The Wheels of the Bus
When we visited the World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia two years ago, we knew immediately that this wouldn’t be the last time. And so, two years later, a large group of 22 people prepared to travel to Saudi Arabia on Saturday 7 February 2026, via various places around the world.
And there we were, standing in the middle of the night at Riyadh airport. We were, but the bus wasn’t. A few phone calls later, it turned out the bus was broken down and we had to find a way to get to the hotel ourselves. That in itself is, of course, no challenge, and a few taxis later, we were at the hotel where we met part of the group who had traveled alone. Off to get a few hours of sleep!
Because Sunday at the World Defense Show was reserved for press and invited guests only, the majority of the group headed today to ‘The Edge of the World’, a beautiful rock formation in the Tuwaiq Mountains. By the majority of the group, we mean everyone except the bus driver. He had decided to drive to the showgrounds, because that was on his note. A few phone calls to his office later, we were finally on our way to the correct destination.
That correct destination turned out to be quite a challenge, because the driver really had no idea where he was supposed to be. We had a rough idea, but the road we had taken two years ago turned out to be inaccessible due to erosion. Despite encouragement from our side, the driver eventually had to admit defeat to the desert.
As an alternative, we visited the beautiful Air Force Museum in the city, which is open until evening. On the way there, we immediately got a taste of the insane traffic in Riyadh. At any time of day, it is incredibly busy on all roads, which does not improve flexibility. Nevertheless, it was a nice visit to the museum with beautiful sunset pictures. The end of the day was celebrated with delicious meals and no beer!
