just landed here after a flight that felt like it was stuck in a dryer. cool enough? sure. humid enough? absolutely. i just checked and it’s that clingy 22 degree thing right now, hope you like that kind of thing. the moment i stepped out, a local selling beat-up guitars nearby said something about ‘the air’s got more salt now’-idk what that means but i took it as a warning.

didn’t care. grabbed my camera and started slinging through these old cobblestone alleys. saw this one place with a clock tower-that’s the spot people told me about. it’s, like, falling apart but somehow still has this vibe. someone told me that if you ring the bell, a guy in a hat shows up. i didn’t try. figured it’d be a meme.

"don’t trust the market near the harbor," a kid said to me while juggling oranges. not sure if he was serious or just messing,"

i took a bunch of photos anyway. the first one is a random street sign that probably shouldn’t exist. second? a statue of some god i don’t care about. third? a market stall overflowing with herbs. all unsplash bangers.

a building with a clock on the top of it

A beautiful temple is seen amidst lush greenery.

i heard rumors about a place called the old souk. something about it closing next week. don’t listen to me, i’m just some tourist with a camera. but if you’re into chaos, maybe avoid that area until monday.

had a weird encounter. a vendor pointed me toward a café and said ‘that place? it’s where the ex-couple from the shipyard still hangs out.’ why would i need to know that? turns out, the place serves terrible coffee but the owner lets you borrow their vintage memorabilia. i took a polaroid of their 1970s typewriter. it looked like it yawned at me.

i asked a barista about the weather. she said, ‘it’s never just one thing here. it’s like the air’s arguing with itself.’ which is either poetic or a metaphor for the 82% humidity. either way, i noted it down.

i left feeling like i’d missed something. someone else told me that jeddah is just a short drive from those weird desert cities. i didn’t believe it. until i saw a poster advertising ‘coastal yoga retreats’ with a price tag that made no sense. if you’re itching to leave, there’s some monotone horizons around here.

http://tripadvisor.com/jeddah-cafés http://yelp.com/local-listings/jeddah
http://localboards.jeff/souk/specs

p.s. if you’re a fan of vintage clothes, this place might not be your vibe. too many rummage sales here.

jeff’s streets whispered to me—mostly about that perpetual humidity

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About the author: Gabriel Kent

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