What it's like to visit Saudi Arabia now

It's long been closed off to visitors, but now this desert kingdom is opening up both to visitors and to its own people, revealing a fascinating destination where both history and modern transformation can be breathtaking.

(CNN) — I have seen countries change before, but I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like the change taking place in Saudi Arabia. It is not like the fall of Soviet Europe, nor the upheaval recently witnessed in Sri Lanka. Saudi's change is deliberate, deep-reaching and dramatic.

It is difficult to visit Saudi Arabia without a host of preconceived ideas, stereotypes and prejudices creeping into what one expects. After all, the country has spent the last five decades shielding itself from the outside world -- and until recently -- making it very difficult for anyone to visit, unless they were on religious pilgrimage to Mecca.

We've all heard about how women must be fully covered and veiled, no mixing of the sexes and a religious police force that is draconian and uncompromising. Frankly, it would be surprising if Western tourists wanted to go on vacation there -- it's hard to have a good time in that oppressive environment.