a hui hou kakou

The below is really not finished yet. It's a work in progress, I've more notes to integrate.

good=jayed, very good=mumtaz, small=satir, few=shwai, big=kabir, different=mukh talif, vegetarian=nabati

2008.04.24

Yesterday morning I was nervous. I've grown tired of hitching all over the Gulf. It has always been a wonderful experience but there is the uncertainty of it and the weather is getting hot. Yesterday my students, as well as the military, had their graduation. I asked a few if they knew anyone driving to the Emirates and they found a soldier. He didn't seem really comfortable with it though. I got his number and we arranged to meet by the gate. I waited there for an hour and he didn't pick up his phone. So I went to hitch and had a ride within a minute or two. A Saudi teacher gave me a ride to the highway and then an Egyptian gave me a ride a couple kilometers. Next some soldiers picked me up. A diver and a border guard going back to Al-Hasa for the weekend. They were nice guys and offered to show me around their neighborhoods. Also they knew an overnight bus to Dubai. Now I've got six weeks and so no reason to hurry really. I was hoping to see Abu Dhabi, but my CS contact there seemed a bit busy and I can always go there later.

Al-Hasa. I took the offer to see Al-Hasa. I first went to Al-Hasa in January with my friend Aymeric. We went to wander around in Hofuf and we picked up some random kids to show us around. They showed us a hill with a good view and caves. This time Ali dropped off his friend and we went to his "farm" which was a nice garden of fruit trees surrounded by a wall. But first we found a spot where blackberries were ripe in the date palm forest and died our hands dark purple eating them. I met many of Ali's friends and family. Only the men of course. Al-Hasa is a lot more conservative, women, when seen, are silent under jet black chadors. This is a bit strange. Al-Hasa is a Shia area in Sunni Saudi Arabia, and the Shias generally seem more open minded. But still the women are invisible. I am careful not to ask about wives or anything unless they bring it up. Ali showed me his neighborhood and I met his kids and we had lunch at his house. A wonderful thing about Saudi Arabia is that they seem to understand I'm a vegetarian. The main dish was okra which I don't like generally, but it was quite good, and wonderful little rolls filled with cream cheese straight from the oven and homemade. Yummy! I got to see a spring. Al-Hasa is a very old oasis and there was always a lot of ground water. But now too much has been used and the level is dropping. Wells that once had high pressure now must be pumped to keep things going. The pumping infrastructure is evident all over. I went to another farm. This one with horses, cows, goats and many plants. It also had a recreational hut of the old style. With everything made of palm fronds. I got to ride a horse for a min but sadly I'm out of practice and needed help getting on as there wasn't a saddle.

All the guys I met were happy to meet a Westerner who hitched. Who tried to get into Saudi society. They say Westerners are aloof and travel with armed guards. They say I should be careful though. Ali is a captain in the border guards and carries his handgun even when off duty so I guess I had one myself :-) (guard). Western ex=pats say the same almost. They say Saudis are aloof and thing I'm crazy to hitch. I think most people are good and you will often get what you expect from people. Even with Saudi friends it is hard to be really comfortable on some levels. Above all it comes down to gender issues for me I think.

I had a great time chatting with little kids practicing their English. I've more invitations to visit Al-Hasa when I return to Saudi and I should probably take them up. Not only in Al-Hasa but the other Shia areas near Dammam and Jubail. A high percentage of Saudis who pick me up are Shia and I think they identify with outsiders more, maybe because they are a repressed minority here.

Ali dropped me off at the bus station at about 20:30 for the 21:00 bus to Dubai. It was 100SAR and started on time but then stopped in Hofuf for an hour getting more passengers. By the time we were under way it was mostly packed and made it hard to sleep. A reminder about one of the pleasures of hitching, comfortable rides! I had heard these buses usually filled with Asian expat workers but maybe it was the route. I was the only non-Saudi on the bus, and as usual they were very friendly and inquisitive. Surprised to find a Westerner there. The border went smoothly except that the Emirates now requires eye scans and the machine wasn't working. The bus kindly waited for me though (the Saudis didn't need to take the scans) but stopped within sight of the border because of engine trouble. We were immediately put on another bus though. So passed the night and the morning has shown me the flat sands of the Emirates. There was a foggy expanse with a sparse forest of thorny trees and more chatting with the Saudis. Then I got to wander and enjoy a place with a lot more spoken English.

