Post: #1

I've been meaning to do this for awhile, at least contribute to the forum in some way. This datasheet will document some of my experiences in Riyadh between 2011-2014. I'm sure that some of the info that I'll be posting will be a little bit outdated, since some of the expat events that were going on have either been cancelled or kept more on the down low as I hear from my friends there that Saudi is trying to tighten down on the scene.

Regardless of this, I hope that this can give you a better insight of living inside the city along with how to find hashish, bang some chicks(both expats and locals), and other subjects that you may want me to discuss. I will do my best to keep updating this whenever I have free time.

How in did hell did I end up in Saudi Arabia?
I was looking for an ESL job in South Korea, so I posted up my resume on eslcafe.com and some online ESL certification program contacted me about taking their course. They offered to place me in a job and within two weeks, I just left to go to a place where I thought I'd be stuck with my dick in my hand for the next year. I came in on a single-entry visitor's visa, so that was my mentality.

How to get in and visas
Who wouldn't blame you for wanting to stop by here?Unless you're very interested in the culture, want to become closer to Islam, or willing to sacrifice a portion of your life to stack some cash, I'd stay away.

If you're willing to adventure into Riyadh or Saudi Arabia in general, you definitely have to get a job to be able to touch ground in the country or have a business sponsor. If you end up coming over with a company, you'll get issued an iqama. Depending on who you go with, it can be very fast or painfully slow. A friend of mine during my last year waited a whole year before he could actually make it back in! When I say companies can be painfully slow, it can and may drive you nuts.

Some companies will try to issue you a single-entry visitor's visa. If they try that, reject them outright or tell them that you aren't coming unless they provide you an iqama.

Having the iqama can be a blessing, especially if you get it as the multiple exit/re-entry version to escape whenever you please. If you get the single exit/re-entry version of the iqama, you have to keep going back to your employer to process the visa on your behalf. It should be about 200 SAR($53.33) to get the single exit/re-entry and 500 SAR($133.33) for the multiple exit/re-entry visa. Whenever your employer provides you a contract, ask them which version of the iqama they will be giving you.

The bad thing about having the iqama is that most companies will ask you to hand over your passport to them. It's technically illegal for them to do that, but it's common practice. If you don't like surrendering your passport, you can figure out a sneaky way to keep both depending on how your company works. If you don't give a shit about your iqama, just hand it over to them and keep your passport. That's what I normally did.

I do hear that people can go on tourist visas, but I have yet to meet someone to confirm that for me.

Money
The Riyal is tied to the Dollar, so 1 SAR = $0.27

Topics I plan to cover:
Cost of living
Transportation
People
Girls
Food
Alcohol and Drugs
Nightlife
Notable things

Thanks to Chaos for making his Iran Datasheet. That helped me provide topics that I want to cover without getting scatterbrained.

Post: #2

Nice, we'll all be staying tuned. Just don't do anything that gets you emasculated with a scimitar.

Post: #3

(03-24-2016 11:56 PM)Phoenix Wrote:  Nice, we'll all be staying tuned. Just don't do anything that gets you emasculated with a scimitar.

The closest thing I had to that happening was being placed in a holding cell for a couple of days after a party got busted down by the religious police. I think most of my very close friends from my first year got arrested during our time there.

Post: #4

Now that is a location where there are not many, if any, other DS here!

I'd be curious to hear more about the job opportunities and pay there.

Also, what kind of girls are available there for dating? I figure the locals are completely off the market, however, the expats, especially the maids from the Phils and Indonesia may be fair game, right?

Looking forward to reading more of your adventures in Saudi!

Post: #5

I have met a few who have lived in the magical kingdom as some expats call it. Unfortunately they all lived towards Dammam and would visit Bahrain each weekend as there is a bridge connecting it to the mainland. This was their saving grace as it is much more "open" than the kingdom. So work hard and weekends head on out to drink if you want and actually meet girls. Inside the kingdom, it isn't so easy. Yes you have the expats and the Filipinos working in the malls etc but interaction between the sexes is frowned upon in the gulf. Especially in s.arabia.

