This picture story was submitted by Laura Brady, Bolton
I once had a business trip to Saudi Arabia, a landscape that is so completely different and unique and fascinating to me. The airport in Jeddah set the tone with its amazing multi-storey aquarium column.
Jeddah is situated on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. My colleagues and I started a day of wandering at the pristine and beautiful waterfront.
Then we were off to explore Al-Balad, the historic area of Jeddah. It was a thriving city centre founded in the 7th century when Jeddah was a major port for Indian Ocean trade routes and a gateway for Muslim pilgrims to Mecca.
It is an engrossing warren of buildings and alleyways with interesting shops, museums, mosques and tower houses dotting the streetscape.
My attention was completely captured by the doors — both the intriguing shapes and the varied colours. The day was certainly a highlight of my visit to Saudi Arabia’s oldest city.
