Damn, I picked the wrong time to give up drinking. Doing a legless pub crawl in Riyadh has long been on my bucket list.
I had a glass of wine before my driving test in Saudi! 
Drove up on the curb and still passed (was for a special royal project).
الحكمة من تحريم الخمر
لماذا حرم الله الخمر؟
قال تعالى :
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنَوا إِنَّمَا اِلْخَمْرُ وَالمَيْسِرُ وَاِلأَنْصَابُ وَالأَزْلام
رِجْس مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَيطَان فَاجْتَنِبُوهَ لعَلكَمْ تَفلحُون
[المائدة 90]
The Wisdom of Prohibiting Wine:
Why did God forbid wine?
The Almighty said:
O you who believe, wine and gambling, idols and symbols
are an abomination from the work of the devil, so avoid them so that you may prosper
[al-Ma’idah 90]
Well, we know you’re the reincarnation
Of the ravenous Catherine the Great
And we know how you love your ovations
In the Z-rated scenes, you create, yeah
Z-rated scenes, you create
You imagine me sippin champagne from your boot
For a taste of your elegant pride
I may be goin’ to hell in a bucket, babe
But at least I’m enjoyin’ the ride
At least I’m enjoyin’ the ride, yeah
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It sounds like it’s just a couple hotels and resorts. If you think this is enough for a “pub crawl” you’ll probably be disappointed 
Besides, I’d still be too nervous to appear intoxicated out in public. It is good MBS is so focused on modernizing Saudi and taking it away from its fundamentalist roots. Sure, his regime tortures and kills the occasional nosy journalist, but I guess that’s the trade off for women’s right to drive and foreigner’s right to get sloshed? 
I drank (lots of home brew going on in royal projects) before going for the public drivers test near Jeddah. Under the limit no doubt in Western countries, but still drove over the curb, and still passed! I had Wasta biotches!!! Was 2015 end of year!
For money! It’s always for the best reasons!
I often tell that story a lot at cocktail parties. That I took the Saudi Drivers test semi drunk, drove over a curb and still passed.
I’m quite sure they don’t even have breathalyzers even if they thought you were drunk. Don’t ask me how I know. Also, turns out the Saudi police are pretty reasonable.
*edit: for the record, I never drank and drove in KSA
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Whats that documentary called about a Canadian put in jail and raped (totaly not gay)for a few years for having alcohol. Only got out via starvation and covering himself in feces. Was that saudi?
Yip, William Sampson and he thought Canadian consular affairs were “worse than tits on a bull”…use Forumosa’s search function with William Sampson…I’ve brought this up on many an occasion! 
Canadian murdered in Yonghe - Taiwan / Living in Taiwan - Forumosa
Sometimes countries, especially Muslim-majority countries, carve out exceptions and special places (especially those frequented by tourists) for drugs and alcohol. For example, Indonesia has infamously harsh drug laws (see the Bali 9, a cause celebre in Australia) but on the small, heavily touristed Gili islands you have this.
