Mud Brick Houses and the Attack of the Killer Horse

Charlie and I got to go out with some friends to a small town outside of Riyadh a few weekends back. We meet a Saudi man that was from this town and he wanted to show us around how Saudi living used to be. Hard to believe that as little as 50 years ago the even wealthy people lived in mud brick houses! The first part of the video was the tour of his house that he grew until he was about 10 years old.

The second part of the video shows the epic horse bite (go to about 10:00 min in). He took us out to a horse farm and as we found out, not all the horses were too friendly.

The last part is one of our favorite parts of being in Saudi - desert camping. We drove out to a quiet part of the desert, threw out the blankets and BBQ, and had some amazing kabobs, humus, fresh dates, Arabic coffee, and tea. It was a great night and is one more thing we have to to love about Saudi!

Also if you have not seen our other video with Saad, here is our dune bashing adventure

Dessert Camping

Two weekend ago we were able to do some more camping in the Saudi dessert. The weather is still nice so we wanted to get one more camping trip in before the weather becomes unbearable haha! Here are some pictures of our adventure!

So the first thing we saw was a herd of goats. We were excited to see some animals in the desert.

Next, we started setting up camp in a wadi which is a dry river bed. After setting up camp we decided to go for a hike up to these plateaus. The view was absolutely beautiful!

We had a good time climbing up to the top!

  

Soon after the guys returned we had some unexpected visitors to our campsite!

The camels were actually quite friendly and quite smelly haha!

The guys with there newest friends

The camels came through a couple different times with their herder who rode on a donkey.

Here is a video of one of times the camels came through 

Camels in our camp from Brendon Hunt on Vimeo.

After the camel invasion we sat down by the campfire and had some delicious Kabsa (chicken and rice). When we had finished the Kabsa we busted out the S’mores!!! 

After some amazing food and great conversations we headed for bed – our sleeping bag under the stars!!! Yep, no tents! I have to say, I did have one worry……. I kept thinking about the camels and I was hoping we weren’t going to get trampled haha! Luckily they waited until the morning to return and we were able to move our stuff out of the way for them. 

The camping trip was so much fun but it wouldn’t have been the same without the amazing people we spent it with! We love our new friends here and the old friends who have now joined us!

Top 10 things you don't see everyday in America

Hello all! For this post we are doing a top ten things you just don't see everyday in America. There are lots of things in Saudi we could put down, but here are a few that caught our eye. Enjoy!

#10 Little Rain = Big Problem

Yes, it does rain here in Saudi. Here are few pictures from one of the newspapers after a big rain a few months ago

Here in the desert, when it rains the ground does not absorb water very fast. Add that to a few sewage system back ups and it can be quite a mess.

All of this and it rained less than an hour.

#9 Class (hand) Pictures

Girls here never ever show their face in pictures, so class pictures can be difficult.

So how do they do it? The picture below says it all. I'd love to see the school's yearbook.

#8 Burqa Barbie

Not even Barbie can get break the law on this one.

#7 Anti-Woman Drivers Bumper Stickers

Yup that's right. That's a picture of a woman in an abaya with a steering wheel underneath.

#6 Cell Phone Mania

Sure you might be thinking that people are crazy about cell phones in the States too. Trust me, Saudi's are way more. How you might ask? Every Saudi I know has at least 2 on them at all times. It makes it great for teachers when you take away their cell phone for texting only to find out that they are now texting on their second phone. They aren't your run of the mill cheap phone either. About 80% of the students have Blackberries and another 15% have iPhones.

This was the lost and found at the school after one semester.

Just kidding

#5 Animals is the mall

I know this sounds crazy but in one the malls here they have all of these animals throughout the mall! Before you get too excited, they are all stuffed. But the malls here are immaculate. Not only are there tons of stuffed animals but there are also huge water falls and fountains. Oh and did I mention roller coasters? That's a whole different post in itself.

Where else have you seen a crocodile staring you down as you buy your Starbucks?

#4 Mosques in the malls

Hang a right after the food court.

#3 Full body bathing suits

That's right girls. Don't get a lot of sun in one of these.

#2 Sharpie time

We have mentioned this before, but here in Saudi, they blackout everything that shows women's skin. It can make for some really funny pictures. I think in this one that death is about to attack those children.

I'm guessing they were going for the black smoke from Lost look.

This one is my favorite. I like the teeth for effect.

And finally, the one you have all been waiting for...

#1 The Hunts are going all Saudi

Hope you enjoyed the list! See you all in 2 weeks!