I've gone to a coffee place in a mall in Sharja to meet my friend Zin for coffee. We met two years ago in Burma where she is from, but she never came and can't be reached. I assume there was a misunderstanding and she is at work with her phone off but still quite frustrating! So now I will soon go to meet my host Sybil from Brazil, and see the city a bit.

NOTES FROM THE TRIP FROM PENINAH:
habari=how are you?
mzuri=good
asante=thanks
kwabari=goodbye
apana sitoki=no thanks (don't want)
pole pole=slowly slowly

Zanzibar - Stone Town 28th/29th May 2008.

Dar es Salaam - 27th/28th May 2008.

Set off from Diani at 9:00am and took a matatu to Msambumi (the guys had initially said they go all the way to Lungalunga (Kenya border to Tanzania) but of course they were lying). We were dumped into another matatu heading to Lungalunga. There we got our passports stamps for exit. We got lucky and found a bus going to Tanga-Dar. 6km and we were at Horohoro which is the Tanzanian border. Hassle free, stamped in and made our way to Tanga in a dusty road for 2 1/2 hrs.

1) The ferry to Zanzibar is more like a big boat (passenger). Loren likes the bouncy part in the open rough seas, and I didn't like it. It's scary! Fell asleep later on. We were on the upper deck with fewer people, big plasma flat screens and ish ish comfy couches. The view is good though. We left Dar at 12:30 and we were at Zanzibar at 4pm.
Zanzibar:
Men here suck! Narrow minded.
Dar:
Men here suck even more!! What's narrow minded trick & thick?

Description of Songwe Border and Bus to Lilongwe.
* Stuffy
* Smelly...(staff)
* 20 hours of waiting
* Kids begging (less hassling as compared to Tanzania.
The borders are about 200m apart, but difference in treatment is amazing. TZ sucks!!

Roads are great. Fair prices for things. Look up bus company, avoid TAQAAL Bus Services.

