Shaybah

When people in the west think of Saudi Arabia many think of scenes from Lawrance of Arabia. This is my father's favorite movie of all time and I was subjected to watching it at an early age. Probably too early as I did not enjoy it the first time I sat through the 216 minutes of film. It was not until I watched it at a later age that the intrigue that infects so many as they watch this film infected me. Three scenes from the movie in particular really stick in my mind. The first is when Lawrence is riding the camel through the desert whistling and listening to the echo bounce off the jebals surrounding him. The scenery is so sweeping in that segment that it naturally sticks out. The other two scenes are when Lawrence is charging accross the desert to help take the port city of Aqaba from the Turks and when he is getting ready to head out accross the desert on what is deemed by his Arab couterparts to be a suicide mission. The quote in that scenes goes as follows:

Ali Sharif:There is the railway. And that is the desert. From here until we reach the other side, no water but what we carry with us. For the camels, no water at all. If the camels die, we die. And in twenty days they will start to die.

T.E. Lawrence: There's no time to waste, then, is there?

Anyway, when I first came to visit my in laws in Saudi some 10 years ago I came with those visions in my brain. My father-in-law took me four wheeling along the beach road outside Khobar and as I zippped along the dunes I couldn't help but feel like Lawrence charging into Aqaba. That memory has stuck with me. I plan on taking my father down to four wheel when he visits in March.

That being said, all those same feelings came rushing back because nothing can prepare you for what you see when you go to Shaybah. Shaybah is a large oil field in the south east section of Saudi Arabia. It is in the middle of one of the world's largest sand desert called the Rub' Al-Khali. This area is also know as the Empty Quarter and for good reason. When you go to visit you are completely in the middle of no where.

If you click on this link it will take you to a Google Earth iamge if Shaybah. You can make out the runway and town. The interesting thing is to zoom out. You will see just how desolate this place is.

Shaybah satalite link

Aramco runs lots of trips to Shaybah. We went down with the Dhahran Women's Group. We flew out of the Aramco terminal at the Dammam airport on one of the Aramco jets. You will notice that Marie made sure to color coordinate herself with the plane.

You fly two hours or so south and out of the middle of the desert pops an entire little town with power, water, AC and all the other modern touches. As you walk through the complex it is hard to imagine that you are literally hundreds of miles from "civilazation". The dunes were enormous. We spent a portion of the day touring an oil rig and meeting some of these extraordinary men who spend weeks at a time out there working in this amazing environment.

The latter part of the day was the highlight. We were given the chance to roam the desert, watch the sun set and take part in a traditional Saudi meal. The scenery was breath taking. After spending the entire day with the ladies I took the first chance I got to take off into the desert for some peace and quiet. And man was it quiet. The sunset was surreal enough but add the prayer call coming from the Shaybah mosque and it became an experience I shall not soon forget.

We finished the day off with a traditional Saudi meal of Lamb Kabsa, tea, dates and om-ali. I am a big fan of rice pudding and om-ali is as close as I am going to get here. All in all a fantastic experience. We will try to get back down there in the future with the kids. They would love it!!