Arabic Coffee shop

ChineseTiger1986 · Apr 3, 2026

Falcon29 said:
@ChineseTiger1986

I would say Arab youth are in general very curious about China and Chinese lifestyle/culture, but we are just not educated on it. Arab Monarchs like the GCC ones are heavily aligned with the US for security guarantees which partially holds rest of Arabs back from engaging with China on a deeper level, even cultural one.

We're led by strong men or monarchs (made up of specific royal families), minus those of us in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. Rest of Arabs do not have democracy and are ruled infinitely by military junta or monarch.

And the other big factor is Arabs were subjected to European colonialism for oil resources and are subjected to this kind of abusive relationship. But also that Europeans are considered 'People of the Book' in Islam, in sense their religious beliefs are Abrahamic faiths and closely aligned with Islam.

I would like to see more cultural exposure to both cultures by Chinese and Arabs people. Chinese Arabic speaking analysts and so forth can help with this exposure. Potentially also providing economic opportunities or tourism for Arab expats or visitors.

Here in the US lots of people like to claim Chinese look down on us American citizens and they seem to encourage to not really travel there if you're not there for business purposes. They isolate Chinese culture from Americans and also they banned us from being able to purchase Chinese smartphones, which is a bummer because I had my eye on a Huawei smartphone.

In Palestine since we have a democracy, we are quite familiar with Chinese products and very open to advancing relations with China. When I was staying in Gaza a ton of the products there were Chinese. Electronics, utility devices, even for first time in my life I was able to see so many Chinese vehicles and ride in them. They were these brands : Geely, JAC, and Chery

^^

Coming into Gaza Strip from Egypt

Most Chinese people encourage the Arabs to achieve its national sovereignty.

The true democracy should ensure all nations to achieve its true national sovereignty as the foremost pre-condition, not the western neo-colonialism in pretense of 'democracy'.

We also encourage those enlightened Americans to join us, and those delusional self-righteous racists/bigots should stay in the hellhole where they belong.

Falcon29 · Apr 8, 2026

For the love of God change your leadership guys. Put more qualified people or remove royal families or something.

I was defending you guys 100% doing everything to make sure you aren't dragged into the war and Hamas, Qatar and others made many efforts.

Yet still we as Arabs subjected to vulnerability again at mercy of everyone because we don't take initiative nor prepare for scenarios ahead of time.

Strengthen ties with Turkey + Pakistan + whoever else. Don't let US put you in vulnerable situation again. Strengthen ties with Syria and have them guide you and advise you.

Tell the kids in UAE to stop, they're making Arabs an easy target and propagating enemy propaganda about Arabs.

This and any other war shows how vulnerable we Arabs are. This state cannot continue.

And I don't mean materially. Iran did some damage materially that you cannot deny but it's more on soft power - non material level where Arabs are being fried for not having initiative at all while all others do. Turkey is protecting Azeris. Iranians are protecting or supporting their proxies. Americans are protecting Israelis. Arabs everyone on their own if it came down to it.

We don't want that. We are capable people capable of looking after each other and we also need this UAE kids to shut up and take a step back and stop embarrassing our people.

_Arabia_ · Apr 8, 2026

Falcon29 said:
@ChineseTiger1986

I would say Arab youth are in general very curious about China and Chinese lifestyle/culture, but we are just not educated on it. Arab Monarchs like the GCC ones are heavily aligned with the US for security guarantees which partially holds rest of Arabs back from engaging with China on a deeper level, even cultural one.

We're led by strong men or monarchs (made up of specific royal families), minus those of us in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. Rest of Arabs do not have democracy and are ruled infinitely by military junta or monarch.

And the other big factor is Arabs were subjected to European colonialism for oil resources and are subjected to this kind of abusive relationship. But also that Europeans are considered 'People of the Book' in Islam, in sense their religious beliefs are Abrahamic faiths and closely aligned with Islam.

I would like to see more cultural exposure to both cultures by Chinese and Arabs people. Chinese Arabic speaking analysts and so forth can help with this exposure. Potentially also providing economic opportunities or tourism for Arab expats or visitors.

Here in the US lots of people like to claim Chinese look down on us American citizens and they seem to encourage to not really travel there if you're not there for business purposes. They isolate Chinese culture from Americans and also they banned us from being able to purchase Chinese smartphones, which is a bummer because I had my eye on a Huawei smartphone.

In Palestine since we have a democracy, we are quite familiar with Chinese products and very open to advancing relations with China. When I was staying in Gaza a ton of the products there were Chinese. Electronics, utility devices, even for first time in my life I was able to see so many Chinese vehicles and ride in them. They were these brands : Geely, JAC, and Chery

^^

Coming into Gaza Strip from Egypt

Your first part of your post brother, with all due respect, is severely lacking correct information.

