Many years ago I was working in Jeddah, KSA. I was on a 2-week multi entry visa, so every fortnight I flew to Dubai (where I had been previously living and had friends there) on Friday morning, returning Saturday evening – well it had to be done!
Anyway, one week-end I decided to visit Cairo instead for a change. It was a full Saudia 747, just after the Haj, and I was the only non-pilgrim/ non-muslim passenger on board. Every other passenger was wearing the unstitched white cloth wrap of the pilgrimage. I was somewhat conspicuous in my jeans and sports shirt, but all was good!
Returning from Cairo, security was not everything it might have been. The hand luggage scanner after check-in was unsupervised, although everyone was dutifully putting their bags into it, as if performing an expected ritual whose actual reason was lost in the mists of time. To speed things up, bags were being jammed through several deep as much as the height of the machine would allow…..