Job Discussion Forums

[indirect.object]

Greetings -

Say a fellow with two little kids wishes to accept a job offer in Jeddah, but does not plan to buy or drive a car during their residence there of a year at minimum (hypothetically speaking).

So, the father can shuttle to and fro to work in a taxi (500 riyaal / month transport allowance), but when the time comes to take the family out to a mall, or the beach, or whatever, what is the solution?

The only thing I can think of is establishing a relationship with a reliable driver who can be hired specifically for those family outings; install the kids' car seats at the beginning, and the driver remains on paid duty until the outing ends with a return to the family's home, and the de-installation of the seats.

If anybody has time and interest in proposing other (possibly better) solutions, please do.

[water rat]

Great username.

Yes, that's how it's done. Your colleagues ought to be able to recommend a reliable, regular driver or the reliable, regular friend of their driver, and he'll take you anywhere you want to go. The driver may even speak a decent amount of English and know a few fun and interesting places to go. In Jeddah you may go down to the Corniche and the waterfront, but you can't call it going to the beach really.

[scot47]

Child seat ? let the child sit on the driver's lap ! That is what the locals do.

I lived in Jeddah for 6 years with family and I had no car. We got around okay using taxis.

[Muhammed Abbas Khan]

You could buy a backpack which also functions as a booster.
Just google:
"backpack car seats"

[MixtecaMike]

No, no seat, Scot47 is right. Find a taxi with a sunroof so the kids can let the wind cool them down as you drive along with their heads out the top.

[indirect.object]

Thanks for the input Scot47 & water rat, and Muhammed Abbas Khan, thanks for the useful suggestion.

[bigdurian]

As someone with two kids here myself, I would advise you to buy or rent a car.

After the initial expense of buying it will still work out cheaper than taxis because petrol is so cheap. You can also go where you want whenever you want. There is also the issue that I trust my own driving in the chaos, but you never know what you're going to get with taxi drivers.

Buy some cheap 2nd hand Japthing and then sell when you leave. It will make your life a lot easier.

[scot47]

Lifestyle choice. We managed rather well with no car. Apart from your weekly supermarket run where do you want to go ?

Minimise time on the roads and exposure to the looney driving out there.

Of course if your mindset is like that buffoon on "Top Gear" take your life in your hands and trust in your Japanese tincan when others are in Volvos and GMCs

Maybe the driving experiences contributed to Bigdurian's decision to leave after such a short time ?

[mnruman]

Just out of curiosity, whats tue guide price for a car in KSA?

Also if you ar driving there am sure the Saudis get priority on the streets and where they can and cant go. Isnt there like check posts that you have to go through?

[scot47]

The public roads are public. Theer are roadblocks checking IDs etc. Compounds have restricted access. Many will not admit Saudis easily. If a foreigner has a traffic "incident" with a Saudi involved, the Saudi will be the winner.

[nomad soul]

[bigdurian]

[quote="scot47"]Lifestyle choice. We managed rather well with no car. Apart from your weekly supermarket run where do you want to go ?

Minimise time on the roads and exposure to the looney driving out there.

Of course if your mindset is like that buffoon on "Top Gear" take your life in your hands and trust in your Japanese tincan when others are in Volvos and GMCs

Maybe the driving experiences contributed to Bigdurian's decision to leave after such a short time ?[/quote]

In no particular order, we want to go:

Shopping more than once a week, wife likes visiting malls with friends etc
Out at weekends visiting friends on different compounds, parties etc
To work, and take kids to and from school
On holiday
To the desert for picnics
On random errands like bank, pharmacy, hospital etc

Like you say, it's a lifestyle choice.

Not leaving KSA, just moving to a different location hopefully. Not dealing with Riyadh traffic will be a bonus but not a dealmaker. I like living in Riyadh.

Interestingly enough, Toyota is the top selling brand in KSA at 1/3 of all sales, followed by Hyundai( Korea) on about 15%.

GMC makes up about 5%, Volvo non-existent.
http://ksa.hatla2ee.com/en/car/top-car

[bigdurian]

[quote="nomad soul"][quote="mnruman"]Also if you ar driving there am sure the Saudis get priority on the streets and where they can and cant go. Isnt there like check posts that you have to go through?[/quote]
[u]Other than military/secure areas, there are no checkpoints throughout KSA.[/u] Obviously, drivers are restricted to certain areas on campus when dropping off/picking up female passengers, but otherwise, expats can basically go anywhere Saudis go. The exception are the holy cities of Madinah and Makkah, where most areas are off-limits to non-Muslims (this designation is indicated on the iqama).

If you want a glimpse of what parts of KSA look like, there are plenty of boring YouTube videos taken by drivers cruising around Riyadh, Jeddah, Aramco, etc. Do a YouTube search on [i]driving riyadh[/i], for example.[/quote]

Not true, there are many checkpoints throughout KSA. On major highways there are a normally a few. Riyadh to Dammam for example.

Also, within Riyadh there are quite often mobile checkpoints that pop up in different places every so often.

[mnruman]

[nomad soul]