Seven years in Arabia… this is / My Saudi Arabia. Well, it’s not all *work, work…
This is the second part of my journal reflecting on Seven years in Arabia… this is / My Saudi Arabia. Well, it’s not all work, work, work living in Saudi Arabia! There is the desert too and of course the sand! Ok, so desert equals sand… No? Well, yes… and no. There is so much more to it than that. I’m sure that just the thought of the word ‘Arabia’ will conjure up romantic ideas of bearded strangers swathed in unfamiliar clothing riding camels across vast areas of barren sand dunes… I admit it; this was the picture in my head too, before travelling to Saudi 7 years ago. Ok, so here comes the scientific bit… geographical to be more precise! Occupying approximately 2.3 million square kilometers, Saudi Arabia consists of several distinctive geographical areas. The western coastal plain, the Tihamah, extending along the Red Sea coastline with its many beautiful unspoiled coral reefs is bordered to its east by two mountain ranges. The northern half of the Red Sea escarpment is known as the Hijaz and seldom rises above 2,000 metres, but in the south the mountains of the Asir rise in places to over 3,000 metres. Both ranges drop steadily to around 600 metres in the Makkah region. The eastern side of the Asir slopes gently to a plateau which melds into the Rub al-Khali (or Empty Quarter), one of the largest sand deserts in the world, north of which lies the Najd. The Najd region containing the countries capital city, Riyadh (my home) is mainly a rocky plateau interspersed by small, sandy deserts and isolated mountain clumps. At the heart of this is the area of the Jabal Tuwaiq, an arc-shaped limestone ridge with a steep west face that rises from 100 to 250 metres above the plateau. Separating Najd from eastern Arabia is a long, narrow strip of red sand known as the ad-Dhana. / Edge of the World, Tuwaiq Escarpment, North of Riyadh I briefly mentioned the climate in Saudi in my last journal… Saudi Arabia is in fact one of the driest countries in the world, with no permanent rivers or lakes and rainfall averaging less than 13cm per year. In the Empty Quarter, ten years may pass with no rain! Marked seasons, in the Western sense, do not exist, only a dramatic change at the end of the year, from temperatures exceeding 50 degrees in mid-summer to bone chilling cold weather and occasional rain brought about by shifting winds in the winter months. So, now we all know a little bit more on the geography of Saudi… After arriving in Riyadh back in 2001, the desert quickly became my weekend playground and more than once my downfall! Hooking up with friends and the local Hash groups was my first eye opener to much of the local desert destinations such as Edge of the World, an appropriately named location north of Riyadh on the Tuwaiq escarpment. Just in case you are wondering, if you’ve never heard of hashing, it doesn’t involve drugs of any kind, which would be pretty foolish in a country still administering the death penalty, rather walks / runs following tracks previously laid by other members. Duning became a favourite, heading out to the red sands and conquering the dunes in my 4 wheel drive or on hired quad bikes… parties were such that couldn’t be missed – driving cross country for an hour or so to a secluded spot where you could party the night away under the stars or in a Bedouin tent set up with generator and DJ! I did mention my downfall too, didn’t I? Well of course those would include getting my 4WD stuck in the sand on several occasions and having to dig my way out or make use of a much recommended pair of sand ladders. Another downfall would be the time that the loose desert ground went from under my feet, forcing me over and tearing ligaments in my ankle… 30 minutes walk from my car! Needless to say my fun was curbed for a month whilst I was in plaster and from then on I always tread a little more carefully. As I became more familiar with the desert, my love for it continuously growing, I began travelling further afield with friends, camping out in remote locations for the night or more when time permitted. A location I have visited on more than one occassion is Jabal Baloum, the highest peak in the Tuwaiq range. Baloum, or Faridat Baloum meaning Adam’s Apple. / Jabal Baloum. Tuwaiq Escarpment, south-east of Riyadh The thing I love about this photo is how you can see the thorny acacia trees in the foreground growing almost perfectly within the shadow of a neighboring peak. It is a hot and harsh climate and this for me is a wonderful example of how nature will battle the elements and find a way to go on… a lesson can always be learnt from nature! There were many good camping sites around the base of the mountain and if you look closely at this shot, you can just see our campground on the right of shot, tucked away in one of the clefts. This shot, by the way was taken very early in the morning, awoken by the new days light streaming into my tent, I decided to take a walk around and watch the day break. A couple of hour’s later, campsite struck, we were off again scouting the perimeter of the mountain, looking for the easiest way up. We soon picked our route, parked up and began the trek… / Walking the ridge, Jabal Baloum The ascent took us around 3 hours, clambering up and over loose rocks, and walking along the narrow ridge at the top. The summit of Jebel Baloum is only 1045 metres above sea