A travel blogger has slammed Saudi Arabia as a “nightmare for women” after a solo trip left her feeling like a “ghost”.
Karolina Wachowicz described her adventure to the Middle Eastern country as “one of the most intense experiences of my life.”
“I expected cultural differences, but nothing prepared me for how disconnected and judged I would feel,” the former international law student told Need To Know.
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“The country’s strict customs and social norms made me realise I had to become invisible – no smiles, no eye contact, just a ghost in their world.”
The culture shock hit from the moment Karolina, from Kraków, Poland, touched down in the desert kingdom.
She said: “From the second I stepped off the plane, I noticed how men behaved.
“They kept their eyes lowered, strictly following religious rules to avoid eye contact with women, but also clearly ignoring me.
“Many men looked away or pretended not to see me when I asked for directions.
“It made me feel like an invisible, unwanted outsider – someone they simply didn’t want to acknowledge.”
And it wasn’t just the men.
Karolina said: “Women, too, never approached or smiled.
“They mostly avoided eye contact, and when they did look, it was with disapproval or disdain.
“I felt judged and unwelcome, as if I was doing something wrong just by being there without a hijab or traditional dress.”
Karolina visited the cradle of Islam during the holy month of Ramadan and described Riyadh as a “ghost town” during daylight hours.
She said: “Streets were deserted, cafes empty – people just rested or prayed.”
She also recounted a particularly unpleasant incident in a taxi when “a local boy tried to grab my hand and kiss me, refusing to take no for an answer”.
She said: “I believe this place is a nightmare for women, and I would never want to live there.”
But the highlight for Karolina was the food which she described as “a real treat”.
She added: “Seeing lives so different from mine broadened my horizons and reminded me just how precious our freedoms are.”
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