# I cannot Leave Saudi Arabia **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 9, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824 "2008-07-09T13:50:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/161 "2008-07-18T08:37:25Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] They have Fuddrucker’s in Saudi Arabia? [/QUOTE] We have one in Dubai too… and I think in Kuwait as well. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/162 "2008-07-18T08:59:50Z")
Is there one in Bahrain? I am usually too hung over in Bahrain to do breakfast. I do the Hard Rock Cafe for American food there, and Hunter’s for British/Australian fare. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/163 "2008-07-18T11:58:00Z")
[QUOTE=Desert Nomad] We have one in Dubai too… [/QUOTE] and a Sherlock Holmes Pub. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/164 "2008-07-18T13:24:01Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] I am laying low until morning. Breakfast at Fudrucker’s then turn in the rental car, then sit around and wait for the plane. [/QUOTE] I hope all continues to go well. Jimmy Carter has yet to respond to my email plea. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/165 "2008-07-18T13:29:15Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] and a Sherlock Holmes Pub. [/QUOTE] You know, they say the good stuff does not give you a hangover. Not true. The Guinness at the Sherlock Holmes, when combined with the lobster bisque from the Japanese place across the hall and a nice red wine gives one a whacking hangover. Eight hours to go. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/166 "2008-07-18T13:51:53Z")
Yemen has exit visa’s, too. I have to get one everytime I leave (~6 times a year). So, my passport has a work Visa (1 page/yr), an entry visa (5-6 pg/yr), exit visa (Numerous pages a year), plus all the stamps required while traveling back and forth, all add up to make me have to replace a 48 page passport in less than 3 years. Regarding salaries: I can’t imagine why anyone would work over here for less than 6 figures. Dubai, and some of the smaller more ‘liberal’ states, maybe. But the cost of living is still quite high especially for a new comer who has to start a home from scratch. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/167 "2008-07-18T14:09:29Z")
Time to put the 'puter in a box and zip up the suitcase. I will be back online Saturday or Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/168 "2008-07-18T14:09:46Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] You know, they say the good stuff does not give you a hangover. Not true. The Guinness at the Sherlock Holmes, when combined with the lobster bisque from the Japanese place across the hall and a nice red wine gives one a whacking hangover. Eight hours to go. [/QUOTE] You were lucky to get in, I was there during Ramadan, it was closed during the day and at night we were busy. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_Clock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Shot\_Clock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_Clock)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/169 "2008-07-18T14:30:40Z")
Paul, be on the lookout for guys who look like Jack Lord pretending to make calls from public pay telephones. Oh, by the way, your fly is open. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/170 "2008-07-18T16:37:20Z")
[QUOTE=Uzi] Numerous pages a year…make me have to replace a 48 page passport in less than 3 years. [/QUOTE] You don’t indicate your citizenship but in the US, can’t you just request extra pages, rather than a whole new passport? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/171 "2008-07-18T23:48:26Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] You don’t indicate your citizenship but in the US, can’t you just request extra pages, rather than a whole new passport? [/QUOTE] Yes, whenever mine fills up, I just pop around to the US Embassy and say, “More pages, please,” and they top 'er up. But I suppose there could come a point where no more extra pages can fit, although I’ve not heard of that happening. And an Australian acquaintance once expressed amazement that I could do that. He said he had to get a new passport and berated the US for this “gaping security breach” (and this was way before 9/11). But I’ve since heard that Australians can do it, too, so I don’t know if the regulations have changed or he was just a nutter. (Well, he was in some ways, but not that much of one.) ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/172 "2008-07-19T02:58:14Z")
[QUOTE=CookingWithGas] You don’t indicate your citizenship but in the US, can’t you just request extra pages, rather than a whole new passport? [/QUOTE] No, in Canada you have to get a new passport. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/173 "2008-07-19T04:26:32Z")
Look1 I a, typing on q French keyboqrd1 I hqd forgotten qbout those: Hoz continentql1 Flight to Pqris zqs pqcked: Hoz cqn these people not be ,qking ,oney§ Zhere cqn I get breqkfqst in this qirport§ ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/174 "2008-07-19T04:31:13Z")
Just pop the keys off with a small screwdriver and stick them back on in the right place. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/175 "2008-07-19T05:52:49Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Look1 I a, typing on q French keyboqrd1 I hqd forgotten qbout those: Hoz continentql1 Flight to Pqris zqs pqcked: Hoz cqn these people not be ,qking ,oney§ Zhere cqn I get breqkfqst in this qirport§ [/QUOTE] Wow - I can actually hear the accent! ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/176 "2008-07-19T06:53:43Z")
[QUOTE=Uzi] Yemen has exit visa’s, too. I have to get one everytime I leave (~6 times a year). So, my passport has a work Visa (1 page/yr), an entry visa (5-6 pg/yr), exit visa (Numerous pages a year), plus all the stamps required while traveling back and forth, all add up to make me have to replace a 48 page passport in less than 3 years. Regarding salaries: I can’t imagine why anyone would work over here for less than 6 figures. Dubai, and some of the smaller more ‘liberal’ states, maybe. But the cost of living is still quite high especially for a new comer who has to start a home from scratch. [/QUOTE] What kind of work do you do in Yemen? Sana’a, Aden or someplace small? Certainly your money goes much, much father in Yemen than in Dubai, but it is a vastly different place. I’d work there for less than 6 figures (but not much less). Of course I actually _like_ the Mid East… tho Yemen would be a bit of a hardship place to live. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/177 "2008-07-19T19:41:02Z")
OK, I arrived at Mom’s house. 20 hours of travel time. A shower is way past due methinks. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/178 "2008-07-19T19:44:23Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] OK, I arrived at Mom’s house. 20 hours of travel time. A shower is way past due methinks. [/QUOTE] He’s back and in one piece!! yea. ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/179 "2008-07-19T19:47:40Z")
Very glad you are safely back in the US. Enjoy said shower and a nap. Hopefully you will have a chance to go to the Uptown to see Dark Knight before next weekend’s dopefest. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824/180 "2008-07-19T20:12:41Z")
Somebody PM me and tell me when I have to be where. I cannot find the thread. Still travel-groggy I guess [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cannot-leave-saudi-arabia/455824.md?page=10)