level, but from the top you get an awesome view of the surrounding valley below… a valley where desert diamonds can be dug for, ancient arrow heads lie scattered and sharks teeth can be found from when the land was once ocean. In fact, during the Cenozoic era, until about 15-20 million years ago, most of the eastern half of Saudi Arabia was covered by the sea. / The Summit of Jabal Baloum To the south-west side of the mountain are strangely shaped rock formations known as the Pepper-Pot and Cathedral Rock, so called because of their pock-marked surfaces and curious wind-eroded shapes. / Cathedral Rock. Tuwaiq Escarpment, south-east of Riyadh On a separate visit to Jabal Baloum, we stopped off first at one of the local archaeological curiosities along the way. Perhaps an hours’ drive from Jabal Baloum is a black rock headland facing a narrow pass between escarpment and sand dunes covered with ancient graffiti. As with all other destinations, given names by ex-pat explorers, this site gained the imaginative name of ‘Graffiti Rock’… one of two known similar sites in the area. / Graffiti Rock. Tuwaiq Escarpment, south-east of Riyadh Here we found rock art supposedly dating from between 2,000 and 1,000 BC but could be earlier. Writing is said to be Thauudic, or pre-Arabic and the script dating from the Literate period, after 1000 BC. The art also contains human figures engaged in mock fighting with shields and throwing sticks, there are examples of wildlife, long since wiped out by hunters in Arabia… Ibex with great backward pointing horns, Oryx with straight horns, Ostrich and even crocodiles. There are riders on horseback and many of the human figures have their arms outstretched, the fingers and hands much exaggerated, which is said to be a common feature of primitive rock art and is thought to represent the attitude of worship or prayer. / Graffiti Rock – Detail. Tuwaiq Escarpment, south-east of Riyadh Another location close to Jabal Baloum and Graffiti Rock is the appropriately named, ‘Natural Arch’, a form eroded into the escarpment about 160km south-east of Riyadh. / Natural Arch. Tuwaiq Escarpment, south-east of Riyadh …and yes, that is me, sat on the top! This was a fascinating place to camp, not only because of the obvious form of the Natural Arch and the opportunity to take many photos of friends jumping around in the centre, not because I happened to be dog-sitting my neighbours Chocolate Labrador, who came along for the ride, but also because of what laid around us on the floor… and no, that wasn’t due to Austin the Chocolate lab! It wasn’t desert diamonds or desert roses, it wasn’t arrow heads or 50 million year old sharks teeth, but again it was down to nature. Everywhere you looked were thousands of perfectly rounded stones… perhaps volcanic activity, when lava was thrown up into the air to then rain down on the surrounding area, creating what looked like a playground littered with marbles… who knows, but it looked great! / Natural Arch. Tuwaiq Escarpment, south-east of Riyadh Needless to say, I’m not short of any paper-weights or book-ends at the moment! Already there had been so much to see in the desert, so much more than just sand! So many new adventures and experiences. So many new discoveries and this had only been in the neighbouring regions, within a 2 or 3 hours drive from Riyadh. This was all before I had the pleasure of visiting the region of Taif, camping amongst the Asir mountains, watching baboons clamber across the rocks and climbing into a crater 3 kilometers wide… but in the style of a good David Attenborough natural history programme, I’ll leave those for next time! My Saudi Arabia – Part 1 / My Saudi Arabia – Part 3, Travelling Further Afield
This is the third part of my journal reflecting on Seven years in Arabia… this is / My Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia… it’s a hell of a …
This is the third part of my journal reflecting on Seven years in Arabia… this is / My Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia… it’s a hell of a big country! I’ve seen some fantastic sights, a lot more than most people who prefer to never leave the confines of their idyllic luxury compounds during their stay in Saudi, but perhaps not as much as some. In a country that is extremely difficult to enter unless in sponsored employment or on a Hajj pilgrimage, you do what you can in the time that you have to satisfy your own needs. If I hadn’t worked so many hours, six days a week, then I’m sure I would be leaving with more than one box load of photos. This third part of my journal on Saudi Arabia is a continuation on my travels in the desert… As I previously mentioned, with around 2.3 million square kilometers to explore, there certainly are a lot of sights to see! After arriving in Saudi in October of 2001, it wasn’t long before I was hooking up with friends and heading out to the desert to explore… driving for 2 or 3 hours, following primitive maps along tracks criss-crossing desert plains and through dried up river beds or Wadis. You have to remember at this point, that this was at a time before the luxury of GPS was available to the everyday consumer! Maps and directions had to be trusted and landmarks such as tyre markers or rock piles had to be sought out in the vast emptiness. In my last journal I shared some memories and photos of desert trips around the Capital City and my current home of Riyadh in the central Najd region. Places