December 23rd, 2021 Cairo, Egypt to San Francisco, California

 6:30AM I left for the airport.

7:30AM They did not let me into Terminal 2 because my flight went out of Terminal 3. The lounge there was not good when I visited a few years ago and still isn't.

9:30AM The flight to LHR left about an hour late.

12:30PM The flight arrived late and I ran about 2 kilometers in the airport, checking in again, which made me miss the direct flight. I was put on an LHR to ORD, to SFO flight which arrived more than 6 hours later. I got some Bose Headphones, seafood, and coffee for the trip delay.

Oysters and sushi at Wicker Park Seafood

December 22nd, Riyadh, Saudia Arabia to Cairo, Egypt

5:30AM I woke up and headed to Jabel Al Isbii. The path was completely clear, surprisingly. There was a checkpoint, where guards turned me back after finding out I didn't work there. I went further on a highway for a detour. It worked and I took some good shots with the drone. After a couple of pictures, I heard a loud siren buzz. The security discovered my car. They escorted me and passed me from car to car until I got back to the main road.

8AM It took another hour to get back.

9AM We had breakfast and drove to Kingdom Tower. 

10AM The observation bridge on the 99th floor opens at 12PM so we had coffee on the 77th floor.

11:40AM We left the building. I dropped Paoula off at Hilton and drove back to the airport. I parked at the wrong airport. I asked them to drive me there. I gave some leftovers from Najd Village to the man who helped drive me.

1PM I checked in. They seemed to have a slight issue with my long transit to Cairo. They gave me my boarding pass eventually. I stopped briefly at the Wellcome Lounge. Their sleeping quarters were closed due to Covid. I really wanted to see it.

2:20PM I boarded late for Cairo.

5PM I arrived. Egyptair would not offer me accommodation even though there are no earlier flights to LHR.

7PM I paid for a 25 USD tourist visa to get out of the airport. I then took a Uber to El Nile Restaurant. The first one was wrong so I had to revise it to go to the one near the museum and Tahir Square. It was the same restaurant from years ago! The food wasn't as good as I remembered it, though.

 El Nile Restaurant again since November 2017!

8PM I walked around and gave my leftover from Najd Village to some woman on the street. I checked in at Holy Sheet Hostel. I then realized I left my USB cord in the plastic bag with my leftovers. I found the woman who gave it back to me. I sought a place with coffee, dessert, and wifi. Cilantro was such a place but the wifi was slow and the cheesecake was bad.

Painting at Cairo street shop

10PM I went back to the hostel since the wifi at Cilantro was horrible. The hostel was charging extra for using a credit card. I did a Visa exchange at McDonald's. I bought a coke for 5 EGP and then paid Holy Sheet 100 EGP for the night.

11PM I went to bed.

December 21st, 2021 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

9AM We had breakfast and took an Uber to the airport. I realized last night that I forgot that I needed a Covid test. We went to the rental car lot nearby the airport but not where we were supposed to pick up the car. They gave me a ride to Avis to pick up the car.

11AM We got the COVID test at a center 18 minutes of driving away. We then took off for Shusak Shuzam, which was the wrong location for Jabel Al Isbii.

2PM We then started driving to the Edge of the World. The map said 50 minutes once we were off the main road.  The road became very tough for our 2 wheeler. We met a couple of Germans coming back and they said it took them 6 hours round trip. They had a 2 wheeler and they said there was a 5-kilometer walk. We turned back to go to Ad Diriyah.

5PM Ad Diriyah was closed. It seemed like it was being renovated. The surrounding area was also under construction and seemed like it was being turned into a mall.

7PM We then went to Najd Village. The portions were way too large. We got a coffee at Levi8 before going back to Hilton.

Najd Village

December 20th, 2021 Hofuf to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

8AM I left for the car rental companies with available cars. There was one that I found for just over 90 SAR. But they were not lending it to me because they wanted Saudi ID.

