Post Date
|
Posting |
| 22/05/2009 |
When we left South Africa we never imagined that we will be in the Middle East but here we are in Aqaba, Jordan, next to the Gulf of Aqaba and across the sea, maybe 3 km away we can see Sinai, and towards the north Eilat in Israel, and towards the south we can see Saudi Arabia.
Jordan is pleasant, the temperature along the coast is mild, the people are welcoming and although it is more expensive than Saudi Arabia, you can get by if you shop around.
We decided to stay in Aqaba at the Bedouin Moon Hotel. They have parking facilities for us overlooking the ocean. There is a swimming pool, electricity and fresh water. Everything we require to make us happy campers.
We meet Dominique, Pascale and Pierrick from France who are also travelling through the middle east. They have a huge Mercedes camper with which they can go anywhere.
We also meet Mark, from Switzerland who is also doing the Middle East. He tells us about a back road into Wadi Rum, a dessert area with very unique rock formations. If we can get in the back way, we don’t have to pay. Mark travels with a pink Teddy Bear as a travel companion. The Teddy is strapped into the passenger seat and is shown around the camp-site.
|
| 21/05/2009 |
The car won’t start again. So the new battery was a waste of money and the same for the alternator. This is turning into a bigger problem than we thought because it is difficult to find somebody that will do a proper job.
Zante flags down a passing driver, Badr, who tries to assist us but we cannot jump start the car. Eventually we take out the battery and take it to a workshop where it can be re-charged. Badr takes us to his father’s house for coffee.
Well, what a day we end up having. Mohammed is Badr’s father and the head of a family of nine children. It is a beautiful house with a lovely garden and light decorations. We not only have coffee but spend the day with Mohammed and his family. Lunch is an elaborate affair of fresh seafood - lobster, crab, calamari, prawns, fish, seafood soup, rice and more. Women in one room and men in the other. Zelda is fitted with a traditional dress and even Zante get’s a new, more conservative outfit.
We are given gifts – perfume, toys, a basket of chocolates and sweets….
The women are fascinated with Zelda and the fact that she walks around with bare arms, no makeup and is allowed to drive a car. (Although in Saudi, she may not drive. We were warned that she will be arrested, so I have to do all the driving here.)
After lunch we are off to Mohammed’s farm just outside the city and we spent a few hours here. Eventually at about 20h00 we get back on the road because our visa is running out and there are stiff penalties for overstaying your welcome.
But, I am too tired to drive late at night and about 80km before the border we pull off and sleep next to the road.
Saudi Arabia is fascinating and the people are overwhelmingly friendly and hospitable. If we could we would have liked to stay for much longer. Mohammed has invited us back and if at all possible we intend going back in 2010.
|
| 20/05/2009 |
The car won’t start and we are stuck at the shopping centre. We decide to go shopping again but we are disappointed because although it is a big centre, it is fairly new and not all the shops are open yet. The big IT ones that we are interested in is yet to open for business.
Hyper Panda is a big hypermarket that stocks something of everything, including electronics. We spent about 4 hours in the store and parted with a small fortune. Eventually it is back to the car and we flag down some teenagers driving a car to assist us in jump starting it. They escort us to an auto mechanic who then points us to the main town of Yunba which is another 5 km away.
There we see a Toyota but they cannot assist with the alternator as they don’t repair, only replace, and apparently in the Middle East, parts are not the same as the European or African parts so they assist us to find another auto mechanic. This is a Turkish guy and he removes the alternator and we drive to a spare shop to find a replacement one. He leaves his shop open and we drive off. There is no crime in Saudi Arabia and it feels incredible that you can leave your possessions in the open with no risk that it will disappear.
Eventually the alternator is replaced but after testing it we find that it is not pushing out enough volts to charge the batteries. The Turkish guy now loses interest because the job is becoming too time consuming. One of his other clients, Ali, takes over. He assists us to drive from one spare shop to another till we eventually find a Pakistani outfit that has a replacement alternator. Ali negotiates the price, arranges to return the other alternator to recover our money and waits with us until the job is completed and the alternator tested. The hospitality in Saudi Arabia is incredible. To Ali, we are nothing but he treats us with this incredible friendliness and really assists us. Without him we would never have been able to leave Yanbu the same day because it is a big town and all these workshops and spare shops are spread out and hardly anybody speak English.
At about 20h00 we are able to leave Yanbu and continue our journey. We only drive another 280km till we reach Al Wadhj where we find a place to sleep on the promenade.
|
| 19/05/2009 |
At 08h30 the boat arrives in Jeddah and we are all bussed to the arrival hall. The car stays on the boat. In the arrival hall we have to swallow some vile-tasting drops and a mysterious tablet and then we wait to be processed along with the other 200 passengers. Nobody knows what the tables are for but I have a theory that tomorrow we will all wake up Muslim.
