14 Popular Destinations for Saudis during Summer Holidays

Dear Readers,

Most students in Saudi Arabia are finishing off there exams or waiting for results, and getting ready for the annual summer vacation.


As soon as the results are out expats and Saudis alike jet off to cooler climes to escape the blistering heat. This year people who like to spend Ramadan in Saudi (I think its the best place in the world to spend Ramadan,) have quite a narrow window of opportunity from June 6th till July 15th I think.


In the past the US of A has been a favourite, but due to visa issues, and other reasons, U.K has replaced it along with France, Switzerland and Spain, especially Marabella. This year with the Olympics to be held in London in July it may attract sports enthusiasts from Saudi to the much hyped event.

Those who prefer to head to the Far East: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand  (officially only for non-Saudis), for their beach vacation on picturesque island resorts, where it is less expensive and the Saudi riyal when converted still has quite a bit of purchasing power.

Berjaya Resort Langkawi, Malaysia

Still others like to vacation in the Middle East, popular destinations are U.A.E, which despite temperatures of up to 50 C, and very humid weather manages to attract a huge chunk of tourists from Saudi, with its Dubai Summer Surprises Festival favoured by families.

Egypt has been popular in the past, but recently due to the political climate andthe Saudi Embassy in Cairo  being shut down it is no longer a destination of choice.

Lebanon is also a local favourite due to great weather, a hospitable people, and it offers beaches, picturesque cottages on hillsides, shopping, plastic surgery, and wide variety of entertainment venues. Unfortunately this year the political climate has forced many to cancel their vacation plans.

Tunisia was another destination which has suffered due to political unrest.

Ever since Noor aired on MBC channels followe by a barrage of Turkish soaps, Turkey has attracted a huge number of Saudi tourists, despite language problems and in the beginning a rather frosty welcome to Arabs from the Middle East due to the historically hostile relationship between the two countries ( the Turkish Ottoman Empire was overthrown by the help of Lawrence of Arabia and the Bedouin tribes, which later gave rise to an independant Saudi Arabia or something like that I'm not a historian).

Add caption

As the wedding season will now be in full swing newlyweds will be off to their honeymoons, and Maldives secluded romantic resorts are the perfect fit.

I wonder what will be the most popular destination this year among Saudis, we'll know in a week or so when the stats start to come in.. Where are you flyng off to this summer, or if you are staying Saudi what will you be doing? Comment below, its free!

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella- SeriesBook Reviews

Yet another book review of sorts. Intellectual snobs be warned. I am not about to review any heart breaking ground shattering or profound books, I'm afraid I was in the mood for instant if somewhat fleeting gratification. (After reading 4 books by the same author in the space of a short time I'm now  bit fuzzy on the details)

This summer I finally got around to reading The shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella, as well as 'Can you keep a secret?', by the same author. What can I say? Embodiment of perfect chic-lit! If a book were a chocolate with caramel and nougat center it would be the Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Any girl that loves shopping can relate. Any quarter lifer stuck in a  so-so career can also relate. Any girl who manages to land find herself in socially embarrassing sitations, sometimes of her own doing can relate. To conclude, nearly any girl can relate, or at least laugh at Rebecca Bloomwood's shenanigans. As some one who has trouble packing- (think the night before the flight teary, hair-pulling, suitcase-kicking and weighing nervous wreck) I thoroughly enjoyed her travel packing dilemmas.

You don't want to put the book down, because you are enjoying yourself so much, and if you have the next one in the series you will jump at it.  But unlike books of substance you don't find yourself thinking about the characters or events and running through bits in your head again. But then again this is chic lit, a short and sweet affair.

Incidentally, I was looking for by the latest book by the same author Twenties Girl, at Heathrow Airport and I found out that the titles are slightly different. There are different titles for the same book  sold in the UK and US.The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic in the UK is sold as Confessions of a Shopaholic elsewhere. ( I thought that was only the case for  the first Harry Potter, which was titled Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone in the UK while it in the US it was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.)

I would really like to know why they feel the need to change the title, maybe its a legal issue. Do American writers/ publishers also feel the need change to titles of their books when they sell them in the UK and Europe?  Both of these are examples of British writers, but I guess the US market is far bigger and more important commercially, to warrant such a change when compared with the European market.

I feel I may have over-linked this post, but I am an amateur blogger, and I am trying to experiment with one new feature with each post maybe in time my post will improve in quality of content and formatting. Here's to hoping and having faith!