It is the GCC (monarchies) that have the by far closest people to people, economic and cultural ties with China. Aside from being closest to China geographically of all Arabs states.

Let me demonstrate this with a few facts:

KSA has the closest military ties with China of any Arab and Muslim nation not named Pakistan.

KSA produces numerous Chinese drones within KSA.

A good recent example of this:

Our entire strategic missile force (the largest and most well developed in the entire Arab world) was mostly constructed and helped by China since the 1980's. It has now evolved massively with 100's of Saudi Arabian underground missile bases below the numerous mountain ranges in KSA and deserts. KSA is also making our own ballistic missiles with Chinese help. Everything has been covered in great detail in this thread below:

Thread 'Royal Saudi Arabian Strategic Missile Force'

Feb 17, 2024

Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force

It is the (strategic) missile defense branch and the newest military wing of the Saudi Armed Forces.

It is one of the general pillars of war concerned with absorbing everything that would enhance missile capabilities to achieve deterrence
Against any threat that might affect the sanctities and capabilities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,

The nucleus of the Royal Strategic Missile Force was established as a project known within the Saudi Ministry of Defense as the strategic missile “Falcon Project” and the role of the strategic...

KSA has imported, localized and even used some of China's newest laser weapons.

Silent Hunter (laser weapon) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

As for economic ties - China and the Arab world had a 400 billion USD trade volume in 2024. That is enormous. Guess what? 90% of that trade was mostly with KSA (largest trade partner of China by far in the Muslim world) and the GCC.

The trade volume between China and the GCC in 2024 was almost 300 billion USD!

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/04/3-key-sectors-poised-for-explosive-growth-as-china-gcc-cooperation-deepens/

Arab world-China trade volume 2024 was over 400 billion USD!

Trade between China and Arab countries exceeds $400 billion in 2024

BEIJING-SABA The volume of trade between China and Arab countries exceeded 400 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, and China has remained the largest trading partner of Arab countries for many consecutive years. Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Ren Hongbin said the...

www.sabanew.net

KSA-China trade volume over 100 billion in 2024:

China–Saudi Arabia Economic Relations: Trade, Energy & Strategy

Explore China–Saudi Arabia economic relations, trade volumes, energy cooperation, major investments, and strategic alignment shaping the partnership in 2025.

behorizon.org

Largest Chinese diaspora in the Arab/Muslim world? 90% of all Chinese people live either in KSA or UAE.

China–Arab relations - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There are around 50.000-100.000 (some say more) Saudi Arabian citizens of Hui Muslim or Uyghur Muslim origin. We even had 1 army general.

There are entire "Chinatowns" in KSA for instance.

Many prominent Chinese Muslims immigrated to KSA to escape communism and oppression against Chinese Muslims during the Chinese civil war:

Ma Bukang - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

تصنيف:صينيون مهاجرون إلى السعودية - ويكيبيديا

ar.wikipedia.org

Also from what I am aware of KSA is the only Arab country where certain provinces/regions have made Mandarin mandatory in public schools.

Saudi Arabia begins Chinese-language classes at schools

RIYADH: Chinese-language instruction has begun at the country’s schools to equip young people with valuable linguistic skills and cultivate a deeper appreciation for the Asian nation’s culture. The language is being taught to primary and middle school students. According to reports, 175...

www.arabnews.com

The GCC is not more "heavily" aligned with the US military than Morocco (Maghreb), Tunisia (Maghreb), Jordan (North Arabia/South Levant) is. Or Egypt for that matter which is very reliant on the West economically, militarily and politically. Same with Iraq (North Arabia/Mesopotamia).

Also I am afraid that there is no real genuine democracy anywhere in the Arab world or Muslim world for that matter. It is not even remotely comparable to what you can see in the West (Europe) and the US.

Look at the PA. Abbas has been ruling continuously for over 20 + years. He is the oldest head of state in the world. Hamas has also ruled unopposed in Gaza for over 20 + years with no elections either.

Even Turkiye which adopted Western culture, ideology, politics forcefully under Kemalism, is only a democracy in name only with Erdogan ruling for over 20 + years almost unopposed. With a controlled opposition.

Pakistan has been ruled by the military since forever and they are the ones calling the shots not their politicians.

Real democracy is found in places like Denmark, Switzerland etc. We are far, far away from that anywhere in the Muslim world.

_Arabia_ · Apr 8, 2026

Falcon29 said:
For the love of God change your leadership guys. Put more qualified people or remove royal families or something.

I was defending you guys 100% doing everything to make sure you aren't dragged into the war and Hamas, Qatar and others made many efforts.