It takes 2.5 hours and eventually we are processed. It seems as if nobody has ever dealt with foreigners visiting the country. Luckily, all the officials are friendly.
Eventually we get out the arrivals hall and now we have to get the car through. The car was already moved off the ferry and looking at all the open cupboards, it was thoroughly searched. Another hour later we have the necessary papers and we can go. We need to be jumpstarted, as the battery appears to be flat.
First stop is a workshop to change the engine oil because the Sudanese oil is of poor quality. Now we must find new tyres and we drive from one tyre dealer to another to find the right size and make of tyre. Eventually we have to settle on Firestone because it was the only tyre we could find in the right size. We also have the battery and alternator tested and the verdict is that the alternator is working but the battery is finished so we replace the battery.
We also need to do a bit of grocery shopping and we find some really nice supermarkets that stock everything, in huge varieties and fantastic quality. The prices are dirt cheap because there are no taxes in Saudi Arabia. I swear Zelda had tears in her eyes when she saw the quality and variety on offer.
Shopping hours are just confusing because of the praying times. We are in the supermarket when everything is just closed and although we can wander around inside for an hour, there is nobody to assist you. Once everybody is back the doors are opened and you can move through the checkout.
Everybody is extremely friendly although very few people know where South Africa is. For dinner, we buy a roasted chicken from a food stall. The friendly shop-owner includes some salad and ice-cold water as a gesture of his hospitality. The chicken is delicious! The cost – about R26.
In the evening we leave Jeddah and start our drive north towards Jordan. The roads are fantastic but busy. A 3-lane highway takes us north. We cannot see much of the country side but we pass a few oil refineries that are huge operations generating enough light to turn night into day.
We reach the town of Yunba which seems quite a big town but as we don’t have GPS maps for the Middle East we don’t know where to stay over. We notice a shopping mall and decide to sleep in the parking area.
|
| 18/05/2009 |
We reach Suakin by about 09h00 in the morning and try and find the port from where the ferry departs. We get a little bit lost and I have to ask somebody for directions. Getting back in the car I notice that we have a semi-flat tyre. The same one that I had previously plugged.
Luckily we bought the two spare tyres and after quickly changing the tyre we try and find our way to the ticket office to purchase our tickets. A Yemeni guy offers to show us the way.
As with anything in Sudan nothing is straight forward. We are shown to a ticket agent who takes his time writing down all the details from the passports as well as the car’s information. From there it is the car costs us SDG3 200 or R13 280. There is no other way for us than to pay this. Even if we could enter Egypt without a carnet we will have to pay a similar amount for the ferry from Wadi Haifa to Aswan.
We don’t have any Sudanese pounds left, so now I must find an exchange. The travel agent insists that I go with his driver who will take me to the bank. The bank does not change Euros and they suggest we go to the harbour and change with one of the money changers there. On the way there is another Sudanese guy that offers to exchange but he is only prepared to give SDG2.5 for €1. That is too little so off to the harbour we go. At the harbour we are not allowed in without a permit so we turn back to go get a permit at the police station and then return to the harbour. I change the money and get SDG3.2 for €1.
Back to the travel agent where I pay for and collect the tickets. Zelda and the children are waiting in the car. All this time the Yemeni guy is travelling with me and assisting with paper work and translating, although he hardly speaks any English. He seems to know everybody and everybody seems to know him.
He now comes with us in our car and off we go to the harbour again. At about 11h00 we enter the harbour and now the paper work starts to get us out of the country. First it is customs where the car is checked out. Then it is immigration to have our passports stamped. The immigration guy is not there and we wait for about 1.5 hours for him to return. Then our failure to do alien registration catches up with us. We have to do it and now we have to pay the SDG400. Our Sudanese Pound is finished again and despite all my pleading they refuse to let us go without paying the fee. I pretend we have no money. I plead and beg but these guys are unbendable. Eventually Zelda has to go back to the money changers and exchange more Euros for Sudanese Pound.
By this stage our paper work to exit the country has taken more than 4 hours. The boat has arrived and people have started boarding. There is no chance that the boat will leave without us but we are now getting really frustrated with the Sudanese bureaucracy and I start showing it. Eventually at about 16h00 we drive the car on-board and we can start to relax.
The boat is run by Egyptians which explain the high prices. It’s clean and has good facilities but despite the price that we paid it does not include a cabin. For a basic cabin, they expect another €100. We refuse to pay more and spend the night on the couches in the restaurant. People sleep everywhere. On the floor, on deck, on couches but very few pay for cabins. The only problem was that once you left the car you could not get back to it. So we ended up the night without blankets or pillows.
|
|
