My Honest Thoughts About My Trip To Saudi Arabia
I just spent the past few weeks traveling in Saudi Arabia and in this video I would like to answer your questions about my time and my experiences there I have all your questions in front of me on the laptop right now so let's start right away and yeah there will be time stamps down below so you can skip ahead to the questions you are interested in the most did you experience poverty there I mean have you seen people that were homeless in Saudi Arabia and I can say 100% I haven't seen a single homeless person so I visited three different cities in Sou Arabia R the capital Medina and Jedi and not a single homeless person to be seen everywhere at least not in the areas that I visited I mostly sticked around the city center but in Riad for example I also ventured into some other areas that were outside of the city center and yeah nowhere I have seen a homeless person I also didn't really see poverty like in many countries you just walk around the streets and you you see poverty I think you know what I'm talking about right you can just see that and I didn't see anything like that at all in Saudi Arabia not in Riad not in Medina and not in Jedi and then the next question something that was actually asked a lot in my comment section of all the videos I filmed in Saudi Arabia I'm mostly interested in the appropriate dress code for tourist man and woman and yet a dress code is something that I also wasn't sure about I think I also mentioned that in my arrival video so my first video from Riad that I wasn't sure like how to dress properly because I had yeah in my mind that Saudi is a very strict country and you have to dress appropriate but so many people actually in the comment section told me or don't worry about it just uh wear whatever you want basically but I still feel like it would be good to dress in a modest way I can just speak from my perspective as a man I was wearing t-shirts outside I had a jacket as well and I was wearing long pant but also because the time of the year I was visiting Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the year so it was n that warm like in summer it was I think around 16 to 20° usually so I was wearing a long pants and then a t-shirt sometimes a jacket and I felt totally all right with that um I can say though that I haven't seen a single local man wearing just a t-shirt but once again that's probably due to the time of the year it's probably different in summer and regarding dress code for ran I'm not 100% sure but because I'm not a woman I don't really know but based on what I have seen most women there are coverage but not all of them you also see women without a head scarf without the hij job um but they are all wearing long pants and in a modest way I would say and by the way you're currently watching a video on my second Channel if you want to see my f length videos from Saudi Arabia then head over to my main Channel kabro I will link it in the description and then the next question also very interesting topic did you feel safe in Saudi Arabia and I can say 100% I felt super safe my entire time in Saudi Arabia it's actually I think I compared that in one of my jeda videos to how I felt in China because I felt similar in Saudi Arabia as I felt in China it's very clean it's very modern it's very well organized and also very safe so you have a lot of cameras everywhere and that makes me as a tourist feel safe and I also think I I read that the crime rates are very very low in Saudi Arabia and that is something that makes me feel very safe as a tourist I also think that they have some laws that from a European perspective can be seen as quite strict laws but I have to say usually when I'm in a country and they have strict laws there the safer I feel so the stricter the laws the safer I feel usually so I think that's something good so I had absolutely zero safety concerns no matter in which city I was we at Medina or jeda during the day in the evening after Sunset I felt totally all right and then one part of this question is are there any content restrictions such as YouTube or Instagram that you cannot access and you know some countries China for example some apps are blocked for example in China you can't access YouTube or Whatsapp or Google but there was no such thing in Saudi Arabia I was able to access all my apps as usual I didn't need a VPN everything was accessible so no worries about that and then I have heard something that ladies or women are allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia now have you seen any female drivers in RI Medina and jeda and yeah I think uh there used to be a law that women are not allowed to drive but I don't remember which year exactly but females are allowed to drive and I have seen plenty of female drivers on the roads in all the cities that I visited in Saudi Arabia so yes there are also female drivers in Saudi Arabia now and then also very interesting question is Saudi Arabia an expensive country I think because the people of my country I love to go there for work please answer me lots of love for India greetings to India and yeah I can definitely say Saudi Arabia is a bit pricier compared to many countries I visited previously on my channel so I'm mostly traveling around southeast Asia but we also visited many countries in East Asia or in South Asia on my channel and I think from all the countries I visited so far on my channel Saudi Arabia is the most expensive country still I would say it's cheaper compared to European prices or North American prices definitely