One of the more popular job sites for the ME is http://www.bayt.com

Good luck

Post: #6

Bayt.com is a really good one to research jobs to get into Saudi and some of the other ME countries. I'll have to post some other ones that I've been recommended by friends. Most of my knowledge is from teaching English, but some of the people I do know ended up using the job I was at to bridge to other opportunities in other fields through tons of socializing within Riyadh. Lead them to higher-paying jobs inside different fields. It's that principle of not what you know, but who you know that can lead you to more lucrative opportunities.

Being able to escape the Kingdom to Bahrain can be your saving grace from what I hear. The only time I ever went was when I was with my girlfriend at the time, so I was pretty much locked-down to really explore what it has to offer. You'll hear tons of stories of both Saudis and Westerners heading over to smash out some of the hookers and ladyboys. It's a party central though and if someone knows the tiny island really well could probably clean up the place.

The girls that are there for dating can be pretty open, but it comes down to two major things from what I've seen:

1. Super good-logisitics. If you're living on a compound, you're really good to go. Most of them won't allow Saudis in, but everyone else is free game if you can game them right from social interactions at events or through other means, such as Whoshere, Tinder, Internations, etc.

My first year, I was trapped inside a hotel room with a cockblocking front desk clerk. I could bribe him, but dishing out 500 riyals just to bring a girl in that I might not even bang? Not a chance. I chose to stack up my money in the case I decided I wasn't coming back. A bit foolish on my part, since I could have opted to find my own accommodation, but I didn't want to go through the struggle of it.

My second year, I lived in a semi-compound and it was way easier to bring chicks over, including Saudis. A lot of my good friends were living here as well, so we'd throw parties and smash chicks from the world over. I mostly stuck to Western chicks since I understood how they worked a lot more. This one American chick thst was super open to her sexuality helped end my dry streak in the magical kingdom. Unfortunately, a few of my British boys messed up the situation before they left, so the rest of us started catching flak from what they did. Before that happened, all sorts of girls from the Western countries like the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Scotland along, other countries like Finland, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and some of the heavily populace in the Kingdom like the Saudis, India, Philippines, were all coming over to get fucked up and fucked.

After the situation between the landlord and us, I told him to basically fuck his place after he accused us about bringing in underage girls(not true), selling alcohol(true), and using drugs(also true, mostly hashish) My second and third year is when I started to get into the local population as I moved into one of the ghettos in Riyadh, called Umm al-Hammam, where it was me as the only American in the neighborhood. I was more surprised about how my second Saudi girl willing came over to my place, despite being not as safe like my other place and her first time meeting me was during Ramadan. I guess it was a lot easier to blend in and her ass got smashed out like no tomorrow for her very first time. Not too long after that, I stuck with this girl I really liked and my stuff slowed down. We actually started living together illegally there. Which leads me to my other tactic...

2. Have some alcohol or hashish on deck. I can't even stress this enough. Girls in the Kingdom from all walks of life want to party to some degree. Being able to have access to any of this kicks up your status as someone that knows you can get what you want. They want that status attached with them, so they can talk that shit with their friends. "You know, such and such, has a good alcohol dealer and can get me into parties?" That status actually helped me smash my exe's British friends when she talked me up to all of her friends at the hospital she worked at, after some afterparty I invited them to.

Only bad thing about the scene in Riyadh is that it's so small that everyone tends to talk about anything and everything. I lost a couple of potential bangs because of people interfering or spilling out about who I've hooked up with, one I lightly documented in a previous thread I started about a South African girl I was trying to game before this American chick interfered by claiming I had a girlfriend(which is true, I was dating an Eritrean at that time, but never smashed. Never should have gave that label, but live and learn). My reputation as a party animal preceded me from time to time, so the status worked greatly.

Another bad thing is if you have a thing for Philipino or some South Asian girls, you'd be better off going to those countries. A lot of the ones that I had met were not worth meeting.

Case in point, after I had a date with another British girl and failed to get the bang, I went to a party that my boys were having in their spot on our compound. I was pretty drunk the last time I met them, but I was relatively sober in comparison this time around. When I saw the faces, especially the one that my friend wanted to invite back the next day, I was horrified about the monsters we let waste our time. The one that my friend liked, I warned him not to do it....against my advice, he did. Why did I warn him? She was a small, but a little bit more attractive than most of the Philipinas I've ran into in the kingdom. Her problem was that she could throw a thicker mustache than I ever could.