9AM It turned out Yelo is Europcar. It was only a 20-minute walk from the hotel. I had to get them to drive to get Paoula because she had the international license. After getting the car, we checked out and drove to Jawatha Mosque, supposedly the oldest one in Eastern Arabia.

Local Saudi oud fragrance

Lake park by the Jawatha Mosque

11AM It was only half an hour away. It was tiny. We then went around to see the park nearby. We actually took the wrong entrance. It was somewhat blocked off but the guard didn't give us trouble when we left.

1PM We went to Al Qatar Hill. We spent a couple of hours there, had dinner at a local seafood restaurant.

Seafood platter

6PM We returned the car and then left for the train station. She didn't let me get coffee because she thought there wasn't time. There was. We took an Uber to the train station and waited there for 30 minutes.

7PM The train experience was much more pleasant and we arrived at Riyadh a little before 10PM.

10PM We decided to pick up the car at the airport the next day. We took an Uber to get to Hilton Garden Inn in the Financial District.

December 19th, 2021 Al Ula to Riyadh, to Hofuf, Saudi Arabia

6AM I woke to go to the Elephant Rock. On the way there, I stopped by Winter Park when I saw the moon setting. It was enormous. However, I barely caught it with the drone.

8AM I went flying the drone nearby the Elephant Rock. I then headed to Marsha Social. They had an event there but I was able to get some pictures in.

Maraya Social

9:05AM I flew the drone near the Old Town.

9:35AM I picked up Paoula from the hotel and headed to the airport. I couldn't find any gas stations that would take credit cards. I returned the car 7/8 full. Paula paid 90 SAR for the 1/8 tank and overage fee. We were supposed to be under 400 kilometers for the two days and we were at 515 miles.

Regional airport with carpet!

11AM The flight was a little late. We left for Riyadh at about 11:25AM. 

12:30PM We arrived at Riyadh. We waited for our luggage at the baggage claim for an hour. We then hitched at a ride from a passenger whose name is Tommy to the train station. He revealed that he is actually the one who organized MDLBEAST concert.

2:30PM We arrived at the bus station after 45 minutes in the car. I found a car taxi option for 300 SAR. The bus was leaving at 3PM for 144 SAR total. Paoula paid for it. She regretted her decision immediately after she got on the bus.

7PM We arrived at Hofuf. We took an Uber around town for 1.5 hours to try to find the Europcar rental. We couldn't find it and eventually gave up to go to the hotel instead.

9PM We arrived at Al Koot Heritage Hotel. The hotel was authentically decorated. A local man took me around town to show me the car rental services and the train station. I got back in half an hour and we ate at Dar Basma.

Dar Basma, Al Ahsa

December 18th, 2021 Al Ula, Saudi Arabia

7AM We woke and drove to Pink Camel Bakery for some latte, macarons, and cheesecake. When we got to Winter Park, the tourist office rejected us for not having tickets.

10AM I got an Indian family to help. His friends didn't want to go with a sick child so we ended up taking their spots. I mistakenly thought they were on the Hegan trail. We were on the Dadan tour.

Dadan

12:30PM We came back and thank my lucky stars, a woman and her friend gave up their seats for us. Hegan was great. We returned at 4PM and visited elephant rock. It was closed for some event until 7PM.

Hegan

5PM We went to Maraya Social, which was a fancy building with mirrors. We didn't end up eating there because it was European. We then went to Old Town to eat at Suhail Restaurant.

9PM We arrived back at the apartment.

December 17th, 2021 Al Ula, Saudi Arabia

7AM I woke her up.

8AM We arrived at the airport. They almost didn't let her on because she didn't complete the arrival registration form correctly. I got her through though. We couldn't get to the lounge because it was in the international terminal. We got a couple of lattes and a cheesecake.

10AM We left for Al Ula.

1PM We arrived but the rental car took an hour to get. We headed to Al Naslaa Rock.

