Category Archives: United Arab Emirates

Day 300 bonus – Stats 109 United Arab Emirates

This kind of did not fit in well with the day’s post, so I decided to celebrate day 300 with an add on! Hope you like it. The stats are not too relevant, since we did not really spend time in Dubai and had a lot of “special” stuff to sort out.

Country data #9: United Arab Emirates

Full screen version of the map

  • 481 km in total (470 km of GPS tracked)
  • 2 travel days, 4 days total
  • $35.56 Average cost per night (3x room, 1x ferry)
  • 44.14l of standard fuel for $  25.46 (6.5 l / 100km – all Arabia)
  • ~$10.25 for food every day, always eating out with two invitations
  • ~$2,309 in total – $1100 for shipping and spare parts and $460 for visa

All $ values are converted to NZD.

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 239 – Customs

We had a great breakfast among Afghan and Pakistani expats in a little restaurant near our hotel. Fresh bread, good coffee and tea all for 7 dirham (less than $3 NZ). Nina wisely ordered a second helping of flat bread to help us through the day should things not go to plan.

Pick-up of our passports with the visa in it!

Pick-up of our passports with the visa in it!

The Iranian embassy was a breeze – half an hour wait and we got our passports with the long desired visas back. We also met another overlander waiting there with us. He actually came from Iran with his family in a big truck but was now in the process of organizing to go back. His story was heartbreaking and another reminder that you just can’t plan for all that can happen on the road.

By the time we dropped off our rental car back at the airport, we had gotten an email status update on the bike. Unfortunately, it was a bit nondescript. Last night we were told it would take at least until noon to get it ready for pick up. Not sure what to do we decided on the half way solution of chilling for another hour and then getting over there to pick it up (which later turned out to have been a bad idea).

We knew that the bike needed to be picked up from cargo village further towards the inner city from the passenger terminal but we had no idea how far it would be. In the end, we decided on public transport because of our bags. After waiting 20 minutes on the right bus, we found out that it was only 5 minutes away. In the bus, I also landed my first cultural faux-pas by plonking down in the women and family section of the bus without realizing it. Another expat in the bus was kind enough to explain and I moved to the back of the bus before collecting a fine.

After wandering a bit in the massive area, we found ourselves in the equally massive customer service area of Emirates SkyCargo. We did not know whether or how much additional fees we would need to pay. 250 dirham was painful but still ok. After that we wandered conveniently over just across the corridor to the Emerati customs office to complete the import formalities.

This is where things went wrong for us. I knew that the U.A.E. is a carnet country and had all our documents ready. What I had not found out in time was that for us to be able to clear customs, I had to have insurance for the bike. The customs officer kindly directed us to a place in the next building where we could browse the internet to try and get Rocinante insured. It was made harder by the fact that we chose not to buy a SIM card for the two days in Dubai (we will sure never make that mistake again). We spent an hour but no insurance I found was willing to insure a non-resident. Defeated, we therefore went back to the customs officer. He was able to help us out and got us in contact with an insurance broker that would sell us one month worth of insurance.

Finally, we had made our way to the insurance company in a mall

Finally, we had made our way to the insurance company in a mall

From there, unfortunately, it took us almost two hours to get to the place where we could buy the insurance. In a series of follies we walked with all our luggage back to the terminal, did not find free WiFi, bought a SIM but realized that activation would take three hours, spent even more money on WiFi and finally hopped into a taxi to what we hoped would be the insurer’s office, with 40 minutes to go before they would close at 4 pm. Luckily, it was close to the airport and we got there in time.

Staff was lovely there and when one of the assistants heard about what we were doing, we got interviewed in-depth to the entertainment of all reception staff. This, together with the insurance certificate really lifted our spirits when we hopped into a taxi back to the Cargo Village.

This time we had all the required documents, but it was getting late. There had been a shift change in the meantime and the new customs officer got right to work. As often on our trip, we realized soon that we were the big exception in the way we travel. Having to deal with carnets does not seem to happen often. After the initial paperwork and payment of another 35 dirham, we were directed to the warehouse for a final inspection and to collect the stamps in the carnet.

Rocinante being delivered to us. Right afterwards, I was told off for taking pictures

Rocinante being delivered to us. Right afterwards, I was asked not to take any more pictures.

After all was said and done, the warehouse foreman looked at me and asked where my pick-up transport would be to get the bike delivered to. When I pointed at the bike he was confused, but soon I could get across that I was indeed intend on assembling the bike and riding it out. They dropped the pallet with the bike on an empty space outside and I got to work.

Nina’s worries that we would not be able to put the bike together were quickly dispersed. A bunch of warehouse workers were eager and helpful in uncrating and assembling the bike. By the time we finished, it was quarter to seven and the sun was about to set. What should we do?

I was keen on getting on the road. After putting Lina and Michael’s address into the GPS, I even thought we should stick with our initial plan and ride there all the way. After all, it was only 230 km. The only uncertainty was if the border would be open all night. Riding in the dark was far less of an issue. We saw from the plane that all major highways are lit at night.