Yet still we as Arabs subjected to vulnerability again at mercy of everyone because we don't take initiative nor prepare for scenarios ahead of time.

Strengthen ties with Turkey + Pakistan + whoever else. Don't let US put you in vulnerable situation again. Strengthen ties with Syria and have them guide you and advise you.

Tell the kids in UAE to stop, they're making Arabs an easy target and propagating enemy propaganda about Arabs.

This and any other war shows how vulnerable we Arabs are. This state cannot continue.

And I don't mean materially. Iran did some damage materially that you cannot deny but it's more on soft power - non material level where Arabs are being fried for not having initiative at all while all others do. Turkey is protecting Azeris. Iranians are protecting or supporting their proxies. Americans are protecting Israelis. Arabs everyone on their own if it came down to it.

We don't want that. We are capable people capable of looking after each other and we also need this UAE kids to shut up and take a step back and stop embarrassing our people.

Again, Arabs are divided into 20 + countries and 20 + regimes - each with their own agenda. Iran on the other hand is 1 single country (1.5 times smaller than KSA and with an economy smaller than 10 million big UAE and with fewer people than the combined population of Yemen and KSA alone) ruled harshly by a regime that killed at least 5.000 civilians (their own) during protests earlier this year. Much, much easier to control and have 1 single policy when you are such a small entity compared to the enormous, vast and divided Arab world.

Same story with Turkiye and Pakistan. All countries with their own large problems as well.

KSA is the biggest ally and supporter of Syria. We are helping rebuild Syria in all spheres, economic, infrastructure (oil, gas, telecom, internet cables, trade corridors) and people to people. Not sure what we can do more.

KSA was busy defeating UAE shenanigans in Yemen (successfully) earlier this year, Somalia (Somaliland) - successfully so far and we are engaged in Sudan too on the government side and against the RSF. We have tons on our plate and now this regional conflict that KSA did not start nor really participate much in.

_Arabia_ · Apr 8, 2026

Anyway I have been disappointed by MBS and our government in the past 4-6 weeks of conflict in the region. In particular when it comes to the passivity. If we are actively involved in the conflict against a hostile regime (Iranian regime) what is the point of our restrain? We have more firepower than Iran itself and we can hurt them immensely. We can easily destroy all of their oil, gas infrastructure, all of their historical sites (if needed) and every core infrastructure. By our 1 billion times superior Air Force (one of the most powerful in the world), much more powerful ballistic missiles, drones etc. Unlike Iran, we have greater strategic depth (KSA is 1.5 times larger than Iran), 100 times the economy, 1 billion times the sovereign wealth fund, numerous powerful allies, no sanctions and our oil and gas infrastructure can be rebuild much quicker.

I dislike the current UAE regime but respect to them for openly targeting and destroying Iranian oil and gas infrastructure and not being passive.

So what is the point of this passivity? I understand that KSA, not being a failed state like Iran, has much more to lose, and people would revolt/be very discontent, if we accepted what the Iranian people have been accepting for decades, but if that is the case, why involve ourselves in this conflict to begin with?

I still would claim that Iran would have been attacking the GCC states, due to geographic proximity, regardless, because Iran is unable to hurt the US mainland at all and barely hurt Israel, so there is that.

In any case, whatever it is or was (strategic patience etc.) it is pathetic.

We (Arabians) have never lost a single war or conflict against Iranains (Persians) in recorded history. We conquered and destroyed their Zoroastrian empire forever 1400 years ago later to rule them directly for almost 500 years. We changed their language permanently (Persian is heavily influenced by Arabic), their alphabet (a copy of our Arabic alphabet with just 4 new characters), their religion (Islam), culture, ethnicity (millions of Arabs live in Iran and many more Iranians have partial Arab ancestry - confirmed by every DNA test), all of their Mullah Shia elites are almost originally from KSA or the Arab world (South Lebanon and South Iraq), all of those black Turbans are our direct off-spring, their most visited and most revered sites are mausoleums/shrines of long dead Hijazi Arabs from modern- day KSA. Several main Iranian cities were founded by the same Hijazi Arabs form modern-day KSA - Qom - Mashhad (even Arabic names in origin).

The passivity was/is pathetic, I have to say.

MBS/House of Saud needs to be removed from power if this war continues for more months and we don't reply to their attacks - even though nothing of real worth has been destroyed in KSA so far. Give power to other local actors if this unexplainable passivity continues. It cannot be tolerated and even more and more people are saying this openly to my surprise. They too do not understand this.

Of course this is most likely a Zionist/Iranian regime scheme to hurt Arabs (GCC) as usual. Very likely so that could explain it.

In any case we need to pursue nuclear weapons ASAP if we don't have them already.

