Those aren't pillows

I've been in Saudi Arabia for a week now. My company have put me up in a perfectly passable 4* hotel in central Riyadh on a main street near some big brand names and swanky looking (yet obviously 'dry') restaurants. I have another three weeks in which to find somewhere more permanent.

Tonight I took a walk to the laundry which is understandably not on the main drag and I decided on my way back that I would call in for dinner at one of the less internationally renowned eateries on the back streets.

I chose one place that seemed popular (in a kinda one bloke at a table kinda way) and which had a kitchen that was visible directly from the street outside... not something that Gary Rhodes is bold enough to do eh?

After twice refusing to be directed out of the restaurant by mein host towards some neon lit establishments that would (in his opinion) cater better for my delicate English tastes I sat down for a meal that I ordered in the timeless way of just pointing inanely at someone else's choice of food. As there was only one other customer it was a case of 'I'll have what he's having'.

The result is that I have just had a huge meal and the only thing I can identify with any degree of certainty was the bottle of coke that came with it. There were some green things that could have been cabbage, some red stuff and some white stuff crumbled on top. And it was both delicious delicious and very cheap... the whole dining experience cost me less than one of your shiny English pounds.

And it reminded me why I love traveling. I do it to get lost. Tonight I could have been the only westerner in Riyadh, and frankly no westerner with any sense would be here at the weekend, but I'm really starting to enjoy being here. It's different and I can get lost.