Last Day in Abha – The Souq, The Art, The Police Station.

There was a storm starting up in the mountains when we were leaving the Asiri Flower Men Camp site, the skies were getting dark and the lightning was flashing at regular intervals… We decided go to the souq Thalatha (or Thuluth), the Tuesday market even though it was Saturday to get some souvenirs and just […]

The Flower Men Of Asir

In Saudi Arabia’s Asir province, male members of the Qahtani (or in some other variants Tihama) tribe are known as ‘Flower Men’ for their intricately-made floral headpieces. The flower crowns of marigold, sage and basil are worn to enhance both beauty and health, as it is believed to help with headaches or sinus problems. You have already […]

Not Finding Any Snakes in Village Bahi Asir Al Jahma, Abha Adventures – Day 3.

Day three started for me dancing in my room to Yasalam Ya Dubai song, yes I know, it’s bad, but the excitement was hard to beat. In between I took some pictures of the Saudis passing by my window, unbeknownst to them of course… Had breakfast in the breakfast hall with the gang, Mohammed said […]

Dancing To Asiri Flute With the Views of Rijal Almaa – Abha Adventures, Day 2.

My second day in Abha I would like to start with the introduction to the “marvelous” hotel where we all resided for the 3 nights – the place called Azd hotel… generally it was fine, except for some random things like I couldn’t really easily open the door of my room because it was massively […]

Are You Seriously Going To Asir? Abha Adventures, Day 1.

Seems I can’t stay away from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for too long, so following my earlier adventures to Riyadh and Taif this year, I found out that Tamashee was organizing a trip South this time – Asir Region – and let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint. In March, I had to take a […]

Hungover Modern Art Of Greece and Other Adventures…

The trip to Greece started nice and early thanks to my cat who decided it was playtime at 5-40 am, and jumped all over the bed with the hair tie in his mouth. I was planning to get up at 7 am, but all right, 5-40 it was. Shower, last cable packing and the way […]

10 Years in Dubai – A Retrospect.

The legend goes that you’d come to Dubai, the city of eternal sunshine and endless possibilities according to some, the city of sin and people living in a bubble according to others, for 2 or 3 years, and then you move on somewhere else. In May 2012 I quit my job as a senior tender […]

What’s Wrong With The French People?

I remember in 2005 when I was taking a language class in Malta, on a boat trip I met my first French people. In Russia, we always had this idea of French people being romantic and classy, from the movies we watched and the books we read, but those were of course just some random […]

This is Our Time – EXPO 2020 Dubai.

“Welcome to EXPO, thanks for coming” – was the first words I heard when I stepped into the world of connecting minds and creating the future together on October 6, 2021 and I knew right there and then that I was going to return here plenty more times. I remember the day when Dubai had […]