 A camel driver tends his herd.... not all Saudis embrace modernisation from the West  |
 On the surface, Saudi Arabia appears a lot like other Muslim countries such as Iran or Iraq. There are many similarities - the wall-to-wall desert and the women clad head to toe in abayyas, but then you start to notice the differences - the obvious wealth and corresponding lack of poverty, the big flashy cars and the obsession with everything American. This, of course, is the crucial difference. Apart from Kuwait, and to a lesser extent Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia stands apart from the rest of the Muslim world as openly pro-American. And this is what makes it such a fascinating and confusing place to visit.
In Saudi, a country allied to the United States, the women wear designer clothing beneath their abbayas, but aren't allowed to drive; and restaurants - even the ubiquitous McDonalds, Wendy's and Kentucky Fried - have two entrances. One is for families, the other for single men. In these restaurants, the women eat inside curtained cubicles.
Giant shopping malls resembling marble palaces, full of Saudi families laden with shopping bags, women dripping in jewels and wearing - under their traditional black abbayas - every designer name from Versace to Calvin Klein, with definitely not a copy in sight.
Contradictions abound as Saudi Arabia tries to embrace the West while at the same time maintaining strict Islamic standards........
Copyright ©Karen Halabi 2007 story and images
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