One last thing to touch on is that at these events, if you're late, you have to run super tight game to snag these girls from whatever dude that is latched onto them. The thirst is real, but it's intensified greatly due to the lack of women these guys have. You leave a girl for one second, she'll have guys swarming her like no business. If you're getting a good interaction and she's cute, snag her quickly. From my personal experience and some of my guys with way tighter game lose these girls cause they didn't lock her down.

Overall, if you can work your game, adjust it to where she's based from(Roosh has a really good post on his blog that helps solidify that fact about running your game based on a girl's country), and have good logisitics where you won't have anyone cockblock you at the gate, you can actually pull some quality girls from there.

If I knew the aftermath of my engagement ending with my latest ex would have ended the way it did, I'd still be over there and probably with tighter game. Being in Riyadh did a lot for me in terms of confidence and many other aspects of my life, so I give a lot of credit to that place.

Post: #7

Solid posts and I look forward to hearing more about Saudi, especially job opportunities.

(03-24-2016 11:41 PM)TheGreatKTC Wrote:  If you're willing to adventure into Riyadh or Saudi Arabia in general, you definitely have to get a job to be able to touch ground in the country or have a business sponsor. If you end up coming over with a company, you'll get issued an iqama. Depending on who you go with, it can be very fast or painfully slow. A friend of mine during my last year waited a whole year before he could actually make it back in! When I say companies can be painfully slow, it can and may drive you nuts.

Some companies will try to issue you a single-entry visitor's visa. If they try that, reject them outright or tell them that you aren't coming unless they provide you an iqama.

Having the iqama can be a blessing, especially if you get it as the multiple exit/re-entry version to escape whenever you please. If you get the single exit/re-entry version of the iqama, you have to keep going back to your employer to process the visa on your behalf. It should be about 200 SAR($53.33) to get the single exit/re-entry and 500 SAR($133.33) for the multiple exit/re-entry visa. Whenever your employer provides you a contract, ask them which version of the iqama they will be giving you.

The bad thing about having the iqama is that most companies will ask you to hand over your passport to them. It's technically illegal for them to do that, but it's common practice. If you don't like surrendering your passport, you can figure out a sneaky way to keep both depending on how your company works. If you don't give a shit about your iqama, just hand it over to them and keep your passport. That's what I normally did.

I do hear that people can go on tourist visas, but I have yet to meet someone to confirm that for me.

Let me get this straight - if you come over with a company, your options are:

1. Single-entry visitor visa, you can't leave the country without going to your company and requesting another visa

2. Iqama, you'll have the visa to leave, but won't have your passport

Post: #8

Companies shouldn't be trying to issue you any form of the visitor visa for working purposes as it's now illegal to do so. They'll land you in a lot of shit for it. I'd reject a contract from a company if they wanted to do that.

As for the iqama, think of it as your residency card. Makes you easy to identify within Saudi. The only problem with most companies is that when you have your iqama, they'll try to get you to surrender your passport. It's illegal as well, but it's still practiced way more than it should be. I never trust them with it, so I always opt to have them keep my iqama instead or sneak around in some way to keep them both. An example is with the last company, I had talked my manager to get me my iqama back cause I claimed they had my passport. Sometimes, they'll fall for it unless they are very particular about checking.

If you land a contract with a company that'll let you hold both or you really fight with them to keep both your passport and iqama, you're pretty golden.

Now, in order to escape the country for a weekend, you can have your company apply for a visa on your behalf. Costs 200 SAR for a single exit/re-entry visa, which a majority of companies will do, or 500 SAR for a multi exit/re-entry visa. You'll see on the contract which one they're willing to do.

Post: #9

All I can say is that the £££ must really be worth it to put up with all that shit.

Sounds like hell on Earth.

Good thread by the way...interesting stuff.

Post: #10

Overall, Riyadh is not a bad place to be. I assume the same would go for the other major cities, but I couldn't say for sure. If you can start penetrating the social scene through people at work or through events found on Internations, you can make life in the Kingdom a lot easier for yourself. Not many people can handle being there, because they don't know how to play the game, socially awkward, or have super high expectations.

The cash is pretty awesome though if you know how to use it wisely. I wish I would have picked up that lesson earlier before I blew all of it and starting back at zero. Had a turn of fun doing it, but it wasn't smart to do.

