Inside Kellogg’s First Saudi Trek
- Cathy Campo
- Jan 24
- 4 min read
By: Ayaka Utashiro
It honestly felt like the fullest week ever, like Saudi dates—sweet, sticky, and packed—with an itinerary spanning across three cities, Jeddah, AlUla, and Riyadh.
Ths year's first ever Kellogg Saudi trek was organized by Saudi princes, with support from Abdulaziz "Adeze" Aldawood (Stanford GSB ‘25) and led by Hesham Aldogaither (1Y ‘26), and partially sponsored by the Ministry of Investment. It may also be the first Kellogg trek to be fully sober—Saudi Arabia has strict restrictions and penalties around alcohol.
What We Did:
Jeddah (the Red Sea coast)
A boat trip and snorkeling in the Red Sea, an excursion through Al Balad (Historic Jeddah), and a seafood dinner by the water.
AlUla (the desert and a historic region tied to the early roots of Arabia)
AlUla Old Town, a sunrise hot air balloon ride, Jabal Ikmah and a Nabataean script workshop, followed by Hegra and Elephant Rock at sunset.
Riyadh (a fast-evolving capital of ~8 million in the metro area)
Masmak Fortress and Souq Al Zal, government meetings, and visits to Diriyah and At-Turaif.
Packing & Dress
When I applied for my visa, the official website stated restrictions on dress codes. In my head, I translated that as: do not show up in full American casual mode.
I bought an abaya (a long, loose-fitting outer robe) and my packing skewed toward baggy, loose pieces—clothes I honestly don’t usually reach for, especially in hot weather.
Once in Saudi Arabia, I kept noticing a formal local attire on men at hotel receptions, at mosques, and in business settings: the red-and-white-checked shemagh (a traditional men’s headscarf) held in place with an agal (a black-corded headband used to secure the shemagh). Daren Sia (MBAi ’27) showed respect by purchasing one at the market and wearing it to the meeting with our sponsor, the Ministry of Investment.
Who is Who? Niqab and Islam
Many Saudi women dress in a black abaya—the long outer garment—and a face veil known as the niqab.
That immediately raised a question for me: how do people tell who is who?
When I asked Hesham, he explained that you can’t—and that’s the point. Adeze offered a more practical answer: body shape.
That led to a deeper question about the niqab itself: why is it common in Saudi Arabia, and which interpretation of Islam underlies it? In other parts of the Islamic world—such as Egypt, Lebanon, and Morocco—women typically don’t cover their faces. According to the Islamic scholars most commonly followed there, face veiling isn’t required.
During a private mosque tour, I asked about the textual basis, and then I went back and looked at the primary sources people often cite. What struck me is that the wording itself is about modesty and coverage, but it does not explicitly spell out “cover the face.”
*The Qur’an passages that come up most are 33:59 and 24:31: one tells believing women to “bring down over themselves part of their outer garments” (often discussed using the word jalabib), and the other says to “draw their veils over their chests” (often discussed using the words khumur and juyub).
As an ex-lawyer, watching how high level language gets interpreted into everyday norms and culture was fascinating, so my questions went on for about two hours. I’m deeply grateful to the guide for his patience and for educating me on Islam.
From what I understand, the guide kept coming back to a simple, practical idea: reduce triggers for fantasy, and you reduce downstream harm. He stressed that this applies to everyone—men are also expected to avoid tight or attention-grabbing clothing.
Emotional Support
Hesham pulled together an incredible group for this trek, with a lot of 1Ys along for the ride. Thanks to our generous sponsor, we stayed at a five-star hotel with an unreal view—though we arrived at night, so all we could really see from the shaded bus was darkness.
At one point, Hesham asked how everyone was feeling. Ana Stein (1Y ’26) nailed it: “I can’t really see it, but it’s great.”
Having organized trips myself, I could really appreciate how much work Hesham put into this. In that moment, the effort mattered more than the view. The next morning, though, the view absolutely held its own.
Inscription conspiracy theory?
Stan Reyzin (2Y ’27), founder of a Germany-based startup, had a very different reaction than the rest of us when we saw the ancient inscriptions at AlUla’s open-air library.
“Sus,” he said. “Erosion would’ve erased this.”
Within minutes, he was Googling, cross-checking, and ultimately concluding that UNESCO must have verified the site.
While I was busy taking photos, Stan’s intellectual mind was stress-testing what he was seeing.
Can you spot the inscription?:
Hospitality and Safety
Saudi hospitality and warmth hit me straight in the heart.
On the first day, someone I talked to at the airport drove me to sites and bought me perfumes so that I would remember Saudi. Perfume is a big thing there. Imagine musk and charcoal scent drifting through a hotel lobby.
An Uber driver saw me coughing hard and bought me orange juice as a vitamin shot. A supermarket staff member gave me a free bottle of high-end Saudi honey, plus a drop of propolis. My tour guide bought items I lingered over but ultimately walked away from (right after I’d received the Kellogg tuition email, you know the drill!).
When flooding trapped me inside a museum in Jeddah, locals were wading through waist-high water (some literally swimming) and still took the time to buy me a sandwich because I was starving.
I felt remarkably safe. No pickpocketing. No constant vigilance. One guide explained it through a core Islamic ethic: do good for people and the community, and avoid harm. I’m very action-oriented, so seeing people actually live that ethic—not just talk about it—really resonated with me.
But it's always good to keep perspective. After all, I was only a tourist.
Read About More Kelloggians Abroad: Kellogg Yacht Week 2025 Looking Back on KWEST Peru '24
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