such as Edge of the World, Graffiti Rock, Jabal Baloum and Natural Arch. All Locations that could be reached for a day trip or stay overnight, camping out under the stars or in a tent and making the most of an early start in the desert. It wasn’t long though, before the local destinations were becoming exhausted and my sights were set further afield, always looking for something bigger or better. A drive east was one such trip, 3 hours driving along a single straight road through endless desert vistas including rocky plateaus and rolling sand dunes to the coastal town of Damman… the gateway to Bahrain. After so much time stuck in the middle of a desert, it was a great pleasure to be welcomed by the site of the Persian Gulf… the smell of sea air and the sound of water gently lapping against the shore… ahhhhhh, bliss! A further hours drive south along the coast and we reached our destination of Al-Uqair; a small town with some great camping spots, close by on the coast. Following a sandy outlet, we drove as far as we could along the sand, away from any civilization to find a secluded spot and pitch our tent right beside the sea. / Camping at Al-Uqair, Eastern coast. April, 2004 Looking west, back at the main coast line as the day came to an end we were greeted by one of Arabia’s many beautiful sunsets… all the more rewarding this time to be watching it set over the water. / Sunset at Al-Uqair, Eastern coast. April, 2004 Perhaps one of my most memorable trips during my stay in Saudi was a 4 day round trip to the western region of Taif, which began with a 700km straight drive from Riyadh to perhaps one of the most spectacular sights in Saudi; Wahba Crater. Heading west is a much more enjoyable drive than heading east, as the landscape dramatically changes from flat rocky plateaus to large mountainous outcrops as you head towards the Asir Mountain range, rising up along the Red Sea coast. Turning off from the main highway and heading north, passing small villages and last chance petrol stations and onto smaller roads still, you are suddenly met by the magnificent sight ahead, of a 3km wide circular crater with steep sides of white rock sunk deep into the black ‘harrah’ of the old lava flows. This is Wahba Crater! / Wahba Crater, north-east of Taif. December, 2002 The craters’ sides plunge over 200 metres below ground level and are a breathtaking sight and I would imagine heart stopping if you approached it at night, with no warning to the rim’s edge! At the base of the crater is a thick crust of white sodium phosphate crystals which enhances the attraction of the crater even more. It is not known whether the crater was formed by a meteorite impact or by volcanic activity, in the form of an underground explosion, but many people seem to accept the latter explanation. Driving around the rim to the northern side, we found a suitable site and pitched our tents on one of the many ledges overlooking the crater. This had to be the most dramatic campsite ever and the thought of waking in the morning, opening my tent to view this magnificent site was a wonderful thought. / Camping at Wahba Crater. December, 2002 With our campsite ready and food in our bellies, we had time to explore the perimeter of the rim, some time to take in old lava fields surrounding the crater, watch camels wander the plains and enjoy another wonderful sunset over the crater, the colours reflecting in the white crust at the centre. / Camels at Wahba Crater. December, 2002 / Sunset at Wahba Crater. December, 2002 With an early start in the morning to beat the rising heat, even in December, we started on our descent to the base of the crater. Following a documented route down on the northern side, we passed through palm groves that had sprung up due to underground water, which bubbled up in places forming pools, attracting small frogs and leeches. It took around an hour to reach the base, clambering carefully down the steep sides, with plenty of water to keep us hydrated, but it was well worth the effort. Stepping out onto the base of the crater can only be described as stepping into an amphitheatre on the grandest of scales! It was an awesome sight, completely surrounded by these steep sides rising hundreds of metres all around you. A short walk out towards the centre and you were stepping out onto the crust… the ground crunching beneath your feet, leaving footprints as you walked, as if in snow. It is a memory that will never leave me. / At the base of Wahba Crater. December, 2002 If you are able to look closely at this photo, you may just see a friend way off in the distance, giving you an idea of the immensity of this place. Making the most of our day, we returned to the ground level, struck our campsite and returned to our journey further west. Our next destination was a town just east of Mecca. This was in fact the closest I was to get to Mecca… being within the haram (the forbidden area) a law states that non-Muslims cannot enter the holy city. At the northernmost point of the Asir mountains, Al-Hada is a town at the base of the Harithi Escarpment… another drop off from the plateau plunging hundreds of metres, the road turning into a snake as it winds its way, just like the old camel trails, down the face of the escarpment. It wasn’t the town that we had come to see, the source of one of the most popular bottled waters in Saudi, but in fact the wildlife. Approaching the escarpment we stopped off at the most