_Arabia_ · Apr 8, 2026

جوبا · Apr 8, 2026

heyooo
look who is back
حياك الله

_Arabia_ said:
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_Arabia_ · Apr 8, 2026

Hilarious - insults against people whose religion, culture, language, ethnicity, DNA, civilization etc. you copied and inherited.

A civilization and people who have far recorded older civilizations and cultures than 99.99% of the world and whose civilization and its influence has few if any rivals globally.

There are hordes of ignorant and very low IQ Egyptian trolls online. Who 1) do not realize that they are closely related - most closely in fact of every other non-Egyptians to KSA of all people (far predating any Arab links - read Natufian ties) and that some of the earliest recorded Pharaoh dynasties in Egypt were originally Semitic peoples/from Arabia/South Levant.

The DNA of Pharaohs and ancient Egyptians were found to be closer to modern-day Saudi Arabians and South Levantine Arabs than many modern-day Egyptians who on average score much higher Sub-Saharan Ancestry today than previously.

Ancient Egyptian mummy genomes suggest an increase of Sub-Saharan African ancestry in post-Roman periods - Nature Communications

Archaeological and historical records had shown ancient Egypt before and after Ptolemaic and Roman periods to be a hub of human migration and exchange. Here, Schuenemann and colleagues analyse ancient mitochondrial and nuclear DNA to investigate the genetic history of Egypt.

www.nature.com

Hyksos - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is a shame that some stupid Egyptians do not realize that tier closest genetic relatives are us Saudi Arabians/Arabians - confirmed by every DNA test and that so many of them are obsessed about Arab or non-Arab. The idiots do not realize that our shared ancestry far predates any Arabs or ancient Egyptians.

Unfortunately among the 550 million Arabs - we have millions of uneducated idiots - among Saudi Arabians as well.

On the other hand we have retards from KSA spending 24/7 of their time giving Arab certificates or taken them away from fellow Arabs. Equally as moronic.

The stupidity online is a reflection of the political division of Arabs. Unless we outgrow this stupid tribalism and realize that we share far much more in common in every field than what separates us - we will remain in this current state by large. Arabs of the GCC are doing great on most fronts but what does that matter if our entire neighborhood is messed up?

I saw the stupid posts of this @Desert troll and his nonsense and came to think about it. Now that troll is banned but likely a false flagger as well and if not he is an uneducated idiot and a great example of what I have written above.

_Arabia_ · Apr 8, 2026

As for this current conflict - UAE has been most hard hit economically and politically and currently UAE (Abu Dhabi regime) is almost an enemy of KSA. We are taking the cake away from UAE and eating it too on many sectors - economy, tourism and politics. In an ideal world this should not be the case (wait, in an ideal world KSA would annex UAE and all of those small GCC states again), but they took it upon themselves to be Zionist puppets and to actively combat and work against KSA interests in Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Syria etc. I have very little good to say about the Abu Dhabi regime. Not to mention how they were a lifeline for the Iranian regime for decades - ironically.

As for those wishing for the imaginary downfall of KSA:

KSA now ranks 12th globally (out of almost 200 nations worldwide) in terms of tourism revenue. We are talking about a country that just 12 years ago was almost impossible for tourists to visit. Closely behind North Korea in terms of difficulty being granted a tourism visa.

Now imagine what KSA can achieve in the next 10-15 years when most of the giga and mega projects are finished. That is without mentioning Makkah and Madinah (Hajj and Umrah).

And all of this has occurred without KSA lifting the ban on alcohol anywhere - not even isolated island resorts. Look at Turkiye - who also have done a remarkable job developing their tourism sector from nothing - although much earlier. There prostitution is legal in comparison let alone alcohol - hence the huge hordes of drunk Russian/Ukrainian/Slavic and others tourists many resorts in Turkiye have been attracting for decades.

Falcon29 · Apr 8, 2026

_Arabia_ said:
Anyway I have been disappointed by MBS and our government in the past 4-6 weeks of conflict in the region. In particular when it comes to the passivity. If we are actively involved in the conflict against a hostile regime (Iranian regime) what is the point of our restrain? We have more firepower than Iran itself and we can hurt them immensely. We can easily destroy all of their oil, gas infrastructure, all of their historical sites (if needed) and every core infrastructure. By our 1 billion times superior Air Force (one of the most powerful in the world), much more powerful ballistic missiles, drones etc. Unlike Iran, we have greater strategic depth (KSA is 1.5 times larger than Iran), 100 times the economy, 1 billion times the sovereign wealth fund, numerous powerful allies, no sanctions and our oil and gas infrastructure can be rebuild much quicker.

I dislike the current UAE regime but respect to them for openly targeting and destroying Iranian oil and gas infrastructure and not being passive.