3PM We arrived but I got the car stuck in the sand. I started heading towards the rock. Paoula flagged down an SUV. The head of the family helped us get the car out and then gave us a ride to the rock.

5PM We had coffee and tea by the car for an hour and then they dropped us off eventually. It took us another two hours to get back to Al Ula. 

7PM We had coffee at the Waterfall Resort. We then had camel meat at Al Ula Palace restaurant.

Camel at Al Ula Palace restaurant

9PM We checked into the apartment.

December 16th, 2021 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

12:30AM I boarded for Jeddah.

4AM We arrived at Jeddah. Going through customs was uneventful. I took a Uber to Crown Town Hotel. The front desk let me up without problems.

4PM I woke. The meeting was canceled and we went to the Byblos Restaurant. Paoula wanted to try Lebanese food for some reason here at Jeddah. We had some parsley salsa and mixed grilled meat. We then walked to the fountain and took a taxi to Old Jeddah.

8:30PM Some young women let me take the photos. That was surprising. One of them didn't even have a Hajib. They all wanted to add and follow me on Instagram.

9PM We took a Uber back to the hotel.

December 15th, 2021 Doha, Qatar

7PM I went to the lounge. It was different from the one before and it was somewhat crowded.

December 14th, 2021 Leaving San Francisco to Doha, Qatar

6AM I woke to fall asleep again so that I could be late for the original flight and catch the next available flight. I arrived at the airport at 8:15AM and checked in late. The United Agent on the phone said that they canceled my entire itinerary because my booking counted as a no-show. She was wrong since they were separate airlines. They also wanted to charge me for the checked-in luggage. However, I got it free eventually since I had the United Explorer card tied to my MileagePlus account.

12PM I arrived at LAX. There was no Priority Pass Lounge there anymore. The AMEX lounge was closed due to construction. The gaming lounge was not open to AMEX Priority Pass holders.

2PM I walked back to the international terminal and got a Diet Coke.

4PM I boarded for Doha, Qatar. The plane left late.

December 3rd, 2021 Caribbean Locale Ranking

 

The islands were good in general. I didn't come away with too many incredible photos or video footage but I also didn't expect to do that.

December 3rd, 2021 Financials

I spent 2877.64 USD on this trip. It was not bad considering it is cheaper than the trip in Iceland. There was less driving and fewer excursions. This is on average 250 USD per day.

October 7th, 2021 Miami, Florida to San Francisco, California

 12:30AM I stayed on the couch in the lobby.

6AM I drove to return the car. I checked in and changed my flight to go directly to San Francisco. I was wanting to have some Juan Valdez Cafe before leaving and missed my direct flight by less than 5 minutes. They changed me back to the flight through Dallas.

1PM I arrived in DFW and stayed in the lounge until 4:20PM.

8:30PM I took an Uber home.

October 6th, 2021 Saint Martin and Sint Maarten

8AM I woke and went to Le temps des Cerises. I argued that we didn't get to see the turtles. The front desk called the tour guide and apparently, she misunderstood that the turtle island is only included in the full-day tour. I was able to get the 27 EUR deposit back.

9:30AM I was not able to take off the drone at all at the Love Boutique Hotel.

10:15AM We arrived at the Anse Marcel Resort. It was somewhat hard to find as we took the wrong path once. I wasn't able to take off the drone there either so we left after 10 minutes. We packed quickly once we returned and headed to the Flying Dutchman zipline.

11:30AM There was a line and they told us it was going to the trip was going to take an hour. Paoula was anxious so I opted to go to Marigot for some pastries and latte.

12PM We bought 2 lattes, a croissant and a Le Fernand Caramel. It was the best we had on this island. Addcar representative was at the airport waiting for us. We arrived at the airport at 1PM, returned the car and checked in. Paoula boarded at 1:30PM and I boarded at 3PM.

6PM I arrived at Miami. I was able to get back into the airport after customs. However, AMEX wouldn't let me in even though I was on my layover.