amazing road side fruit market, a welcome stop, buying fresh tropical fruit picked that day from the local farms that enjoy a climate more suited to this type of farming. Refreshed and ready to continue we reached the escarpment and were given the most amazing view, reaching out as far as you could imagine. Fortunately, there is a viewing point at the road side, just before it begins its journey to the base of the escarpment. This is where you see the baboons! / Wild Baboon, Al-Hada, east of Mecca. December, 2002 Wild hamadryas baboons can be found in many locations throughout the Asir region, but this is a particular spot where the wildlife and locals come face to face. The baboons coming up from the mountains, taking advantage of mans curiosity and free food thrown for them from the fruit market just up the road. It is an amazing sight to see these animals roam free in a country that is pretty much devoid of any other large wild animals, previously wiped out through hunting. You have to remember that the only other large animals, the camels, are all “owned” by someone! In a very conservative and highly censored country it was also with much amusement that we looked on to see the local fathers try to cover the eyes of their impressionable young children as the dominant male baboons would pass from one female baboon to another and “assert” their male prowess, reminding us who was boss around here! / Wild Baboons, Al-Hada, east of Mecca. December, 2002 Turning back on ourselves here, a short way up the highway, we turned off south, onto smaller roads and into the mountains, before heading off road once more to find a spot to camp. Staying overnight in the mountains was also another memorable experience… feeling the temperatures drop as night fell and watching clouds envelope our tents as weather fronts crossed the mountain range, rising up from ridges before disappearing again into the night sky. Our third day was spent exploring this area along the Harithi Escarpment, climbing peaks and taking in breathtaking views that I had never expected to see in Saudi Arabia… like I have said before, there is so much more to it than sand! / Harithi Escarpment, Taif. December, 2002 On our return journey now, we spent our third and final night at a site close by to Wahba Crater. We spent this night camped just outside the gates of an old ruined Turkish fort. Set deep in the desert this old stronghold of days gone by was used by latter day Arabian Kings as a hunting retreat. Still much intact, we were able to camp undisturbed and spend much of the following morning exploring the ruins as the sun rose above us, casting its morning light on the buildings creating a wonderful pink hue on the stonework. / Turkish Fort, south of Wahba Crater. December, 2002 It is desert trips like this, with spectacular scenery and awesome sites to spend a night that you will never want to come to an end… sadly, to be in Saudi Arabia, is not to be a tourist. As much as you want to get out and about, we have all been permitted to enter this country for one reason alone… I have tried to emerge myself into the culture, to visit and see different aspects of the country and even find myself informing locals about their own homeland. I have memories of the desert and other sites that will stay with me for a lifetime… hundreds of photos to help with that when old age sets in! I have seen and done things that I never imagined when first travelling to Saudi, but there has always been that one reason… that one reason why I was permitted to be here. Work. But, then again, that hasn’t been all that bad… My Saudi Arabia – Part 1 / My Saudi Arabia – Part 2, It’s Not About The Sand
Kevin Costner made a picture a few years back; something about a guy named Dances With Wolves… ...I went to the camel market yesterd…
Kevin Costner made a picture a few years back; something about a guy named Dances With Wolves… ...I went to the camel market yesterday. After speaking with the proprietor of this particular market stand and the owner of these rather handsome beasts I can inform you that for a cool 50,000 Saudi Arabian Riyals (roughly translating to just over 9,000 British Pounds at today’s exchange rate) you could pick up one of these big fellas to take home and be the talk of the town. One large male jamal (or camel if you don’t understand Arabic) paid for in cash and delivered by Christmas… guaranteed! Just what you all need to finish off those nativity scenes, I know! Alternatively, for those of you feeling the pinch at the festive period during this economic break down then you could always pick up a bargain female to kick start your hareem. The fairer sex of the species, a more attractive offer at a take-away price of just 5 – 6,000 SAR (that’s under a grand… and just think of all that camel milk you will be endowed with for the following years). Well, I was very tempted… obviously, and was about to test out my bartering skills to their limit when I thought perhaps it would be better to sleep on it (not the camel, I hasten to add). Instead I came away with some rather attractive head shots to remind me of what was on offer and to ponder over during the coming days. The smell may stay with you but it’s not long before all those memories start looking the same… A difficult decision I hear you say… True. However, I’ll never forget that first kiss! here jamal, jamal, jamal…
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