especially uh the food for example you can find restaurants in Saudi Arabia where you can get a meal for like I would say around 56 maybe seven or eight you will not find restaurants like that in Europe in Germany where I'm from so food can be quite inexpensive but yeah definitely a higher price compared to many other Asian countries or wait I have to say maybe Singapore is uh more expensive than Saudi Arabia actually is Singapore more expensive I think the hotels in Singapore more expensive but food actually can also be quite inexpensive in Singapore but that's a different topic um but yeah Saudi Arabia is definitely a bit pricier of a travel destination compared to many other Asian countries um for example also hotels um I spent quite a lot of money on hotels in Saudi Arabia I think there's a question later on talking about that so we will come back to the hotel price topic later on let's go to the next question how easy is it to get the visa the flights tickets Hotel Etc very very easy I applied for the Visa so with a German passport I need a visa for Saudi Arabia and I applied for it on the official website I will leave a link down here and I think I got the Visa approved within like 10 15 minutes very straightforward very easy the application process was at least with a German passport also very easy and simple took me maybe like 5 minutes to fill out everything I paid $100 for the Visa though so it was definitely Visa that yeah you have to pay a bit of money for but it was easy to get and actually when I arrived in Riad one of the immigration officers also told me that I could have also gotten a visa on arrival there so that would have been probably even easier then but yeah no problem and also booking flight tickets Hotel Etc as simple as in any other country I'm usually booking my hotels either on the hotel app when I'm staying in like Hilton or Marriot Hotels I'm using the hotel app because then I get membership points and I have statues there or booking.com and for flights yeah as simple as in any other country so no worries about finding hotels and flights while in Saudi Arabia and then the next question from a scale of 1 to 10 how about the cleaniness and yes Saudi Arabia was definitely one of the cleanest countries I have been through at least the city centers I remember when I was walking around the city center of rot everything there is very modern very fancy very very clean but then I also explored some areas outside of the city center and there it wasn't as clean and modern as in the city center but still I would rate it as relatively clean and also Jedi and Medina were very very clean so nothing to complain about that at all so the cleaniness yeah I would actually say 10 out of 10 at least the city centers outside the city center at least in Riot maybe like a seven or eight out of 10 so still very clean but yeah I was actually quite impressed about how clean Saudi Arabia is and that was actually quite a cool experience and then which city did you enjoy the most during your trip to Saudi Arabia and yeah like I said before I visited only three cities Riad Medina and jeda and I think my favorite City out of these three I liked all of them I had good experiences on all of them and I would be curious to visit all of them again but I think if I have to choose now I will probably choose jeda the reason is The Vibes and jeda were just pretty cool because you have a really beautiful ocean front where you can get a fresh Breeze uh the wind in your face from the ocean super beautiful to walk around the ocean front there but then you also have a really historical old city center which I really like to see usually so the mix of yeah this old historical City Center the beautiful ocean front that was just really really cool and jeda and overall The Vibes were a bit relaxed it was a really cool Ocean Front City also very modern very clean of course so if I have to choose then I will probably choose jeda out of the three cities I have visited so far in South Arabia and then if you had the opportunity to live in Saudi Arabia would you take it that is difficult to answer I would definitely be curious to spend more time there and I can imagine that living there would be a very convenient experience but probably like you need to speak the local language like English was okay there's there's another question coming later where I'm talking about the English but uh I think yeah if you speak Arabic then I can imagine that Saudi Arabia is a very convenient country to live in of course I've just been there as a tourist I spent a few weeks there as a tourist you don't really get to see the country behind the scenes when you're just visiting as a tourist so I don't really know how it is to live there or how it is to stay there long term so yeah difficult to answer but I can say I would be curious to spend more time in Saudi Arabia and then I could maybe answer if I would like to live there really long term or not and then what's the best meal you had during your trip and first of of all I can really say that the food in Saudi Arabia was absolutely phenomenal I tried so many delicious dishes there and yeah I couldn't get enough of the the food but I also have to say I overall like Middle Eastern cuisine so I also like Middle Eastern cuisine before I came to uh Saudi Arabia for example when I was in muskat Oman the food there was also amazing I really like Turkish Cuisine I just like shamas I like kebabs the way they spice their meats in the Middle East so I'm a huge fan of that uh or I was a huge fan of that even before coming to