Well I made it - was defiantly interesting but all in all but feels like a stricter, dryer (drink and humidity wise) version of Dubai. Everyone was super welcoming and friendly, customer we went to see was incredibly happy we'd made the effort and feels like we've mad a load of progress from a few hours with them in person that we wouldn't have done on zoom. We defiantly felt like outsiders, the company we visited had almost zero western/non-local staff so we were the only ones in the place out of robes and head scarfs, but probably healthy to be put in those sort of situations once in a while & as I say they people we were meeting we're so friendly it was fine (they even gave us some gentle ribbing at various points) 
In terms of safety I was careful & respectful but didn't ever feel like there was any risk, immigration was no more strict or intimidating than US customs (in fact it was friendlier than almost every US visit i've made, and much better run). The quality of driving was interesting but again no worse than the likes of Thailand or Italy.
The one mistake I/we did make was walking a block to a local mall at around 3pm - the heat (around 45C in the shade) and sun were brutal, you kind of need to get a taxi everywhere (which are cheap - £30 for a 45min airport transfer).
In terms of safety I was careful & respectful but didn't ever feel like there was any risk, immigration was no more strict or intimidating than US customs (in fact it was friendlier than almost every US visit i've made, and much better run). The quality of driving was interesting but again no worse than the likes of Thailand or Italy.
The one mistake I/we did make was walking a block to a local mall at around 3pm - the heat (around 45C in the shade) and sun were brutal, you kind of need to get a taxi everywhere (which are cheap - £30 for a 45min airport transfer).
