Dammam: How Not To Travel

Monday night into Tuesday my team traveled to Dammam to visit a Steel Pipe Company (see below). We got in Tuesday morning at 3am, got four hours of sleep and were out of the city by 8am. Bleh.
A view of Dammam from the Sheraton. Looking out over the Arabian Gulf:


Instead of Bibles, the nightstands have Qurans and prayer mats:


Despite their best efforts at Saudization, American soft power dominates. The lunch options, from left to right - Krispy Kreme, Hardy's and KFC:


The Middle East attracts all the worst US fast food chains. Chili's is huge here, as is Applebee's. My first night in Dubai, the cab driver told me about a great night he'd had: went to applebee's, then saw JCVD. The middle east needs more to do...