On a late Friday evening, as I peep outside the window of my hotel room, I see an enthralling skyline of a city which it seems is so quiet on its day of prayers. The usually bristling King Fahd road and bumper to bumper traffic on any weekday it seems has been replaced by a road which is letting traffic zip past at speed. Such a contrast to any weekday. The only time I see such traffic in Delhi is only on national holidays, not on weekends.
One thing that has not changed in the weekend is the magnificent skyline and how it appears at night. The lights on distant roads and atop buildings all in a straight line, some white some yellow and some flickering on high rises. On other side I still see construction, that's one thing you see a lot as you walk down the streets of this city. Buildings and big buildings.
Walks on the street, that's on thing I miss which I am able to do in most cities that I have traveled so far. For one crossing roads is not easy and second carrying passport everywhere is a pain and lastly, only time you can be out is early mornings or late evenings. Things are hot even during early evenings that you cannot venture out. Malls and Markets are bristling with people primarily after the last prayer of the day, that's usually between 8:00 PM to Midnight. But what every time you are on road, you see cars of every type, though its rare to see smaller cars. Most common SUVs are from GMC and Chevrolet, some of the size bigger than Tata 407. Well there is one thing we got to know during a discussion with someone in office, you need to have a family in Riyadh to be able to buy a SUV, singles would be restricted to sedans. But then kind of Sedans you see on the road are also the best from the world...rare to see a small car, though in the last 1 week, I have seen 1 alto...yes, just 1, no Indica / Indigo on this trip yet, when last trip I saw 1, and couple of Accents. Among cars with some number, you see Toyota's Yaris and Corolla as smaller cars here. Rest everything just keeps getting bigger and better.
But yes, now back from the view of the road to the skyline and yes, the distant lights on roads and streets look so enthralling and captivating, have been gazing them for sometime now before heading out for the last of this weekend's dinner. Its a bit early for me but then the foodie in me wants to experiment and try something different today :).
One thing that has not changed in the weekend is the magnificent skyline and how it appears at night. The lights on distant roads and atop buildings all in a straight line, some white some yellow and some flickering on high rises. On other side I still see construction, that's one thing you see a lot as you walk down the streets of this city. Buildings and big buildings.
Walks on the street, that's on thing I miss which I am able to do in most cities that I have traveled so far. For one crossing roads is not easy and second carrying passport everywhere is a pain and lastly, only time you can be out is early mornings or late evenings. Things are hot even during early evenings that you cannot venture out. Malls and Markets are bristling with people primarily after the last prayer of the day, that's usually between 8:00 PM to Midnight. But what every time you are on road, you see cars of every type, though its rare to see smaller cars. Most common SUVs are from GMC and Chevrolet, some of the size bigger than Tata 407. Well there is one thing we got to know during a discussion with someone in office, you need to have a family in Riyadh to be able to buy a SUV, singles would be restricted to sedans. But then kind of Sedans you see on the road are also the best from the world...rare to see a small car, though in the last 1 week, I have seen 1 alto...yes, just 1, no Indica / Indigo on this trip yet, when last trip I saw 1, and couple of Accents. Among cars with some number, you see Toyota's Yaris and Corolla as smaller cars here. Rest everything just keeps getting bigger and better.
But yes, now back from the view of the road to the skyline and yes, the distant lights on roads and streets look so enthralling and captivating, have been gazing them for sometime now before heading out for the last of this weekend's dinner. Its a bit early for me but then the foodie in me wants to experiment and try something different today :).
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