9PM I rented a car and had dinner at Beaker and Gray. I drove to what is left of the Champlain South Building. There were two police cars there so I wasn't able to get close. I visited the new Wood Tavern, which moved next to the Butcher Shop. I had a drink at Blackbird Ordinary.

October 5th, 2021 Saint Martin and Sint Maarten

 10:30AM We left for the Jet Ski excursion.

11AM We returned. It was fun. I was very much the better driver. It was 90 EUR for the jet ski.

12:30AM We returned to the hotel to fetch my drone. We then took the boat trip to Creole Rock. We found out later that the turtles were to be seen at Tintamarre island. We were never taken there which was a huge disappointment.

5:30PM We left at 2PM and returned at 5:30PM. We went home to change and went to Le Moulin Fou, a French Restaurant on the Dutch side. The lobster was great. I had another coffee ice cream after and a latte. It was 166.88 USD for two.

October 4th, 2021 Saint Martin and Sint Maarten

5:30AM I woke us up and drove to the airport.

6AM We returned the car. Neither the antigen nor the PCR station was open. We checked in and boarded the flight to Saint Martin. We were originally on the Air Caraibes flight and were now on the Air Antilles flight due to the travel delay.

8AM Our flight successfully departed. We landed after half an hour. The entry was relatively painless. SFG is a regional airport. We got the rental car at about 10AM and checked into Love Boutique Hotel a couple of miles away from the airport.

10AM We left the hotel to explore the island. We found the Flying Dutchman but it was closed until Wednesday.

5PM We had lobster and jerk chicken at Pineapple Pete. We played some arcade basketball. The car game didn't work and we wasted 0.75 USD.

October 3rd, 2021 Roseau, Dominica

10AM We woke to have some omelets and instant coffee. The manager from Poz Restaurant came to return my credit card.

2PM We were picked up to go to the airport. Hopefully, it will get us to Guadeloupe by 4PM.

4PM We did leave on time for Gaudeloupe. It was only half an hour flight at most. The next 2 hours were full of confusion. I first tried to check for a COVID test. The PCR was free but they didn't open until 10AM the next day. Air Antilles wanted us to take another antigen test. I was ambivalent until it looked like it was going to take a few hours. I showed the agent that their website says vaccinated people do not need to get tested and he agreed.

7PM We took a car from Jumbo car and drove to Chez Tof. There is no menu so we eat whatever he cooked. He made some bread thing with chicken filling as appetizers. We had marlin for the main course and the very best creme brulee for dessert. He didn't have a way to charge credit card. The bank transfer he suggested was doubtful. He didn't speak much English. It was 52 EUR for the two of us so we paid 30 EUR and 20 GBP.

Chez Tof

11PM We came back to Arawak Resort. The outer decor was great but it was dated inside. We watched Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

October 2nd, 2021 Roseau, Dominica

10AM I woke to get a haircut. The barber was not familiar with Asian hair, I reckon. He made several cuts to the point I bled.

11AM We spent some time at the pool and balcony before leaving for the Champagne Beach. It was about 20 minutes away. We didn't spend long there. We met a couple who told us about the hot bubbles, which granted the beach its name. We started driving back to Fort Young Hotel.

Near Fort Young, Roseau

2PM We arrived back and I took a quick shower. We started driving to Fort Shirley.

3PM We got there after an hour. We walked for 10 minutes. I took the drone up for a few. Paoula rushed me to leave at 3:40PM so I didn't get to see Douglas Bay Battery.

4:50PM We returned the car at Happy Car Rental. Paoula paid for the rental.

5:30PM We checked in and waited for our flight.

6:50PM We are beginning to hear that our flight is to be canceled. It was supposed to leave at 6:15PM and arrive at PTP at 6:45PM.

9PM We were to be placed at Atlantique View Resort. It was mediocre and a 3 star hotel. We had a taste for their tuna and fried chicken. Neither was appetizing. We ordered lobster and shrimp for 140 XCD.