So what is the point of this passivity? I understand that KSA, not being a failed state like Iran, has much more to lose, and people would revolt/be very discontent, if we accepted what the Iranian people have been accepting for decades, but if that is the case, why involve ourselves in this conflict to begin with?

I still would claim that Iran would have been attacking the GCC states, due to geographic proximity, regardless, because Iran is unable to hurt the US mainland at all and barely hurt Israel, so there is that.

In any case, whatever it is or was (strategic patience etc.) it is pathetic.

We (Arabians) have never lost a single war or conflict against Iranains (Persians) in recorded history. We conquered and destroyed their Zoroastrian empire forever 1400 years ago later to rule them directly for almost 500 years. We changed their language permanently (Persian is heavily influenced by Arabic), their alphabet (a copy of our Arabic alphabet with just 4 new characters), their religion (Islam), culture, ethnicity (millions of Arabs live in Iran and many more Iranians have partial Arab ancestry - confirmed by every DNA test), all of their Mullah Shia elites are almost originally from KSA or the Arab world (South Lebanon and South Iraq), all of those black Turbans are our direct off-spring, their most visited and most revered sites are mausoleums/shrines of long dead Hijazi Arabs from modern- day KSA. Several main Iranian cities were founded by the same Hijazi Arabs form modern-day KSA - Qom - Mashhad (even Arabic names in origin).

The passivity was/is pathetic, I have to say.

MBS/House of Saud needs to be removed from power if this war continues for more months and we don't reply to their attacks - even though nothing of real worth has been destroyed in KSA so far. Give power to other local actors if this unexplainable passivity continues. It cannot be tolerated and even more and more people are saying this openly to my surprise. They too do not understand this.

Of course this is most likely a Zionist/Iranian regime scheme to hurt Arabs (GCC) as usual. Very likely so that could explain it.

In any case we need to pursue nuclear weapons ASAP if we don't have them already.

Be careful. Don't get yourself in trouble over my posts. But I agree Arabs were made vulnerable and put on defensive in this situation. Which is likely when you have Israel right behind our back waiting for moment for GCC/Saudi collapse to make a move on Egypt/Syria/Jordan

We do need better leadership but it was right thing to do to stay out and show patience. There was a weird agenda in this war to trigger power vacuum in GCC.

Iran after this war needs to do a 180 and stop trying to incriminate Arab neighbors as Zionist agents and what not. It needs to move towards a real peace with Arab neighbors. It was going that way until this war started. Let's see if Iran is going to continue that diplomatic campaign to fix ties with Arab world. It is needed.

_Arabia_ · Apr 8, 2026

Falcon29 said:
Be careful. Don't get yourself in trouble over my posts. But I agree Arabs were made vulnerable and put on defensive in this situation. Which is likely when you have Israel right behind our back waiting for moment for GCC/Saudi collapse to make a move on Egypt/Syria/Jordan

We do need better leadership but it was right thing to do to stay out and show patience. There was a weird agenda in this war to trigger power vacuum in GCC.

Iran after this war needs to do a 180 and stop trying to incriminate Arab neighbors as Zionist agents and what not. It needs to move towards a real peace with Arab neighbors. It was going that way until this war started. Let's see if Iran is going to continue that diplomatic campaign to fix ties with Arab world. It is needed.

I wrote this post in another thread and I think that it would suffice as a reply to your post.

You have to realize this simple fact. The Iranian regime has not hurt the US mainland even once since 1979. They are incapable of doing that. Same story - largely when it comes to Israel.

On the other hand GCC has a close geographic proximity to Iran and thus is an easy target - in particular the smaller GCC states.

The GCC is also the world's richest area in terms of natural resources and mineral wealth (oil and gas infrastructure), one of the world's main economic, aviation, tourism etc. hubs.

My claim is that the Iranian regime - even if the GCC and the Iranian regime were treaty allies and the closest allies in the world - would be targeting the GCC in case of a conflict - because that is Iran's sole opportunity to make this more of a global economic conflict. Otherwise they have no other options to play.

Having said that barely anything in GCC (in KSA in particular) has been destroyed of worth and Iran has been hit 1 million times more.

Not to mention that KSA/GCC alone has 15 times the economic and 2000 times the sovereign wealth fund - whatever little damage can easily be rebuilt. We can't say the same thing about the Iranian regime.

It is the stupid Iranian regime's fault anyway. They have made the life of ordinary Iranians miserable since 1979 and have even failed to develop nuclear weapons despite getting help/insight from Pakistan and Pakistani elements. They have practically failed in every endeavor.