Saudi Arabia and yeah the the meals I had in Saudi Arabia were really really delicious I tried so many different kebabs and shamas and or I tried camel meat in Ria that was something very special and very delicious but I think if I have to choose one meal I actually have to choose a Iraqi meal I was in an Iraqi restaurant in jeda and I had order with iaki Kebab there and that was oh wow that was so so delicious is and that was my favorite meal in Saudi Arabia although it was not really a dish from Saudi Arabia I think if I have to choose a local meal then I would probably uh choose the camel capsa that I had in Riad also very special and very delicious and then we have two questions here can you do a lot of common man things on app digitally like ordering food getting trains football tickets Etc I'm not 100% sure there because yeah I was just there as a tourist I can imagine that they have many apps so you can proba do many things uh digital similar like in China um I I got my football tickets on an app so I visited uh Cristiano Ronaldo match in Riad a match from the team al- NASA and I ordered the tickets on an app uh so that was pretty simple and straightforward I'm pretty sure that they also have food ordering apps there although I haven't used any and then they have Uber they have kareim which you can use to get taxis around the city so definitely no problem I'm pretty sure they have many apps to do everything digitally nowadays and then yeah the second part of his question how much did you spend for hotels and taxi domestic flights of any yeah we talked about the price uh topic earlier already now I'm going into more details and yeah I I spent quite a lot of money for hotels on average about $200 per night but I also have to say I only stayed in five-star luxury hotels like Hilton Hotels Marriot Hotels uh I really like these Brands and I'm a member with these Brands so I get points when I'm staying with them and because I have membership statues I usually get upgraded to better rooms that's why I just like staying with these Hotel Brands I'm pretty sure you can also find uh cheaper budget options uh in Saudi Arabia I'm sure if you scroll around booking.com you will find cheaper local hotel brands of course but yeah I spend on average $200 per night for my hotels in Saudi Arabia taxis are also yeah quite not really expensive compared to Western standards but pricier compared to other Asian countries for example I took quite a lot of uber rides especially in RI and that can add up a lot like a uber ride let's say like 15 20 minutes in the city I'm not 100% sure how much that cost but it was maybe like $10 $15 and if you take like three or four of them every day that adds up a lot especially if you spend a few weeks there so Uber rides they add up a lot and also the taxis I think if you take a Metro Taxi which I also took a few times they are usually a bit oh I don't remember were they cheaper or pricier than Uber I think a bit pricier than Uber actually so Uber is usually a bit cheaper but uh overall quite similar I would say and yeah domestic flights I took one domestic flight that was my flight from Riad to Medina but uh the regular economy class ticket would have been I think about $50 to $60 so quite inexpensive for a flight I would say but I took the business class experience where I paid $400 but yeah I actually only did that for the video so I can show the business class of Saudia airlines in the video usually I would have taken the economy class ticket and then you $50 $60 they have many uh domestic flights available every single day between the cities so that would be quite easy and convenient to take a domestic flight in Saudi Arabia actually and then what are the things that you didn't expect from visiting Saudi Arabia plus things you expected but wasn't true so that is an interesting question and I thought about that also while I was there already so when I came to Saudi Arabia I was a bit unsure what to expect because I grew up with so many negative news around me about the country like Saudi Arabia is usually negatively portrayed in Western media like the Western media talks a lot about the strict laws there women are not allowed to drive women need to cover up the whole time like these are things that I was reading all my life in the rest time media about Saudi Arabia so I came there thinking oh this is maybe a very strick country I have to be careful but then the reality was like I didn't feel at all like I'm in a very strict country like I had no problems with my camera I felt super comfortable walking around with the camera like I didn't feel like I need to dress very strict or modest so that was actually quite a surprise that the country is not as strict um at least not for a tourist as I maybe would have thought before coming there so that was actually quite a surprise and then is Saudi Arabia Worth to visit or is it tiring or just chill I actually really enjoyed my stay there so I think for me it was definitely worth visiting I had a great time I really enjoyed experiencing this country and so it depends on what you like like if you usually like the Middle East like Middle Eastern cuisine Middle Eastern culture um then I think it's defin def itely Worth to also have a look at Saudi Arabia so I can actually recommend going to Saudi Arabia yes and then a question connected to that would you recommend to visit Saudi Arabia for non-muslims and yeah also I read many comments under my videos of people being concerned about going there as a non-muslim but I can say 100% I felt welcomed even as a