Every beginning has an end. So does our trip. This is our 11th day of trip, marks the end of an unforgettable 11-day long UAE & Oman trip. A trip is diversion to our normal day-to-day routine and today we should come back to a real life, however, with rejuvenated mind, body and soul.
We made it straight forward to be back to Doha from Dubai, with only a short stop in Abu Dhabi for Friday prayers and lunch in Abu Dhabi Mall and a visit to Abu Dhabi Corniche Beach and . Well, actually we did have a plan to visit Emirates Auto Museum, off Road E11, but due to safety reason (we tried not to drive during night at 130-km Saudi’s unlit road), we abandoned that plan.
I think I should give Abu Dhabi a longer visit as we missed Emirate Palace, Marina Mall, Al Raha Beach, Yas Island, Heritage Village and many more…..again it’s another reason why I should come back to UAE & Oman.
Driving 350 km E11 coastal road, we arrived at Saudi/UAE border at about dusk to start, yet we couldn’t avoid driving an unlit road stretch for the last 100 km. To make it worse, many road sections were encroached by small sand dunes resulted from previous sand storms, up to half the road. Consequently we need to drive at lower speed and at left lane most of the time.
Border process at Saudi/UAE checkpoint was seamless except an annoying insurance officer at Saudi border. He successfully made me to go back and forth between his booth and immigration booth (about 50m away) three times for a stamp on an insurance certificate that otherwise could be done by himself.
At Saudi border in Salwa, I got this shocking – an MTV-punk’d-like program – joke by Saudi immigration officer:
“Wahyu Hidayat”
“Yes, I am”
“You are wanted”
“Me? (unbelieved, thought it might relate to insurance case in previous Saudi border)”
“Yes, please park your car at right!”
……..(still confused and unbelieved)…..
(Laugh)…..ha..ha…..no my friend….I’m joking!”
Gosh…that’s scary. I was successfuly punk’d.
From my friend I also got a story where he got punked but that time he was asked ten thousand riyals for getting his passport stamped. Again only a joke. So beware of this joke whenever you pass Saudi Salwa border.
We arrived at Villagio mall at around 9 pm and then had a dinner in Thai Chi. When we arrived home it was almost 11 pm only to find our house full of dust. So, inevitably we vacuumed that dust and did some necessary cleaning prior to stretch our body.
Message for Mr. Wahyu Hidayat
Dear Friend,
Greetings!
I am planning to drive from Doha to Abu Dhabi and back in the near future.
Could I request you to share all relevant information that may be useful/ required for driving down to this destination (inclusive of the distance and the driving time it took you)?
Any other ‘MUSTS’ that I must cater for?
Thanks and Best Regards .. Manish
Dear Dr.Manish,
For your reference you can read my complete UAE-Oman travelogues here https://wahyuinqatar.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/uae-oman-trip-wrap-up-best-practiceslesson-learned-one-riyal-thoughts/ There you can find posts on Itinerary and Distances and Day 1 which described a trip from Doha-Abu Dhabi then Muscat.
Generally it took about 7-9 hours from Doha to Abu Dhabi, subject to border condition, and speed. As for distance:
– Doha – Qatar Border: 97km
– Qatar – Saudi Border: 10km
– Saudi Border – UAE Border: 129km
– UAE Border – Abu Dhabi: 360km
Good luck with your trip and be safe.
Hi Sir thank you for the nice input just curious to know if toyota fortuner 2.7 can be able to travel to dubai