Prior to 1979 KSA/GCC and Iran had cordial ties. Even to this day - GCC hosts the largest Iranian diaspora (by far) in the region. Millions of Iranian Arabs, Baloch, Sunni Persians etc. have been migrating to Eastern Arabia/GCC for the past many centuries and migrations of Arabs the other way around have also occurred - although on a smaller scale.

Unfortunately they are largely deluded people and people with an elevated sense of grandeur that has no connection to the ground reality.

We are talking about a country 1.5 times smaller than KSA alone, with an economy smaller than 10 million big UAE and with fewer people than KSA and Yemen alone. By 2050 Yemen will have a larger population than Iran.

But if you read/hear them speak, they are acting like they were the next China.

It is all a bit of a joke really. I only feel sorry for ordinary Iranian civilians - the 1000's that have perished. For what? Nobody really knows why.

As for leadership - we definitely need better leadership but we also need to move away from our at times moronic tribalism and work genuinely together as we share far much more in common on every field than what divides us. Arabs - unfortunately, are very good at dividing ourselves over the most stupid and insignificant reasons.

Leadership, in many ways, is the reflection of the people.

Anyway regardless of my opposition to the Iranian regime - a calm region is preferable and as I wrote in the other thread (Lebanon) and as we have discussed many times - the Iranian Mullah's, in the wider picture, are insignificant for us Arabs and not a threat - nuclear armed Israel on the other hand is. But Iranian regime behavior is removing the focus from Israel. What are you going to say tot Kuwaitis, Bahrainis, Qataris, Emiratis etc. - when they are attacked by Iranian drones and missiles - and tell them that Israel is the greater enemy/urgent problem than Iran? Many will not agree. So the Iranian regime - once again, is playing right in the hands of the Zionists.

They are as deluded thinking they can tax the Strait of Hormuz (never going to happen) and even Omani ministers (transport minister) denied this today and said that it is illegal according to some treaty from 1970. Their delusion knows no boundaries. Same with reparations. They are not going to receive anything form the GCC or Arabs. They have not even received reparations from Iraq which was the clear aggressor between 1980-1988. Here what, almost 40 years later.

Starlord · Apr 8, 2026

@_Arabia_ lets continue the resort conversation here before we both get thread banned.

I haven't visited KSA yet, my parents/sister and brother went for Ummrah last year they were expecting me to come from USA but i couldn't, maybe some day if pocket allows. But i told my parents if I ever go to KSA i am not just doing ummrah, i rather have a 15 days trip where I want to visit every historical site including Badr, Taif, Uhud, and other place where Prophet has visited, stayed or even made prayers.

coming to the resort, I am not sure how much the resort like those on blue water cost but Maldives are costly, another thing is that such resorts are kinda isolated so the food or any drinks over there are costly too which is true for most resorts anyway. These places are beautiful and definitely worth the visit but spending 1000's of dollars just for 1-2 night doesn't get me excited.

@_Arabia_ like I said, cost an arm leg kidney and eye to stay 3-4 nights hahah

_Arabia_ · Apr 9, 2026

Starlord said:
@_Arabia_ lets continue the resort conversation here before we both get thread banned.

I haven't visited KSA yet, my parents/sister and brother went for Ummrah last year they were expecting me to come from USA but i couldn't, maybe some day if pocket allows. But i told my parents if I ever go to KSA i am not just doing ummrah, i rather have a 15 days trip where I want to visit every historical site including Badr, Taif, Uhud, and other place where Prophet has visited, stayed or even made prayers.

coming to the resort, I am not sure how much the resort like those on blue water cost but Maldives are costly, another thing is that such resorts are kinda isolated so the food or any drinks over there are costly too which is true for most resorts anyway. These places are beautiful and definitely worth the visit but spending 1000's of dollars just for 1-2 night doesn't get me excited.

KSA is a huge country. It is similar in size as Pakistan and Iran combined for example. Larger than Indonesia. World's 12th largest country. 1/4 of the size of the US in comparison (Alaska and other overseas territories included).

So due to the size and each distinctive historical region in KSA and province, it is unfortunately impossible to visit KSA quickly without being confined to a few particular areas. South, North, East, West, Central etc. are all very different from each other. From landscapes, dialects, cuisine to even weather.

Another thing, try to avoid visiting Makkah and Madinah during the 4 summer months unless you like very hot weather. Not tropical at least so the heat is more bearable but still not something I would recommend if you want to do sightseeing. During those summer months life only really starts after sunset, during the night etc. It is not strange for entire cities in KSA to be full of life in the middle of the night during such a time of the year.

Best time to visit practically most of KSA - other than the mountainous areas that have perfect climate almost all year around, is from October to April. May and September can be visited as well most of the time.

