How it started?
Journey to Saudi, it’s never planned nor never thought before. Its July 13th,2019 received a call from one of the consultants. It is Saturday, I usually don’t pick any calls. I was with my best buddies too.., enjoying the weekend. But somehow I managed to pick the call. And next few days everything went well and finally cracked the interview and ready to go Saudi Arabia. I was so excited!
THE JOURNEY:
The next day was my flight, Evening me and my brother started to my uncle’s house in Hyd. My mom gave send-off with teary eyes, I just kissed her on the forehead and said everything will be ok. It was the best.
The journey begins, thought of sharing with a few of my friends. I kept on calling all my dear ones. I shared my happiness and they were all happy. Finally, I reached Hyd late night. Had dinner and slept. I never took the flight before. I really don’t have an idea about the luggage thing boarding pass and immigration thing. These thoughts made me sleepless throughout the night.
Day has come, the time has come. I usually don’t dress much. I was on my trek pants and t-shirt which I felt comfortable. I was just like a guy from the village looking out for red flight (AIR INDIA). Airport was posh. I considered the duration of the journey and wanted to be comfy. But little bit discomfort. Finally, I managed to say that they brought their own tickets, but my fare was free which made me more comfortable. The flight was at 9 45 and I reached the airport by 7 30. My uncle and my brother accompanied me to the gate. I went in got a boarding pass and dropped my luggage. Everything went smooth. I got into flight enjoying the flight thing. My seat was aisle seat(31C). But college students were traveling with their friends. So they offered me the window seat that they booked. I was really thankful because I never thought my first journey would be seeing the fellow passengers’ faces. I had a very good time. Enjoyed the first feeling of taking off and landing. It was a cloudy day.
I experienced the clouds in the sky, shiny clear sky and the view of the miniature homes and areas. Meals and sweet were good.
Even though it was a snack, It was good with the look they added. 36000 feet with a speed of 634km/hr announcement. It was really good to hear and some sort of happiness was around. That’s the reason why air hostess is so beautiful, just to avoid the panic at such heights. Speaking to myself. They asked to collect the luggage at belt number 2. I heard the belt wrong. I was unsure where to get my luggage. The worst part is my mobile was not working. I couldn’t get the signals. I need to contact a person who brings me a passport and tickets. I managed to give a call from some other guy mobile to my office and asked the guy to wait till I meet him. I began fighting with my mobile and finally it worked. THANK GOD….. a sigh of relief. I called him, received a passport. Hurray, I am onto international flight……………
My flight was at 3 50pm in Delhi to Oman(Muskat). I got a boarding pass and dropped my luggage and began roaming all around. Sat at a place seeing the tickets. Clicked them and sent them to the family. They were happy as always. Now my mobile stops working as I forgot international roaming to activate. Its Oman airways flight.
Air hostess welcome with a full smile, I began to behave as a frequent traveler, it’s my second flight same day 😜 . I can view the map on the screen. We need to cross the desert and the sea. At the edge of the sea, there is OMAN airport. As I was early, I got a window seat. I am very anxious during journies. Because I keep staring out all the time. It was really a never-ending desert. We got meals served along with drinks too. I skipped it because in no mood to have it. I took apple juice and enjoyed the meal. Sweet was awesome again.
I kept on staring at the never-ending sand dunes. I was very curious to see the sea waves. It took quite a long time, I was staring at the sand. In the middle of nowhere, there are homes. I don’t know how they are surviving. Maybe I am on top of Pakistan by the time. Finally, the waited seashore was visible. Sea was soo silent. Only small waves are hitting the shoe. Remaining all seemed like an undisturbed set of still water. The view from the beach with usher sound was entirely different from the view that I am watching. Perspective changes I think by the way we look. But the total view makes the difference of perspective. There was a big container ship traveling middle with the waves formed by it as it cuts the still water was awesome to watch. I kept on staring at it. In the middle of the journey, flight makes some tilt, at that moment the view really changes. Feast to eyes, as it tilts one side u can have an eclipse view of the earth. as it tilts another side the emptiness of sky or infinite space that you can see. As we reached Oman, the architecture of buildings and the roads running parallelly. The white houses looked like a deck of small boxes placed in a sequence. We were flying right above the see and can see many containers now. The landing of the flight also has a nice view of the city which should be appreciated. We reached Oman by 5 30PM. It may seem like a shot time but the difference of time zone is the thing. Even we flew for quite 3 and a half hours. we reached there in time I had a connecting flight at 6 45 PM to Riyad.
I was asked to wait at the OMAN, muscat airport. There was time to onboard. I remembered the book “Hold my Hand” by Durjoy Datta which I read few days before, in which the hero of the book travel to Huawei on a scholarship program and work for a company for a short period and dates a blind girl and the journey is described in it. The same is happening here too. Not the love part… and hope it won’t. As no drama’s to entertain. Almost 2 hours away to my destination.
I have no internet or mobile signals. I just kept on thinking about how to meet the pickup person. It was still daylight when I boarded the flight. Got a window seat which I should be thankful for. After a few minutes of the journey, I can see the ray of the evening sunset. Not only the morning sunshine but also these rays give hope inside.
I really loved the journey all along. During the journey, many cities were shining in the glory of the lights which are arranged systematically for the viewers to see a miniature art. Finally, the city of roads and the kingdom of hope is waiting for me. I just landed with a view full of lights surrounded. As I said, I became a frequent traveler, tension didn’t exist anymore. The only thing is I need to meet the person. As there are many stories spoken regarding Saudi regarding taking out your passport and making you do works as per their norms, I was directed to not even show my passport to anyone. Before we get the luggage there is a process in Riyadh airport, they collect the fingerprint and details of the passenger who visits the kingdom for the first time. There were a lot of people around. It took 2 hours to complete my registration thing. I was exhausted. I am worried whether the person stays or not. Luckily he was waiting for me with a placard with my name on it. Finally released. He is from Pakistan named RAKHA and the first cool guy I met in SAUDI. Left-hand side driving and it was a 40 min ride to my place at a speed of around 120 km/h. Roads were broad and the buildings were all good.
Finally, I reached my place. I had a good sound sleep. I had a pickup at the office in the morning. So…. the journey to Saudi is done. Now the journey in Saudi continues to 3 more months. Awaiting for more surprises.
Notes from BCF:
Article by Karthik Chary Anumula. Thanks a lot to Kartik for penning down your experiences from your event. You can watch few videos of the same trip on his youtube channel
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