Roadside fast food...really necessary as we skipped lunch

Roadside fast food…really necessary as we skipped lunch

We rode out of the Cargo Village and stopped at the next petrol station to fill up. The attached Pizza Hut provided the long overdue dinner and a chance to check with Lina regarding the border. By now, our phone was activated and we had 3G – wohoo! The border turned out to be open 24/7, so by 7.15 pm we were finally on our way (we planned to leave at 2 pm).

Just as we were finally cruising on the motorway, another issue came up. The ABS light was on and I suddenly realised why: The front sensor was not working … because I put the front wheel in the wrong way. So we pulled over in front of some car wash places and with the help of some volunteered Indian expats flipped the front wheel around in record time.

The road was smooth, in perfect condition and well lit.

Good roads, well lit, almost no traffic. We made good progress

Good roads, well lit, almost no traffic. We made good progress

We made it to the U.A.E. border in a little bit more than an hour. Leaving took a bit of time since we only found out after getting our passport stamped that the customs check point was actually before the immigration one.

Next up was Oman. The visa on arrival was straight forward – if a little painful for our strained wallets at this point. We decided to play it safe and went for the 30 day visa instead of the 10 day one. One last check of our bike insurance and we finally made it through at 11.45 pm.

Knackered but happy we arrived at our friends’ place. With just a hint of terror, we pushed the door bell of the flat we thought would be the right one. Luckily, regarding that it was 12.30 am, it was the right one. We got a warm welcome and collapsed soon after into an incredibly comfortable bed …

Day 238 – Sleepless in Dubai

The night on the plane was long. Not uncomfortable but long. I mean, the flight time between Bangkok and Muscat where we had to switch planes was just 5 1/2 hours. Given that we both watched a movie, were fed snacks, our real vegetarian dinner, water and coffee, it did not make for a lot of uninterrupted sleep. At all.

Muscat was just more waiting at the gate for us. Transfer passengers don’t even get to see much of the airport itself. So we waited, hoped on the next plane and I fell asleep immediately. The woman sitting behind us woke us up when she asked Flo if we know why we are delayed. Until then, blissfully asleep, we hadn’t realized that we were off to a late start. The pilot explained at some point that we were still waiting on some passengers (probably a connecting flight) but I couldn’t care less as I got to sleep in a comfy airplane.

The flight from Muscat to Dubai is incredibly short with a flight time of 37 minutes. During that time, we received water and snacks. A lot of snacks. So many in fact that we saved the sandwiches for lunch time because we had already feasted on bread sticks and hummus, a chocolate brownie and chocolate chip cookies.

Arriving at Dubai at the local time of 3am, we stood in line for “foreign passports” for a bit before a staff person got us out and told us to stand a much shorter line. Germans get 30 days visa exempt so we got stamped in and that was that. Picking up our one checked in luggage bag and we arrived in the UAE.

Cute car, was even reasonably affordable for us

Cute car, was even reasonably affordable for us

It was still 4.30am though. And I was really really tired. There was nowhere we had to be yet so we slept for another hour or so in the arrival hall at the airport. At 6am, we decided to have breakfast in an airport cafe. My inner clock told me that it is time for breakfast as in Bangkok it would have been 9am. Checking with the help desk, we found out that the general consulate of Iran opens at 8am and thus, we had more time to spend. At 7.30am Flo rented a car so that we could get around in the city (mathematically that will be cheaper than taxis) and off we went.

Snood as an improvised headscarf to get into the embassy.

Snood as an improvised headscarf to get into the embassy.

The consulate of Iran was straight forward with the process of obtaining a visa. Since we already had a confirmation code, we just had to fill out the visa forms, leave passport pictures with the forms, pay and leave our fingerprints. Everyone was nice and seemed generally excited that we would visit Iran for the first time. I only had a tiny problem…I haven’t bought a headscarf yet so we had to improvise one. In the end, I used Flo’s black cotton motorbike snood as a make-shift hijab which worked surprisingly well but was way too hot.

Everything is ... big.

Everything is … big.

Once we had the application out of the way, we went to Dubai Mall at the foot of Burj Dubai. It’s a mall. Gigantic. Full of things and people and…we didn’t have the money for any of it. Taking pictures was still fun and we saw a lot but mall fatigue set in rather quickly. After three hours, ready for another nap, we left. This time towards our hotel, we hoped to be able to check in around lunch time. Our hotel was on the cheap side (for Dubai) and turned out to be in a quarter where many of the migrant workers live.

I had to take a nap first, then we explored the surroundings. So many flavours of the world. Tiny stalls selling flat breads which just came out of the oven. Falafel and hummus for dinner. So yummy!

Surprised by the fact that the ratio of men to women that we saw walking on the streets changed so drastically, I’d guess that the crowds we saw consisted of 80% men and only 20% women.