non-muslim I think you saw many examples in my videos where people treated me with such a gener it welcoming didn't let me pay for my tea for my food gave me things for free so that was really really overwhelming how people treated me there and I can also say actually sometimes I get the comment uh oh they only treat you like that because you are filming because you walk around with the camera like oh the shop only gave you this for free because you were filming it and I can say no also when I walked around without the camera like not every time I left my hotel in Saudi Arabia I had my camera on so there were also situations where I was walking around off camera and it was exactly the same people treated me exactly the same very generous very welcoming very hospitable so I have had no problems visiting Saudi Arabia as a non-muslim so if you're watching this and you're not a Muslim thinking about going there I think you should not be worried just go there and experience s warm hospitable uh generosity of the people there and I think you will have a great time my question the taxi driver in jeda that took you around the circles was it a Saudi driver or South Asian so there was one situation in my final video from Saudi Arabia in jeda where a taxi driver was driving around in circles like to increase the meter price that I have to pay I think I'm not 100% sure if that was the reason but I think he did that and um I'm not really sure where he was from I don't know and I think it doesn't really matter where he was from like I had situations like this in other countries no matter from which country the taxi driver was from so that can happen no matter where your taxi driver is from but there's actually one interesting thing that I noticed and I remember I talked about that with one of my Uber drivers so every time I took a regular meter taxi like these regular taxis driving around the city with a taxi symbol on top you know and the drivers were always foreigners many of them were from like Pakistan Bangladesh Egypt India so the regular taxi drivers were always foreigners but when I took in Uber the drivers were always local and I think I remember that my Uber driver told me that if you want to work for U in Saudi Arabia you have to be a local so foreigners are not allowed to drive for Uber in Saudi Arabia but yeah not 100% sure if I remember that correctly but I think that's what he was saying to me so yeah all the regular taxi driver drivers are foreigners and all the Uber drivers in Saudi Arabia uh are locals that's my experience at least and then I also asked my Instagram followers to send over some questions in case you're not following me on Instagram yet feel free to also follow me there kroad on Instagram I'm posting a lot of Stories Behind the Scenes updates where I am Etc so feel free to also follow me on Instagram and then also a question I actually got asked a lot did the Saudi government sponsored you trip there and this is funny like I had a similar situation before in China like every time I filmed the video in China plenty of comments accused me of being paid by the Chinese government and for some reason it was very similar in Saudi Arabia it's funny like these questions usually uh come from Western people because they simply can't think that you go to a country like this as a rest now and have a good experience so no nobody paid for my trip in Saudi Arabia I paid for everything myself I was not sponsored by the Saudi government so everything I said was just my opinion not because somebody told me to say that so I no my trip was not sponsored and actually none of my trips ever has been sponsored by any government and then also a question that is actually very interesting for many foreigners trying to visit Saudi Arabia did you have any problems with the language and yeah I can say um not everyone in Saudi Arabia speaks English so it's not like so there are countries for example the Philippines where almost everyone speaks English or Malaysia uh where you have absolutely no problems with English everywhere you're going so it was not like that in Saudi Arabia the English level sometimes is a bit low but I would still say it was okay so I have had no situation where I was like really stuck because I couldn't communicate with someone so English was not a problem and also like many of the workers you're interacting with like whether it's waers in the hotel or in restaurants the staff in your hotel many of the taxi drivers or like people like working on the streets or working in the Metro stations many of these workers are foreigners and they at least in my experience usually spoke English at least to an okay level and every time I I spoke with a local and the English was usually okay sometimes good so I would say like between okay and good so I have had no problems with English at all and yeah sometimes I use my Google translate as well which is working really good nowadays so you can just download Google Translate put it from your language to Arabic and if there is a situation where you're really stuck just use Google Translate if you download the language before using Wi-Fi then you can even use it if you're not connected to data so yeah absolutely no problem and speaking of data many of you also asked me uh if I used a local SIM card in Saudi Arabia or how did I manage to get mobile data everywhere and I'm using an eim on all my trips I'm using Holly eim this is not a sponsored video by hly but I can really recommend them I'm using them in every single country I'm going to nowadays so having an eim is very