Crossing into UAE S06 EP.90 | MIDDLE EAST MOTORCYCLE TOUR
Let's see what the security guys say. They get all the information through the registration number. They have a very efficient system here. Assalam Alekum Everyone and Welcome Back to the Channel from ... I don't know exactly what place is this.
But this is about 20 km from Batha border between Saudi Arabia and UAE. I spent the previous night in a hotel there. If you can see the name behind me... I couldn't find it on the internet. So I thought I might have to go straight to the border in that case. But it was good that I found this place.
I was exhausted so I slept for 8 hours. We'll leave from here today and go on towards Abu Dhabi. It's almost 400 km from here. That's what the navigation tells me.
Could take up to 6 or 7 hours. The border crossings in GCC countries are very smooth and quick. Let's hope that our day turns out to be a really good one.
Time to leave. All my luggage has been set up and ready. I haven't done my breakfast. It's 10 in the morning. We can take a short break in case we find some restaurant or cafe. Bismillah... In the name of Allah...
Thanks.. Salam *Prayer for the journey* May Allah make today's ride easy for us and may the border crossing be hassle free. The motorcycle was refueled yesterday. So we don't need any fuel for now. Although the tank is full, the navigation... OI mean... the distance meter...
The meter is still telling me that we can only go for 185 km with this fuel. I don't think it's right. Moving ahead... I need to look for an ATM as well. If I could find one here.... I have used all my Qatari and Saudi riyals to pay the rent of my room.
Need to see if that road goes to that side. You can find small motels like this one by the highway through out Saudi Arabia. I was quite worried about the long ride that I might have to take, if I couldn't find a room.
Could be another 2 to 3 hours on the road. Because all these motels are not listed on the internet. Most likely, you will find a motel by the road side as well.
Well, we didn't pass by any city and have reached the border. I think something must be wrong with my coordinates. Don't seem to find the village Batha as expected. I mean the village is there but there are no facilities at all.
Anyways... We'll just cross the border and use our riyals... Well... it's not riyals anymore. I think UAE's currency is darham. We've reached the Saudi side of this border. Let's see what the security guys are gonna say.
There was no one there. There's a lot of construction work going on here. They are adding extensions to enlarge this terminal. This is the customs terminal.
Let's see how they exit the motorcycle from here. Saudis at the Bahrain border did not take much time to process the motorcycle. I mean when we were going to Bahrain. Assalam Alekum It's German. Let's see. They'll find the details. They get all the information with the registration number.
Their system is really efficient. Thanks Bismillah... That's how long it took to get the motorcycle cleared. The only thing now left is the exit stamp.
This process is really efficient. A proper system is in place. Not like what happened with me at the Iranian and Iraqi borders. There's only one booth open at the moment. Assalam Alekum Better keep this receipt for the next post. You have to show it at the exit.
Gonna make a picture of it. Because they do ask about it at the next check point. Normally they give two receipts to people. Or at least they can keep one receipt with themselves.
Thank you. So, our passport has been cleared from here. That's it. They are doing new construction in the passport control area. You may find new buildings here when you visit the place.
Overall the exit process took just 15 minutes at max. That's it. Let's see what sort of welcome we'll get in UAE.
I don't think there's gonna be any problem though. But you never know... Each new country has its own rules and systems. I may not have some document that they ask of me. But normally such a thing doesn't happen.
Hopefully we'll cross the border without any issue. There's just one more check point to go now. The security check point. They will take one or both of these slips, passport and customs slips, from me.
That's gonna happen here. Thanks . It's good that he has returned it. I may need it in UAE. Bye Bye Saudi Arabia I've no idea how far is the UAE border side from here. We are not too far from there. We've crossed all the check posts here.
But in some cases, the distance between two sides of the same border can be as much as 5 km.... That could be the case here. We are now inside UAE.
