Circumknowitall

Excellent photos as usual!

goback

Go Holden Statesman (Caprice)! Soon they will be history.

DanielW

Thanks!

Yes, the Falcon/Commodore rivalry will sadly be no more. To be replaced with front wheel drive sedans with half as many cylinders and made in Thailand.

jackal

AWESOME report!

Now, will you do it again with me when I get to DXB in a couple of months?

SEAskyrider

Hey DanielW. You and hauteboy are consistently my top 2 favorite trip report writers (basically travel photo journalists) because of your destinations, impressive command of photography and your generosity.

I got really excited about this one because an overland KSA trip is a dream of mine.

I hope you don't mind a few questions.

1) How did you find taking photos in KSA? Is it much different than the usual "rules" of the Islamic MidEast i.e. avoid even pointing cameras at women, being extra mindful of who is in front of your lens at all times, etc.? Is it any different than, say, the UAE?

2) Did you interact with women? In Morocco, I interacted with a local woman who was a bathroom attendant. I know KSA is more conservative and maybe this would not even be allowed.

3) Lastly, what was your reason for necessitating access through KSA en route to Qatar besides that Qatar is landlocked by KSA? Did they ask for documentation supporting a business visit in Qatar or could you have claimed a tourism visit to Doha? In other words, do you think a transit visa would generally be easier to gain by claiming business rather than tourism in Doha? I ask because if you tell KSA you're simply a traveling tourist, they may not feel as obligated to grant the visa, unlike if you needed to attend to your job.

Keep up the great work. Believe it or not, you are acting as an ambassador of these amazing yet sadly misunderstood countries to the rest of the world and are doing some great things.

Enjoy Japan!

krazykanuck

Thanks! It's interesting to see pictures of what Saudi, etc looks like from the ground. Looks much like what it does from Google satellite view. It's amazingly barren.

And sh*t. At fuel prices like that, if I lived there I'd enjoy the most gas guzzling performance car I could afford!

DanielW

Cheers, jackal.

I actually looked if it was ok for someone else to come, but it looks like they only let GCC residents apply for transit visa's(?). E.g. you need UAE residency & UAE ID copies when you apply.

Thanks, SEAskyrider.

1. Yes, it didn't seem to be too different from the UAE, just be to careful and respectful i.e. not photo's of the locals etc.. A local introduced himself at the supermarket though, said hello, and actually asked for a 'soura' (photo)!



2. Didn't really interact with the local ladies. I saw a few in the markets etc., but most of the people out and about were men. At the Qatar border however, on the Qatar side the immigration was staffed by local ladies, to stamp your passport etc.

3. They didn't seem be worried about my reason for transiting to Qatar, as long as I had all the necessary paperwork:

1. Car Registration.
2. Car License.
3. UAE Road Transport Authority NOC (No Objection Certificate).
4. Employer NOC.
5. Employer Trade License.
6. Passport.
7. UAE Residency.
8. UAE Emirates ID.
9. Passport Photo.

Just came back from Japan and had a great time, hopefully will get my TR posted shortly.

Thank you, krazykanuck. Yes, very barren, must be a lot more 'intimidating' in summer too when its 45C/115F.

Yes, unbelievably cheap gas, lots of older gas-guzzling american cars in Saudi too, like Ford Victoria's and Chevy Caprice's.

flyerdxb

Hello Daniel,

Awesome report on your road trip. I've been travelling to Saudi for work for many years now, but have never traveled by road because the "commercial visa" states arrival by air only! Your report has inspired me to make that road across the Saudi border.

Need your help with the documentation that you were asked to complete for the transit visa. You do mention that you were turned away on your first appointment and had to go back with more documents.

Appreciate your patience to reply with the details. I have a visa appointment scheduled mid October. I plan to make a trip to Bahrain over a long weekend.

Thanks.

Ikram
Flyerdxb

DanielW

The first thing you need to go to the autoclub in Al Mamzar, and get a carnet de passage. Just need your car rego & license plus about 750 AED (although 500 AED is refundable though as it is a deposit).

http://www.atcuae.ae/index.aspx

You then need to get a NOC from the RTA, after showing them your carnet de passage.

Then you need to get the documentation for the visa. There is a list of requirements on the tasheel website:

https://www.vfstasheel.com/VFSTashee...nformation.jsp

Unfortunately they forgot to add a copy of the trade license of your UAE sponsor, which is what tripped me up. This should be the full list anyway:

1. Car Registration copy.
2. Car License copy.
3. UAE Road Transport Authority NOC (No Objection Certificate).
4. Employer NOC (mine was in Arabic, not sure if it has to be).
5. Employer Trade License.
6. Passport.
7. UAE Residency copy.
8. UAE Emirates ID copy.
9. Passport Photo.

And this should get you a transit visa.

Hope this helps.

benjahman

Great report! Thanks for sharing!

flyerdxb

Thanks very much for the quick reply daniel. Will keep you posted on how this goes.

PS. I've been reading up your other travel report and they are amazing...the Iran one is awesome. I've been to Iran for work quite a few time and have been wanting to go for a holiday with the family some day.

thanks again

Annalisa12

Love it. Thanks.

worldtraveller73

Awesome Report with great photos as well.

The roads in this part of the world are much better than one would expect, unless you've been there and experienced it first hand for yourself.

I'd love to do another driving holiday in the UAE ^

hco

Great trip report! Very interesting to see KSA through your photos.

GodAtum

wow I did not realise it was almost impossible for a tourist to visit Saudi and Medina