At the fruit wholesale market in Riyadh

At the fruit wholesale market in Riyadh, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Just lost the comment which I had written, so I will try again:

I was saying that I had been trying to get a photo of the chap in the middle (and I am sorry but I cannot remember your name) by himself but every time we had the shot set up, his friends would have gathered around, like this.

Anyway, thsi was at the wholesale fruit and vegetable market in the south of Riyadh, not our original destination which had been the ruins of the old city. However, when we got teher we saw taht there was a lot of rennovation work going on and it turned out to be closed, which was disappointing. Well, it was only a bunch of stones and bricks and sand, with soem date palms. Coming to this market was a lot more fun.

Not when we arrived there as it turned out to be deserted, just a few kids kicking a football around. Another disappointment?

No, they were all at the mosque (just as they had been when I was taken out for lunch at an Indian place by my colleague) and soon enough they were out and the place was almost bustling. Fortunately not bustling enough for pepole to get interested in our cameras and be photographed.

After an hour or so, we left with bags full of tangerines and shiny apples, sugar cane pieces and two half kilo bags of dates, none of which we had asked for or were allowed to pay for.

I much prefer this side of the city than the northern part where I am staying, the area of tall buildings, big fast cars, wide roads, drive-in malls and business districts and it was good to get into the vibe of the city.

After this we went a bit closer to the centre to an area full of little shops, alleyways, markets and so on, an area full of a mix of people from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, India, Bangladesh, Somalia, Sudan, Central Asia and China. Wonderful!