Appendix I: Travel Timetable

2008.04.23 Saudi Arabia bus ticket, Hofuf-Dubai, No Reserved Seat, ~22:00-~09:30 +1, 100SAR 2008.04.24 UAE ATM, RAK Bank, Deira Souq, 300AED 2008.04.24 UAE bus ticket (Dubaibus, Ticket:4075579) 1.50AED 2008.04.24 UAE bus ticket (Dubaibus, Ticket:4105496) 1.50AED 2008.04.24 UAE bus ticket (Public Buses, Route:0803) Gold Souq BS-Al Mina Siyahi, 3AED 2008.04.28 Oman currency museum 0.250OMR 2008.04.29 Oman bus ticket (Oman National Transport Co.) Muscat-Salalah, No Reserved Seat, 19:30-~06:45 +1, 7.5OMR 2008.04.30 Oman bus ticket (Gulf Transport co. L.L.C.) Salalah-Al-Mukalla, No Reserved Seat, 09:30-~02:40 +1, 13OMR 2008.05.01 Yemem tourist police permission to travel form 2008.05.01 Yemen bus ticket (Yemitco) Al-Mukalla-Sana'a, No Reserved Seat, 2200YER 2008.05.02 Yemen Dar Alhajar, Palce Wonders, The Imam's Palce, No. 145611 500YER 2008.05.03 Yemen visa payment for the Djibouti embassy 30USD 2008.05.03 Yemen tourist police permission to travel form 2008.05.04 Yemen ATM, Central Bank of Yemen, Aden City Branch, Transaction not completed 2008.05.11 Yemen flight ticket (Yemenia) Sanaa-Djibouti, Seat 11B, Flight IY 628, 09:45~11:00, 30799YER 2008.05.12 Djibouti flight 77504DUF 2008.05.12 Djibouti flight ticket (Air Kenya) Djibouti(Ambouli)-Nairobi(Jomo), Seat 10C, Flight KQ 0403, 12:30-16:15 2008.05.12 Kenya bus ticket (Citi Hoppa) 20KES 2008.05.12 Kenya bus ticket (Citi Hoppa) 30KES 2008.05.12 Kenya bus ticket (MTN Msafiri Bus Services) Nairobi-Mombasa, Seat 1, 21:00-~05:30 +1, 700KES 2008.05.15 Kenya ATM, Kenya Commercial Bank, Treasury Square, 10000KES, Balance 36435.94KES 2008.05.16 Kenya visa payment for the Tanzanian consulate in Mombasa 2008.05.25 Kenya accomodation (Le Petit Paris LTD) 900KES per night times 8 2008.05.27 Tanzania bus ticket (Falcon Coach Limited) Tanga-Dar es Salaam 14:00-~20:00, 500KES 2008.05.28 Tanzania ATM, Barclays Bank PLC, Uhuru, Balance enquiry, 318702.04TZS 2008.05.28 Tanzania ferry ticket (Africa Shipping Co. Ltd.) Dar es Salaam-Zanzibar, No Reserved Seat(VIP), 12:30-16:30, 20USD 2008.05.29 Zanzibar ferry ticket (Fast Ferries LTD) Zanzibar-Dar es Salaam, No Reserved Seat, 16:00-18:00, 35USD 2008.05.29 Tanzania bus ticket (Only God Trans) Buguruni-Kivukoni via Uhuru Rd, 250TZS x2 2008.05.30 Tanzania bus ticket (Taqabal) Dar es Salaam-Lilongwe, Seat 26, ~5:45-~3:30 +2, 50000TZS 2008.06.02 Malawi forign exchange receipt 80USD-11840MWK 2008.06.02 Malawi accomodation (Mabuya Camp) 2600MWK per night for two 2008.06.02 Malawi bus ticket (Axa) Lilongwe-Karonga, No Reserved Seat, 2650MWK 2008.06.04 Tanzania bus ticket (Taqwa) Mbeya-Morogoro, No Reserved Seat, 25000TZS 2008.06.05 Tanzania bus ticket (Abod Bus Services) Morogoro-Moshi, Seat 10, 14000TZS 2008.06.06 Tanzania forign exchange receipt 80USD-94400TZS 2008.06.07 Tanzania bus ticket (Impala Shuttle Services) Moshi-Nairobi, 06:30-14:30 25000TZS 2008.06.08 Kenya flight ticket (Qatar Air) Nairobi-Doha, Seat 15B, QR 533, 15:00-21:00, 393USD(to Dammam) 2008.06.08 Qatar flight ticket (Qatar Air) Doha-Bahrain, Seat 31A, QR 156, 21:00-21:45 2008.06.08 Bahrain bus ticket (Qatar Air/SABTCO) Bahrain-Dammam(Khobar), QR 4156, 23:45-~02:30 2008.06.09 Saudi Arabia taxi Khobar-KFMMC 50SAR

Appendix II: Exchange Rates (2008.05.15) Code USD/1 Unit Units/1 USD Currency AED 0.27230 3.67390 Utd. Arab Emir. Dirham DJF 0.00578 178.80000 Djibouti Franc ETB 0.10600 9.72300 Ethiopian Birr EUR 1.54560 0.64700 Euro GBP 1.94410 0.51450 British Pound KES 0.01693 64.51230 Kenyan Shilling MWK 0.00729 142.39100 Malawi Kwacha OMR 2.60420 0.38610 Omani Rial SAR 0.26680 3.75510 Saudi Riyal TZS 0.00084 1235.85000 Tanzanian Shilling USD 1.00000 1.00000 US Dollar YER 0.00503 200.80000 Yemeni Rial

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