Welcome to United Arab Emirates But the official welcome will come once we cross this border. The two borders are roughly 3 to 4 km apart. I can now see the booths. That means I must have covered 2.5 km or so, already. Trucks are on the right side. But we are supposed to keep left.
There's a separate lane for motorcycles in Bahrain. That's not the case here. I can only see the lanes for cars and buses, here.
There's no one here. I waited there for almost 10 minutes. Then someone behind me asked me to go.
I don't know if I was standing at the right point. Was I able to understand the instructions properly? No one was there. We are moving forward. Let's see what happens.
Seems a little weird though. It's also possible that they are only dealing with cars back there. That's the only lane available here.
The do a thorough scanning here. You have to move slower than 10 km/h here. There are different booths here as well. For foreigners... For GCC countries... For UAE citizens... How only two of them are operating right now.
So, it's either this one or the one on the right side. Let's keep going on this one. This one is for GCC countries. Assalam Alekum Resident? No. Tourist.
Tourist? Yes. You have to go to that side. Sorry? Okay. Thank you. Now we have to look for the next check point.
Straight after right. I think it's the right before that building. Gonna take this lane. He told me to go towards the tent. To the Passport Control Thankfully they have put directions to guide people.
Due to ongoing construction work, all the system seems to be out of place. This is the tent. It has to be here somewhere. Let's park it here. So, that was passport control. We are done now.
Now comes the Vehicle Inspection. I didn't have to pay any fee at passport control. They have given me visa. I think they issue a 3 month visa on German passport. As I told you while exiting from Saudi Arabia... I wasn't charged any fee there as well.
So far, the overall process has been really smooth. We just need to keep following this signboard. Don't wanna take any wrong turn.
That's the vehicle inspection area. Assalam Alekum Well they didn't do any special sort of checking of the motorcycle. They hardly spent 5 minutes asking me to open just one bag and checking it. It just had my camping gear, my clothes and similar stuff.
After seeing that they simply let me go. Now comes... Lets see the signboards first. Actually I'm not sure if the motorcycle has been cleared already or not. Or if the slip from Saudi is valid here as well...
All I know is that they have stamped my passport and issued me a visa. The directions show that the next building will be of Insurance. We need to get insurance for the motorcycle. My German insurance is international. It's valid in many countries.
But I'm certain that UAE is not one of those countries. My insurance was valid in Iran. It was valid even in Israel.
Their insurance was way too expensive; around 700 - 800 euros. But when they accepted mine... it was a big relief. Assalam Alekum How are you Sir? Which country? Germany.
The motorcycle is German. Vehicle ID? Sorry? Vehicle License Vehicle ID... Okay... This one? The number is GGP446. I'll check. OK. GGP 446? Yes Where are you from? I'm from India. India... Nice..
I'm Abdul Rahman. Nice to meet you Abdul Rahman. Are you from Kerala? Yes I'm from Kerala. Everyone is from Kerala in this region. For 15 days... 210 AED For 15 days, it's 210 AED? That's the minimum package... for 15 days.
Is it possible to extend it if I decide to stay for more than 15 days? And do I need to go somewhere or do it online? You can do online extension. Please check the ... Ok. I'll inform. Okay. Please give me insurance for 15 days. For 15 days, you need to pay 210 AED. Can I pay with credit card? Yes.
Perfect Lets stand in shade. This might take some time. Might as well remove my helmet... This heat is killing me.
Nice meeting you, Abdul Rahman. See you. You too. God willing, we may meet in Kerala the next time. Have a nice day. Thank you. Bye I think he was one of the nicest persons I have met in such a setting. He was really polite and was continuously smiling as he talked.
He was telling me that he is sorry that the insurance is too expensive. So I got the 15 days insurance for almost 60 dollars. We just have to give the slip here.
Assalam Alekum Thank you very much. So that was our experience of crossing into UAE from Saudi Arabia. Welcome to UAE For the first time... I have traveled extensively through out the world. As far as I can remember, I came here in 2008. And that too for just one day.