June, July and August, outside of costal areas along the Red Sea and the many mountainous areas, highlands - some of the main population centers in KSA, are really not the best time to visit KSA unless you like 35-45 degrees weather (low humidity though outside of coastal Eastern Province and parts of the South Red Sea region, Jeddah etc.). Evenings, mornings and nights are more tolerable though so you will have to change day into night.

Anyway I think this is similar to most of the Muslim world in fact - I don't think visiting Karachi in the middle of July or Lahore or Islamabad is the best period of the year to visit. Unless you absolutely love hot weather. But in KSA it can get extreme and prevent you from exploring the nature. For example KSA has many Grand Canyon like desert landscapes but I would not recommend anyone to visit that during 45 degrees celsius and burning sun in the middle of July. You will likely die without any water, shade or if you do some exploring completely on your own. Just like nobody in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico etc. is exploring alone in the middle of the summer. Imagine exploring the Death Valley in the middle of July (hottest place on earth), you will die too.

Starlord said:
@_Arabia_ lets continue the resort conversation here before we both get thread banned.

I haven't visited KSA yet, my parents/sister and brother went for Ummrah last year they were expecting me to come from USA but i couldn't, maybe some day if pocket allows. But i told my parents if I ever go to KSA i am not just doing ummrah, i rather have a 15 days trip where I want to visit every historical site including Badr, Taif, Uhud, and other place where Prophet has visited, stayed or even made prayers.

coming to the resort, I am not sure how much the resort like those on blue water cost but Maldives are costly, another thing is that such resorts are kinda isolated so the food or any drinks over there are costly too which is true for most resorts anyway. These places are beautiful and definitely worth the visit but spending 1000's of dollars just for 1-2 night doesn't get me excited.

View attachment 191301
@_Arabia_ like I said, cost an arm leg kidney and eye to stay 3-4 nights hahah

Yes, those prices are not worth it if you do not have the finances for it. Very few experience IMO are worth such prices. Almost better to visit something much cheaper and more authentic and preferably have locals to host you. Something that I would always prefer personally. I am more into heritage/culture than luxury. Of course it is always nice to have a nice bed to sleep in, shower etc. but you don't need all of this added extravagance.

And I am quite a strange person because I can sleep on the floor and anywhere really and fall asleep. The more hard the surface the better I sleep somehow better and the more comfortable the bed is the more back pains I have. Probably something to do with my latest inactivity as well - due to work balance, life balance, several children (which is an entire job in itself) etc. Need to resume my old working out schedule because we are all getting older unfortunately. I used to be in a quite good form but this winter has really been a poor showing in terms of keeping up my training schedule and volume. So my own fault really.

Speaking about resorts - I have heard that Key West is quite beautiful. Same with Bahamas next door.

A country that I would love to visit is Cuba as well. In particular before the US swallows it up and changes the "old school feel" of it and starts to flood it with MacDonals and other fast food trash and US consumerism culture.

Starlord · Apr 9, 2026

_Arabia_ said:
KSA is a huge country. It is similar in size as Pakistan and Iran combined for example. Larger than Indonesia. World's 12th largest country. 1/4 of the size of the US in comparison (Alaska and other overseas territories included).

So due to the size and each distinctive historical region in KSA and province, it is unfortunately impossible to visit KSA quickly without being confined to a few particular areas. South, North, East, West, Central etc. are all very different from each other. From landscapes, dialects, cuisine to even weather.

Another thing, try to avoid visiting Makkah and Madinah during the 4 summer months unless you like very hot weather. Not tropical at least so the heat is more bearable but still not something I would recommend if you want to do sightseeing. During those summer months life only really starts after sunset, during the night etc. It is not strange for entire cities in KSA to be full of life in the middle of the night during such a time of the year.

Best time to visit practically most of KSA - other than the mountainous areas that have perfect climate almost all year around, is from October to April. May and September can be visited as well most of the time.

June, July and August, outside of costal areas along the Red Sea and the many mountainous areas, highlands - some of the main population centers in KSA, are really not the best time to visit KSA unless you like 35-45 degrees weather (low humidity though outside of coastal Eastern Province and parts of the South Red Sea region, Jeddah etc.). Evenings, mornings and nights are more tolerable though so you will have to change day into night.

Anyway I think this is similar to most of the Muslim world in fact - I don't think visiting Karachi in the middle of July or Lahore or Islamabad is the best period of the year to visit. Unless you absolutely love hot weather. But in KSA it can get extreme and prevent you from exploring the nature. For example KSA has many Grand Canyon like desert landscapes but I would not recommend anyone to visit that during 45 degrees celsius and burning sun in the middle of July. You will likely die without any water, shade or if you do some exploring completely on your own. Just like nobody in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico etc. is exploring alone in the middle of the summer. Imagine exploring the Death Valley in the middle of July (hottest place on earth), you will die too.