convenient very straightforward and if you want to check out my eim once again not a sponsored video but if you want to check out my hly eim provider I will leave a link in the description and if you use my link you can even get a discount with hly and then the next question at any point did you feel unwelcomed and yeah I think I mentioned that before I felt really really welcomed my whole time in Saudi Arabia that was actually very very overwhelming and I can even say Saudi Arabia is one of the most hospitable countries I have ever been to like if I'm thinking of hospitable countries places like Pakistan come in mind immediately Pakistan is a very hospitable country where also people treated me very welcoming very hospitable and it was very similar in Saudi Arabia the people were absolutely amazing you saw plenty of situations uh in my videos where people gave me things for free uh paid for my team there was even a guy paying for my haircut in jeda that was overwhelmingly beautiful and yeah I felt very very welcome it is a very hospitable country and yeah not just because I was filming it I was a vlogger there situations like that also happened off camera when I was walking around without my camera so that was not a YouTuber's privilege or something like that and I can say though I got many comments of people saying things like oh they're only treating you like that because you are a right restant now and that of course I can't judge um so there were some comments I remember some somebody told me that uh oh I am a I am a black person and I got treated very badly when I was in Riad people were not welcoming and yeah that is sad to hear but I can't judge that because yeah I am right I am a westner so I don't know how people are being treated if they are not rest oners so I can't say anything about that but from my perspective uh I felt very very welcomed and the people were very hospitable and yeah welcoming generous and that was actually really cool experience and then how can I become a traveler like you sir sponsor travel and talk about experience uh actually a question not related to Saudi Arabia but very quickly if you want to do the same thing that I am doing traveling the world visiting different countries and basically getting paid for it because I am getting paid because I'm getting views like the platforms I'm posting my videos to YouTube Facebook Tik Tok and Instagram the platforms are paying the creators for getting views except of Instagram Instagram doesn't pay us to get views but Facebook Tik Tok and YouTube are paying their creators for getting views so every time you're watching one of my videos I am getting paid and if you want to do the same I actually have a course online in which I teach people exactly how to become a full-time travel content creator like myself as well there's a link to my course in the description as well if you're curious to check it out do do you feel it would be safer for a solo female traveler a female head scarves a 100% necessity and you also very interesting question I was reading a lot in the comment section how safe is it for female Travelers and do you have to be covered as a female so first of all I can say I saw plenty of women without uh being covered without a scarf without a hijab although I have to say that the majority of women on the streets in Saudi Arabia is cover it many even like fully completely cover it but it's not 100% necessary as far as I understand it I think it if there would be a law that requires women to cover outside then all the women would be covered right and I I saw plenty of women not cover it and I think that shows that it is not required by law but uh yeah maybe someone in the comment section can tell us more about that and because I'm not 100% sure because I'm not a woman but um yeah I saw plenty of women not it and I think yeah I can't really talk about how safe it is as a female because I'm not a female I felt safe as a man and but my feeling would tell me that as a woman you can also feel safe in Saudi Arabia and then also a question related to that how do you think it could be as a woman traveling there and yeah once again I'm not a woman so I can't 100% judge that but my feeling would be that also as a ROM you would have a great time in Saudi Arabia and probably you can also a feel very safe there but once again maybe check out another channel of the female actually traveling there if you want to be double Che and then when is the perfect time to come there so um I know that the summers in Saudi Arabia tend to get really really hot and actually I planned to visit Saudi Arabia already last year it was in late August early September and I remember I was like thinking about the trip looking into flights already and then I checked the weather in Saudi Arabia and yeah that was like end of August and the temperature there was like 40 45° which is extremely hot in my opinion so I thought hm I don't really want to go there when it's like 40 plus degrees so uh yeah look into the different times of the year the summer gets usually very hot in the Middle East I think in general and I was there yeah in beginning of 2025 and I would say the temperature while I was there was actually perfect like between 16 and 24 25° and that in my opinion is the perfect temperature you can walk around outside with a t-shirt or like a thin jacket and it feels comfortable you're not sweating when walking around for an hour or two so that was the perfect temperature so I think in like December January February these are probably good times to visit but yeah make