In a series of Lonely Planet blog posts that promises to be fascinating, LP writer Frances Linzee Gordon is publishing her experiences traveling as a single woman traveling in Saudi Arabia for an upcoming guide on the Arabian peninsula. Gordon was the first person ever granted a visa to travel independently – something readers may have a hard time duplicating, as the government insists on guides to accompany travelers, and Gordon had to call in a favor from some anonymous (but apparently high-ranking) source in order to get clearance. Other things that tourists aren’t allowed to do in Saudi Arabia: bring in alcohol, pork, and any of a long list of books, movies and music that might have objectionable content, openly practice or profess any religion other than Islam, or have evidence of visiting Israel in their passport. Women must wear an abeya (full-body cloak) at all times, and preferably a head scarf. Non-Muslims can be deported for entering Mecca or Medina; even Hajjis making their once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca aren’t allowed to travel freely through the kingdom. Definitely not your typical guidebook assignment. There’s one post up so far, and seven more to follow.

– Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
– Saudi Arabia Travel Guide (Wikitravel)

They might not be cold-blooded, venomous snakes, but mice are still scary to a lot of people, especially when a herd of 80 of them escapes into the cabin of a plane at 28,000 feet. A male passenger on a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight, from Riyadh to north-eastern town of Tabuk, somehow managed to get the scores of rodents past security in his carry-on bag. Part-way into the flight they staged an escape and began stampeding around the cabin; the BBC reports that some even fell onto passengers’ heads. Protestations of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to the contrary, the basic premise of Snakes on a Plane is seeming a lot less implausible right now.

– “Mass mouse escape on Saudi plane” (BBC)

Previously:
– “Snakes on a Plane: the Cold, Slithery Truth“

An interesting brief Reuters story in today’s Guardian notes: “Saudi Arabia has lifted a ban on photography in public areas as part of an effort to attract more visitors. A royal decree allowing pictures to be taken in many public places was issued about a year ago and the interior ministry enacted it this week.” As before, travelers will still need permission to photograph people and private property.