“When I was first presented the idea of traveling to Saudi Arabia for a week, I was a tad hesitant. The region has a history of instability and Yemen, to its south, was randomly firing missiles across the border at the time. But I had never been to Asia and the thought of missing out on adventure like this was too much to turn down. Plus, I knew what I wanted to do—dip my feet in the Red Sea.
An inlet of the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea separates Saudi Arabia and Asia from the coast of Africa acting as a major transportation route for thousands of years. But for me, it was the biblical undertone that had me intrigued. This was the body of water that Moses allegedly parted with his staff while leading the Israelites out of Egypt.
When I learned our hotel in the City of Yanbu sat on the Red Sea, I was elated, only to find this was not a beach hotel, but a property near a port. Nothing but a small, littered spit of sand on an inlet. Nevertheless, I put my feet in. Silty and jellied mud seeping through my toes, I spent only a moment, disappointed with my venture. But real victory would soon be mine.
Days later, I spied a public beach and asked our driver if we could stop. The next thing I knew, I am removing my socks and shoes, rolling up my suit pants and wading in the warm, sandy-bottom sea that once swallowed Pharaoh and his advancing troops.”
