Confidential to the camel-curious in L.A.: Since the bactrian (two-humped) camel is native to Central Asia and the dromedary (one-humped) to Africa, I'll lay a bet that the traditional camel race that opens the Saudi culture festival features dromedaries.

Other fun camel facts: These days, camels in Saudi Arabia are bred mostly to race, not to carry Bedouins about (the Bedouins have mostly opted for cars and other modern forms of transport). The hump of the camel, made out of fat, is firm and plump when the camel is well-fed; after a period of no food, however, the hump becomes limp and falls over. (Heh.) Camel meat is a staple of the traditional Muslim diet; thousands of camels are slaughtered for the Hajj every year. Recently, due to a lack of available camels in the country, Saudi Arabia has been importing camel meat from other countries, including Australia, where the descendents of the camels brought over from India to help pioneer the back country in the 19th century roam free as the only wild camels in the world.

Here's a recipe for ya, if ever you want to check out camel meat (apparently like beef but much tougher):

Warm Salad of Stir-fried Camel with Walnuts and Potato Croutons
Serves 4 entr? sized portions

Ingredients
1/2-lb. camel loin, rump or cube roll
2 large potatoes
1/4-lb. mesclun leaves
1 1/2 oz. walnut halves, slightly broken
3 tablespoons walnut oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 bunch chopped chives
A little olive oil

1. Peel and cut the potatoes into small dice, about 1/2-in. size. Fry until golden in a little olive oil.
2. Slice the camel (trimmed of all connective tissue), pears into thin strips and saute quickly in a hot pan or wok.
3. Dress the mesclun leaves with the walnut oil and the balsamic vinegar and arrange on a plate with broken walnut halves.
4. Add the warm camel strips and potato croutons and drizzle with a little extra walnut oil. Sprinkle over the chives.
(Note: as a variation, dust the meat with some Moroccan spices such as ras el hanout before cooking)

Camel facts and recipe from ABCNEWS.com, "The Other Red Meat," Andrew Chang, June 17, 2002.
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If you're wondering why I've just written about camels (which are not found in Korea), it's because on Friday, I had to write a response for the president of the Foundation to the Saudi ambassador's invitation to the Saudi National Heritage and Culture Festival. She's not sure she can make it to the opening ceremony, which I think would be quite a shame. How many times do you get the opportunity to see a camel race?