Two French citizens are hitchhiking through Saudi Arabia as part of their goal to travel the world by getting lifts from passersby.
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Travelers Louis and Margot, who go by the online pseudonym Onemap2bags, praised the hospitality of the Saudi people in an interview with Al Arabiya on Saturday.
“The country is changing a lot and we are very happy to be able to travel here,” said Louis.
“We know that tourism for international travelers is a bit new here, so we are very happy to have the chance to visit this beautiful country.”
Louis continued, “The people are very kind and hospitable with us so it makes it very easy to travel here, so that’s very nice.”
The pair were waiting to find a lift to Jeddah from Riyadh when they were interviewed by Al Arabiya.
“We love the new generation of Saudi Arabia, and also people are so welcoming,” added Margot.
“Every day we meet people in the street and they always say ‘welcome [to] Saudi Arabia, welcome [to] my country, we are very happy to see tourists,’ so it’s so nice to travel there.”
So far, the couple has been on the road for 17 months and they have caught lifts from 843 drivers, according to their Instagram page.
They spent a year in Africa and recently traveled across Iran before catching a ship to the United Arab Emirates.
After traveling through Saudi Arabia, they plan to hitchhike through Oman, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.
They then aim to travel across the whole of Asia and Oceania before ending up in the Americas.
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