Regardless the
purpose of your travels in Arabia, you
have to prepare everything well before going there. Some groups of people may
go there for business, holiday or holy travels like Hajj pilgrimage. In order
to make the travels safe, you must consider several important aspects including
the basic cross-cultural communication
skill, money, and the official documents and so on.
Prepare the money
Although Saudi
Arabia is one of the most popular and rich Middle Eastern countries that would
accept international payment method like a credit
card or even bank check. Yet, the real money in the currency of Riyal is also
important to prevent direct transactions with shop operators or street vendors
who do not accept automatic payment. There is a wide
variety of places that offer the service of currency exchange and the most reasonable exchange rate offered by money
changers in towns and cities. The money changers will give you better exchange
rate compared those in hotels or in airports.
When the best time to have travels in Arabia
Since Saudi
Arabia is a desert country where the
weather is hotter than other Asian countries, you must prepare yourself and
your family to face the most extreme weather there. To predict when the best
time to visit the country, you must acknowledge the daily temperature in each
season. Generally, from April to October, the temperature can be more than 40
Celsius degree, meaning you have to avoid the schedule, only in one exception that
is for the annual Hajj. For having better moment in Arabia choose the time
between November and February. During the months, the daytime temperatures tend
to be cooler, so you can have a better trip there. You are lucky if you have a more flexible time schedule for having travels
in Arabia, so you can choose the time. Many European tourists would prefer this
time since the temperature is equal to spring or fall in Europe.
When you want to
travel abroad, make sure you already know how to adapt in the country. Not only
know how to behave but also how to secure your life from natures. Hot weather
and different atmosphere will influence your health. Some epidemics are often
the most worrying threats like MERS, Hepatitis A and B. Ensure you have checked
whether your country has issued a travel
warning for certain reasons like MERS epidemic in several months ago or other document procedures and security
protection of foreign citizen in Arabia. To do so, contact your national
embassy in Arabia. Some European countries usually recommend some vaccine for
certain severe desert diseases like Hepatitis vaccine, MERS and meningitis.
The last aspect
you must consider is language. Although you cannot speak Arabic, at least, you know the most common daily
expressions like how to say “hello” in Arabic, or “how are you” and the
responses of the expressions. Moreover, if you hire local people to help you
during the travels, let say you hire an Arabic chauffer. Knowing the daily
expressions or even Arabic names as mentioned before will ease your activity and prevent
miscommunication and bridge a good cross-cultural
understanding in a good manner.