sure a quick Google search can tell you more about that how do locals act towards turrets and the camera did it feel disrespectful to film there also very interesting question if you're watching this video and you're thinking of going there as a YouTuber as a travel content creator as well I had some thoughts about that before coming to Saudia as well like I was not sure if I'm going to be uh like allowed to film everywhere and like there were not many situations where like somebody was not uh like Keen to be in the video but there were a few like a few situations uh I I had a few situations where females around me did not want to be in the video like sometimes I not that because like they they saw me filming and then they were like doing like this you know like covering their faces and as soon as I realized that I was of course pointing the camera away from them out of respect um and there was one situation where a woman was uh sitting in a restaurant next to me I was filming myself trying some food and there was this ruming sitting like on the opposite side of me basically and she asked me like hey can you please not film me um but yeah that's of course no problem whenever someone asked me like that of course I'm not filming this person so that was no problem at all but overall I felt very okay walking around with my camera like many people were even like super Keen to talk to me on camera and I'm also I'm never like hiding my camera like whenever I'm filming like I'm holding the camera basically right in front of my face and everyone around me can clearly see that I am filming so I'm not trying to hide my camera or filming secretly I'm every time I'm filming like not only in Saudi Arabia in any country I'm always filming like obviously people around see that I am filming so when people then approach me while I'm filming or start to talk to me they know that I'm filming so if someone speaks to me while I'm filming then I assume okay that person has no problem to be on camera because I'm obviously filming they obviously know what a camera is in front of my face but uh yeah overall I felt uh comfortable filming in Saudi Arabia just yeah few situations where I noticed someone around me was not keen to be on video and that was totally fine I then yeah either cut them out of the video or pointed my camera like not towards them so that was overall no problem and then how much does the visa on arrival cost so I didn't got the visa on arrival I applied for the Visa before on the official website once again the link is right here and I paid quite exactly $100 for my Visa but I think if I remember correctly my Visa would have been valid for 90 days and even multiple entry so it was a 90-day multiple entry Visa so actually quite a long Visa there was no like shorter option or like no shorter and cheaper option so that was the only option I had but yeah this is maybe different if you don't have a German passport once again uh this link right here will give you all the information and I would assume that the visa on arrival has the same price as the Visa the E Visa that you apply before going there and then also very interesting question how was it all like what's the vibee you were getting typical Middle East vibee like in movies and yeah definitely very stereotype Vibe I would say I think I mentioned that in my train video when I took the train from Medina to jedar like looking out of the window uh riding through the desert it looked like in a Disney movie I was watching when I was a child like desert and then little Oasis with palm trees here and there so that was actually quite beautiful and very typical like in the movies and yeah also The Vibes I was getting in the cities yeah very Middle Eastern like Vibes so overall yeah pretty much as I would have expected Saudi Arabia to look like and to feel like if I'm honest and then also a question that has been asked a lot would you come back if so what else would you explore that you didn't this time and yeah 100% I would be very keen to return to Saudi Arabia and I'm very sure sooner or later I will return to Saudi Arabia and then yeah usually when I'm visiting a country for the second time um more going into the countryside seeing some rural areas some lesser known areas more of the beaten path so when I'm coming to a country for the first time of course I want to see the famous places I want to see the capital city the biggest city so that's what I did on my first trip now to Saudi Arabia like obviously R the capital you have to see that I was very keen to visit jeda because I heard so many good things about jeda and then I was also very excited to see Medina a very holy and Sacred City and yeah next time I will probably try to visit some less unnown areas maybe smaller towns maybe some Villages I think I would be very very curious to see villages in Saudi Arabia like very rural areas Villages where just a few hundred maybe 1 2,000 people are living maybe doing like a trip through the desert that would be really really cool and probably the next time I'm coming I would do a trip something like that and yeah once again this was a video on my second channel on this channel I'm posting like Q&A videos shorter videos that don't make it to the main Channel also some deleted scenes so if you're interested in that feel also free to subscribe to this Channel and if you want to see my full length videos from Saudi Arabia yeah then head over to my main Channel kroad and then thanks for watching stay healthy stay positive and then see you in the next episode ciao guys
2025-03-19 21:48
