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For some odd reason, all the "branded" hotels in Riyadh were full last week, so I decided to try out a place I'd had my eye on for a while, namely Al Muthana (or Almuthana, as they like to spell it). It's a new-looking building right on King Fahd Rd, just behind al-Faisaliah, that I passed by on my daily commute.

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As a bit of a train buff, I tried my best to google up some info -- any info -- about the services of the Saudi Railways Organization before our trip, but virtually none was forthcoming, and eventually it was Trsqr who did the (considerable) legwork of reserving tickets. He rustled up the number of Dammam's train station from somewhere and got an Arabic speaker to proxy, and it turned out that even the SRO website's schedules are inaccurate.

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First Wife Bribed for Understanding

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CO-ORDINATES: (0,1) ALLEGIANCE: Independent TYPE: Isolationist Religious Enclave GOVERNMENT: Religious Dictatorship MAJOR IMPORTS: None MAJOR EXPORTS: None ILLEGAL GOODS: Animal Meat, Liquor, Narcotics, Animal Skins, Live Animals, Slaves, Luxury Goods, Hand Weapons, Battle Weapons, Nerve Gas, Robots, Radioactives

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Introduction

At a squeak over 10,000 miles, this trip is no great shakes when it comes to distance, but there can't be too many places on Earth with a greater level of contrast than its endpoints.