❝AT TWENTY-FOUR DEGREES NORTH LATITUDE, I've left Hanoi again without seeing the red waters of the Song Hong, not because of my aversion to Bangkok, but because of the unpredictable weather forecast. Having to move my return trip forward and reorganize it, after stopping in Kathmandu to collect my large luggage and crossing through Delhi again, this time as a layover, I entered Saudi Arabia, heading for Riyadh.
A network of niqabi women at the immigration and passport counters of the King Khalid International Airport He attends to the line of passengers newly arrived in the capital without concessions to a smile or the wish for a happy stay so frequent at the other end of the continent.
Disbursed The Hundred Tributes I usually end up paying to leave any new airport, late at night, I finally make my way to rest in the central one Al Olaya district in an affordable hotel, Mena Andalusia, within the crazy hotel rhythm in which the oil country lives, oblivious to the world or, rather, in a double world.
The next day, already recovered, I first went for a quick visit to the National Museum, assembled with care for formation and care of the Saudi identity, and then, by chance, a little further on, I had an unexpected—as unexpected as it was unusual—encounter with Kuya Ramires, an old Filipino friend of mine. from last Luzon expedition to the remote village of Buscalan in 2023, where I met the centenarian tattoo artist from the archipelago, and from whom I had not heard since.
The surprise for both of us, which we quickly recognized once we had overcome the initial disbelief, was celebrated with a Filipino meal.
As the avenue named after the famous Persian doctor Abu Baker Al Razi has ended up being a party place for locals and especially foreigners, and since it was also close by, we set off without a second thought. After trying out a few establishments in the area without success, we ended up at the Kuy's terrace, a restaurant where we ordered a pool with the tasty sweet and sour fish soup sinigang and a bottle of Carlo Rossi wine, which turned out to be a failure.
A terrifying sweet Californian red for toasting that is lavished in the absence of alcohol in the holy land of mosques, apart from sweets and ice cream from a menu with a Spanish echo among Tagalog voices.
After the surprises and improvisations I prepared to land in Medina the next day in a more orderly manner●