Not all of KSA, just areas which has significance in our Islamic history, Mecca/Medina for sure and other place I mentioned like Badr and Uhud and Taif. Again the main reason would be Ummrah for sure, but a lot of people just do multiple Ummrah and spend most of their time in Mecca/Medina, my parents once they did their ummrah basically spend all day in Kaaba in last few of the days of their stay, my mother even talking about taking a nap in the masjid lol she is eager to go back but she wants me to come.

I just don't want my trip to be limited to Ummrah, I mean I want to visit those place and do Ummrah but i want to take my time exploring the other place which are historically connect to life of Prophet and Companions, not a big fan of modernized Cities tall buildings etc, I prefer more nature like Mountains/rivers/beaches etc. If i had friends in KSA i would rather go for Desert Safari type adventure and stay night in desert, now that will be one hell of a experience.

But the resort you mentioned I checked the price, first its all booked until Sept, and 4 nights cost 30k Riyyal, that's 10k$ for 3-4 day/night.

I do like hot weather, i grew up in Karachi and lived most of my life experience electricity shortages, but i know Middle East heat is different as I remember from my 2011 and 2014 trip to UAE, I bet KSA heat would kill you if you are not careful. Florida is kinda like that too but again you are not in the desert its more tropical heat with humid. My whole thing If i am spending a lot of money on a trip i rather get a new experience which i never did, which makes the trip more exciting and memorable.

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Honestly Karachi offer very little besides good food, and some cool place. If I were you I'd land in Islamabad between March-May or Sept - Nov and rent a car for 10-12 days, between Islamabad and all the way to China Border you can find many unreal place to stay, Muree - Balakot - Shogran - Naran/Kaghan - Babur Sar Pass- Gilgit - Hunza/Skardu - Naltar Valley - Deosai National Park etc. Next time I am going to Pakistan this is what I will be doing, and If i can afford at some point I am going on a K2 base-camp hiking trip, that is one of my dream.

_Arabia_ · Apr 9, 2026

Most of KSA, outside of coastal areas during the summer, is not humid at all so the heat is much more tolerable than Florida heat or tropical heat (Malaysia, Indonesia, large parts of South Asia). 45 degrees celsius in a desert feels much less suffocating and hot than 30-35 degrees celsius in a humid tropical climate.

There are in fact many places in KSA - in particular the many huge mountain areas - home to many million big cities, where temperatures during the middle of the summer hardly ever pass 35 degrees celsius. Many coastal areas along the Red Sea also have local micro climates where the temperature is rarely above 35 degrees celsius.

The stereotypical view of KSA that many not too informed people have is of Najdi deserts and highlands and even there the climate and heat is dry heat - much more tolerable and rarely ever approaches 48 degrees celsius during the hottest days. Most of the hottest months and days are around 25-45 degrees celsius throughout the day and night. In a desert like climate (most of central KSA) the temperature differences between night and day are drastic. People based in California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona etc. would know all about it. It is not like in Florida during the summer where the humidity and heat is almost the same during the day and night. Same thing in the tropics.

I remember my time and visits in Indonesia and Malaysia. I initially had a very hard time adopting to the humidity but after a few days/weeks, your body kind of got used to it. But for older people it is not easy to adapt.

I like warm/hot climates (I dislike cold weather largely unless I am hiking in mountains or skiing - something I have not done for a long time by now) as well but not everyone does and in any case it was a general advice that June, July and August are not ideal months for sightseeing and visits in many areas of KSA. Unless people are well prepared and can tolerate high temperatures during the day.

Well, as I wrote in that other thread, Hejaz alone is a perfect travel destination in many ways because we have everything. Mountains, desert, volcanoes - one of the world's highest concentration of extinct volcanoes, 100's of tropical islands, 2000 + km long coastline, 1000's of ancient heritage sites, forts, castles, charming mountain, desert, coastal villages, huge modern cities, wild and unspoiled nature, many types of desert (Grand Canyon like, mountainous desert, sandy and rocky deserts), Makkah and Madinah, other religious sites, forests, greenery, great local cuisine, very cosmopolitan communities etc. Hejaz is also the melting pot of KSA - you can find locals of every ethnic group from Bosnians to Indonesians to Uyghurs/Hui Chinese Muslims, Pakistanis, South Asians (Indians, Bengalis), Afro-Arabs, Africans, Chechens, Dagestanis, Uzbeks, Afghans, Persians etc.

Thank you for the recommendations. Sindh also looks interesting due to being home to most of Pakistan's old heritage. It also looks very similar to the Eastern Province of KSA which is not located far from it. Even the climate is similar.

@Starlord

Here you can see some photos just from Hejaz alone: