Monthly Archives: April 2016

Day 267 – Dockside surprise

There was no real rush to get up this morning. All we had to do today is arrive at Port Khalid in Sharjah by 12 noon and then hang around until the boat would leave. So we slept in and went out before packing up to have another dead cheap Deira breakfast.

On our way back, we checked the copy shop again, but it would not open for another half an hour. I had painfully grabbed an ok version of our business card design from the web (the original is on my PC in Germany), since we were running out of cards pretty fast. It was only 9.30 am once we had packed and the shop promised 30 minute turnaround, so we stuck around a bit longer and got a new batch printed.

The whole procedure in the port ran pretty much according to the great instructions we got from Al Hili Marine Services. There was one brief moment of terror when the cashier at the customs office looked up from my paperwork and said: “I have one more question: …” After a pause that seemed eternal, the relief came with “ … why Honda and not BMW?”. Because I can buy 3 of mine for the price of one GS, my friend. 😉

By 11.30 am we had done everything we could and got into waiting mode – right after an overpriced lunch at the Seamen’s Club (no kidding) at the port. As we were just abode to nod off for our afternoon nap, I heard the clatter of a large displacement single nearby. I looked up and saw a new Teneré coming towards us, with the unmistakable overlander outfit of aluminium panniers and bag roll.

Turned out that there would be two bikes on this boat, Rocinante and Jan’s Teneré. Jan is a young German guy on his first long distance bike ride. He had just shipped his bike to Dubai from Bremen to ride it back home to Germany. Most likely he will be taking the same route as we will.

And so the afternoon went by, chatting, blogging and finding other ways to occupy ourselves. Around 5 pm, we loaded the bikes onto the ferry. It took only a little bit of convincing, then the ship hands did a fine job in the end. Next up we walked over to the shack labelled passenger terminal to be processed and hauled back to the ferry in an ancient bus.

The ferry could take up to 375 passengers, but today only about 50 would sail with us. Everybody had plenty of space and we could spread out in a corner of the family section (Jan was “adopted”). We had to wait another couple of hours till 9 pm for dinner and departure. A good time to start studying the lonely planet to make up a route. The lights were turned off at 10 pm and we all spread out over multiple seats for a good night’s sleep.

Day 266 – Busy, busy in Dubai

... in what amounts to a candy store for me

… in what amounts to a candy store for me

We have the ferry tickets. The ferry to Iran will leave tomorrow which gives us a whole day in Dubai. With the tires changed already, all we really needed to do was buy paper maps and Lonely Planets for the next countries. Not a lot to do for a whole day. Thus, we decided to make some social calls.

After a nice breakfast in one of Deira’s Indian eateries, we first stopped at the Shinko distributor once more as we wanted to pick up chain oil. It’s just a little something that might be easier to buy in Deira than in Bandar Abbas. They didn’t stock any but we were invited for a coffee/chai by a friendly shop owner next door. 🙂 Continue reading

Day 265 – Bye and Dubai

Leaving the International school in Sohar

Leaving the International school in Sohar

Smooth. Just the whole day went smoothly. We got up in time to have one last breakfast with Lina and Michael at their home in Sohar. After a thankfully brief scene of goodbyes we were alone and ready to pack up our stuff. Two hours after that, we handed the key back to Lina and were on the road for good.

The ride was good as always in Oman. The incoming summer heat was tamed a good bit by light cloud cover and we arrived at the border in no time. We crossed the border in record time. Chapeau to both the Omani and Emirati officials, this was the least painful border crossing yet. Continue reading

Day 264 – Coming to an end

Quite literally...

Quite literally…

Our last day. In Sohar. With Lina and Michael. Having spent a week here when we arrived in Oman and now another week before we leave Oman, it feels like the end of an era. It’s the beginning of the end of our journey. /melodramatic

We took it easy. After a long breakfast, we only went out for sweets and hot chocolate in the afternoon. I had to try the Chocolate Room in Sohar Mall one more time. So we did. And picked up nice Indian take-away on the way back.

Lina still had to mark tests and prepare things for the upcoming school week so Michael, Flo and I played a card game together before ending the evening with more episodes of the Big Bang theory.

Day 263 – Last weekend at “home”

Demo shot - we did not bring the camera when we had a swim ;)

Demo shot – we did not bring the camera when we had a swim 😉

We already collected two real homes each. Maybe we should not be too liberal with adding new ones, but Michael and Lina were such amazing hosts and we felt so comfortable here, it is hard to call it by a different name. Come Sunday, it will be time to leave once more (the Omani weekend is Friday and Saturday).

Regarding today, there was really nothing on our agenda. Gladly, we are all the kind of people who can enjoy a cozy day at home. Thus the day was gently going by with us watching videos, listening to music and a whole lot of good conversation.

We did break the rut once in the afternoon for a splash in the both enormous and refreshing pool of Lina and Michael’s condo complex. Simple times!