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EDITORIAL
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Saudi , Dakar ?
The start of every year brings with it the world ’ s toughest motorcycle event , the two week long Dakar rally . For the last six years it too seems to have created a conversation around whether the host nation , Saudi Arabi , should be promoting for international travellers and tourism . Take the big dollar events , the Dakar , the Formula 1 Grand Prix , and more from the argument and it leaves a wonderous country , filled with an ancient history and a culture that needs to be explored . Landscapes that bewilder , and a people open to visitors , a people that welcome strangers .
Yes , Saudi Arabia is vastly different to the ‘ western norms ’ but does that make it wrong or evil ? Sure , the Saudi government has views that we are told go against what we know as being right but if we were to use that judgement for all nations we ’ d never leave home . The USA , UK and even Australia are all guilty of committing atrocities at home and abroad each and every year , yet we are told it ’ s for the good of democracy , so it must be right . Judging a nation and its people on the basis of a government is a sure way to miss seeing the world .
I ’ m a purist and believe the Dakar should ’ ve remained in north-west Africa . It lost some of its intrigue when first moving to South America , then more so when just becoming more or less a loop of one nation in Saudi Arabia . But it is still Dakar , a great challenge of competitors and machines on some of the Earth ’ s most demanding landscapes .
Regardless of where the Dakar is held it will remain a spectacle that defies believe and one that highlights the diverse landscapes , cultures and peoples of the hosting nation , or nations . So , in that regard the Dakar is a perfect advertisement for the adventurous willing to put prejudices aside to explore a nation like Saudi Arabia . Read on to see how an Aussie beekeeper conquered the Saudi dunes and created a desert reign …
Leigh
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