Saudi Arabia

During the month of November, I spent 4 weeks in Saudi Arabia doing a field survey as part of my diplom thesis. Most of the time I was out in the desert doing infiltration tests on different soil types. So I saw a lot of the desert in and around the capital Riyadh. During one occasion I was driving in the desert and stopped by a big dune. When you drive over the edge it's like driving into nothing until the front of the car finally drops down and you can see the sand again. It was a wired feeling to drive over the edge without seeing anything.

Sometimes I had to talk to people to get permission to do the field survey on their property. Most of them were very friendly and I had no problems what so ever. In fact it was more of a challenge to get away from them because they would offer you tea or coffee and would invite to over for lunch or dinner. Most often I had no clue what I was eating but, it always tasted good.

I drove a Toyota Hilux 2500 Diesel which was good because I had to carry a lot of water on the bed in order to be able to do my infiltration test. But the best thing was the gas price. 1 liter of diesel cost only 5 cent (Euro). It was fun to buy gas.

November was also the best month to go there. It was between 20 and 30°C the entire time, so not too cold and not too hot.