Somehow I missed my flight and there was still some time before the next flight. That's when we stayed in Dubai for one day. I haven't been in this area before.
I've no idea what to see here. No idea about what Dubai is like... You know that there are so many of us here.
I mean it's very easy to get Dubai's visa for Pakistani passport holders. That's why many people come here. And it's not too far away from Pakistan. A large Pakistani community is settled here. Hopefully I'll be able to show you Dubai in the best possible way. We need to ride some more...
I've been told that we'll reach a small village called Sila shortly. I'll get something to eat there for sure. Haven't eaten anything since morning... except for water. It's almost 12.30 pm.
That is if there is no time difference between Saudi Arabia and UAE. Our border crossing was rather quick. If I add up the total time taken by both sides...
20 minutes there and 1 hour here... That's it. That's as fast as it can get. Abu Dhabi is 353 km from here. Still a long way to go. But most of it is on the highway.
There's not much to see in this area. So we'll just keep riding. I can see the signboard of Sila. So lets exit from the highway and go to that village.
The village is on our left side. Don't want to cross this village and not find anything else. I'll see if I can get a SIM card from here. Would be great if I do.
We don't have any SIM card of UAE yet. That's sort of a very cool round about. Looks beautiful.
I just saw a couple of banks on my left side. But nothing much other than that. There's a petrol station as well. But our tank is full so we don't need that right now.
Looks like we'll be taking a full round of Sila. That's a cafe but is there any place to sit outside. Everybody seems to be sitting in their cars. But we can try and see any other place.
Otherwise we can just come back to this one. These are just Baqala stores. What else... There's a green building over there. That's a super market.
That truck place was actually better than these. Should we go back there? Here's a cafeteria... but is it open? And do they have any place to sit?? Assalam Alekum Is there any place to sit inside? Is there any place to sit inside? Nope. Is there any cafe here where I can sit? English? Do you know any cafe? Any place where I can sit inside? Where is that? Do I need to go back? OK. Let's see if I can find that.
Thanks very much. You can sit there and also get fresh. Can also get tea or juice... There are some shops there too. Thank you very much. There's a mobile shop there. You can comfortably sit there.
Okay. These two guys are really nice. They offered me that they'll show me the way to the restaurant.
Rather they will lead me there. And that I can sit there and relax. Because there is no option of sitting here during the day. The weather gets very pleasant in the evening.
But the sunlight is too strong to sit outside during the day. I mean it could be a problem for me but maybe the locals have adjusted to this weather. I have been riding my motorcycle in this region during summer. The summer heat during the day is unbearable. Still it's not too easy to sit here.
I already passed by this section. So that's the Istanbul restaurant. Thank you very much.
I couldn't see that before. Istanbul... They look like Pakistanis and Indians. Our food has been served. Let me give you a look. I have a number of food items in front of me.
I actually didn't order this much. Didn't want to overeat. But since it's here... lets hope it's gonna taste good.
Let me show you the food. That's chicken. There are fries as well. That's one proper meal. They normally serve it with hummus but I told them I didn't want that. They had lentils so I asked for it.
So we have lentils with bread and some salad. I'm gonna start with chicken. Hopefully it's gonna be delicious.
Spicy and yummy... The food was great. There's a little surprise though. I was thinking that the bill must be around 100 riyals. Because of the quantity of food. But ... All of it costs just 23 ...
I don't know if it's riyals or dirhams. Excuse me... The currency of UAE is riyal or dirham? Dirham So it's dirham. I thought you said riyal. No, I said dirham. Okay. Could have misheard.
I was like I thought it was dirham. So I paid 23 dirhams... including this tea. We'll finish our tea and get on with our ride. 23 dirham must be around 6.5 dollars. Not expensive but tasted good. Anyways... I'm gonna finish this vlog at this point.
Don't want it to be long. More to come in the next one. Remember me in your prayers. Do Like, Subscribe and Share. Allah Hafiz
2022-12-26 02:05