Post: #11

Many countries will let you get a second passport when you're working in a country like Saudi, UAE, or Israel. This allows you to keep a dedicated passport for the restrictive country and use your other one for your own travel. If your employer insists on confiscating a passport, you now have one you can give him while still letting you travel freely.

The reason this is allowed is that some countries will not let you enter if you've been to another. This is of course very bad for business. For example, Saudi or UAE may not let you in if you there's evidence that you went to Israel. If your government is difficult about allowing you a second passport, a short vacation in Tel Aviv where you ask them to stamp your passport and a written job offer in Saudi Arabia provides you with a good reason for getting your second one.

Post: #12

(07-27-2016 09:56 AM)Running Turtles Wrote:  Many countries will let you get a second passport when you're working in a country like Saudi, UAE, or Israel. This allows you to keep a dedicated passport for the restrictive country and use your other one for your own travel. If your employer insists on confiscating a passport, you now have one you can give him while still letting you travel freely.

The reason this is allowed is that some countries will not let you enter if you've been to another. This is of course very bad for business. For example, Saudi or UAE may not let you in if you there's evidence that you went to Israel. If your government is difficult about allowing you a second passport, a short vacation in Tel Aviv where you ask them to stamp your passport and a written job offer in Saudi Arabia provides you with a good reason for getting your second one.

Wish I would have known that during my time over there! If I ever work over in a restrictive country again, I'll definitely have to keep that in mind. It was a hassle from time to time to pull off the trick of keeping the passport and iqama, but still got away with it somehow.

Post: #13

Any updates from this?

Post: #14

What would you like to know?

I'm a few years removed from the experience, but can still provide valuable insight from what I know.

Post: #15

Was in Riyadh couple of weeks ago. Nice place and very rich, but beer is not widely available.

Post: #16

I honestly never thought I'd see a datasheet on Riyadh , went once on a business trip with my Swedish colleagues.
Being Swedish they fucking love to travel and sight see. They arrived two early, so I asked them jokingly , "done much sightseeing boys"
My boss replied " a little , we checked out the national museum yesterday and today the beheading square, think someone was mopping up blood !"
Gotta love the swedes.

Post: #17

Can RVF grant an honorary badge for (non Saudi) members that have banged a Saudi female?

Post: #18

(11-22-2017 07:07 AM)worldtraveler3 Wrote:  Was in Riyadh couple of weeks ago. Nice place and very rich, but beer is not widely available.

Beer is widely available there! Just not with alcohol.

(11-22-2017 05:51 PM)cosworth Wrote:  I honestly never thought I'd see a datasheet on Riyadh , went once on a business trip with my Swedish colleagues.
Being Swedish they fucking love to travel and sight see. They arrived two early, so I asked them jokingly , "done much sightseeing boys"
My boss replied " a little , we checked out the national museum yesterday and today the beheading square, think someone was mopping up blood !"
Gotta love the swedes.

The stuff to see around in Saudi is actually really nice, which surprises a lot of people. But, to visit what expats affectionately call "Chop-Chop Square"....I definitely skipped that. I'm already messed up enough. I don't think I could handle seeing a live execution.

(11-23-2017 03:32 PM)Svoboda Wrote:  Can RVF grant an honorary badge for (non Saudi) members that have banged a Saudi female?

If they do, I'm first in line.

All jokes aside, I was more surprised how easy it was to do so in the span of meeting them and some of the fastest lays I've ever had. I had talked to my first Saudi lay on the phone for 15 minutes(without no sexual conversation whatsoever), made it to her crib in 30, and was in her bedroom in 20. Saudi girls are just as wild as any other woman I've ever met.

Post: #19

Congrats in your Saudi conquest. I lived in Qatar and I quite didn't figure the place out for getting locals. How did you end up interacting with them?

Post: #20

(11-24-2017 11:50 AM)tomtud Wrote:  Congrats in your Saudi conquest. I lived in Qatar and I quite didn't figure the place out for getting locals. How did you end up interacting with them?

The locals I had met were through an app called Whoshere. It's like Tinder, but the twist with that is that it shows how close people are to your physical location by GPS. Tinder isn't as popular in the Middle East, unless you want to meet other expats.

I know a few of my own friends also used Internations to meet some of their own conquests and found some events as well that helped get a better feel of the social community.

Getting around socially was always the hard part. Everyone keeps things on the low, but it helps keeps ratios even at social gatherings/parties.