Currently traveling around Saudi Arabia, a country I’ve heard a lot of bad stuff about in the media. But is it all true? Hanging out with local friends, doing more research and observing things in the daily life here in Saudi Arabia has made me write these: “20 Things I Like About Saudi Arabia.”
1. They have high employment rate.
2. Free health care for all residents.
3. Free education for all (attending Universities for most Expats’ children is complicated).
4. Tax-free salary for all.
5. Mostly modern infrastructure.
6. One can literally walk around anywhere at any given time feeling safe.
7. “Ladies first” is a reality there. In public, if men and women are walking towards each other the man would move aside while the women keeps on walking. They respect women in that matter.
8. For the most part, law and order situation is pretty decent. Murder rate is pretty low.
9. Food is very cheap (and good!) with countless restaurants everywhere.
10. Every Friday families would go to the beaches, parks, restaurants etc.
11. Very rarely you’ll hear about war/terrorism here, only small problems with Yemen.
12. 33+% of its population are foreigners. Very diverse.
13. There are plenty of luxury malls.
14. I was never afraid that someone would steal from me, no matter where I was here.
15. In a 10-year period things has changed positively in KSA.
16. As far as I can tell, Saudis don’t dislike their government and King Salman
17. Most Saudis have a good heart and are generous people. They don’t lose their
temper fast!
18. Overall people seem happy and live a simple life
19. A lot of the Saudi people are very welcoming and helpful from my experience
20. Some of the most fascinating desert landscapes I’ve ever seen (Edge of the World)
Is Saudi Arabia A Dangerous Country?
Both Saudi women and men can be very conservative, especially in Riyadh, where Jeddah is more liberal and open-minded. The questioner have a very exaggerated picture of Saudi Arabia. In my opinion, the scariest thing in Saudi Arabia is probably the road traffic, certain people tend to drive recklessly.
Of course there are things that can improve here, but these are the 20 things I like about Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia. An underrated country.
Gustav
gus1thego.com