Deserted

We really don't get out much.!

When I go out through the front door I must be covered with my black abaya. Then I go with the others on our work bus to work, or to a shopping mall ... that's it, that's all really.

But last week us girls were all invited on a desert trip on the weekend, to a farm in the desert somewhere north of Riyadh. Despite being thoroughly weary at the end of the week we were excited and looking forward to seeing something, anything, outside of the city.

Then it rained a couple of days before the weekend, and so it was cancelled.

The Boys Desert Trip

The male teachers were also invited into the desert by some of the male students, and a little rain (which stopped before the weekend anyway) didn't bother them one bit.


The first stop along the way was a restaurant for Second Breakfast. Here is teacher Paul getting stuck into the green drink they serve here - lime juice and finely chopped fresh mint, quite a wake-up sort of a drink.

And then they hit the road. These chaps generally like to drive fast, and the highways are built for speed.

This is some sort of a check-point, built in the local style. The police commonly stop cars and check up on single guys, because we all know what they must be up to.

So what would you expect to find on a farm in the desert?

Well, it is a desert. Those would have to be date palms.

The tent. Here the boys could eat and relax - it's quite luxurious inside.

Boys Just Wanna Have Fun

So what is there for boys to do in the desert??

Here they are heading off to have some fun.

So ... are those sprinklers in the desert??

Now these sprinklers have clearly been working, growing fodder for a herd of very valuable camels.

And here's a place where the boys can have some fun.

First you have to let the tyres down a little bit.

Now that's how the boys like to play.

Look at what they did! That was so worth a trip to the desert for, now wasn't it?!

Back to the farm for a meal. The teachers gather around the campfire outside.

It's getting cold and Paul didn't bring a jacket, so the young chaps give him some local gear to wear.

Now that they are all getting traditional, it's time to pass the pipe. Peter has a puff at the apple-flavoured smoke.

I heard that they were also all challenged to eat something from the (cooked) sheep's head. Peter pleased his hosts greatly by consuming one of the eyeballs, and then the other one too. He said it wasn't too bad - except that he was already so full from everything else he had eaten so that he almost gagged on it.

It was a bit of a long day, and Paul and Phillip are exhausted so they are relaxing inside the tent until it's time to go home.

It was around 2.30 am when they finally returned to the city.