Crossing Borders in the Arabic Peninsula

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Crossing Borders in the Arabic Peninsula

Crossing Borders in the Arabic Peninsula
By Simona Duranti

Enjoyments and Discomforts of the Arabic Boundaries: going from Qatar through Saudi and UAE to Get to Oman.

Qatar is a fascinating, little peninsula, a knob of land extending from Saudi to the Persian Gulf. Anywhere you wish to go by land, you have to go through Saudi and it is something most migrants in Qatar are frightened regarding; nobody understands plainly just what to anticipate beyond that boundary.

When we went with a journey from Doha to Oman, the concept of crossing the boundaries instantly offered me a feeling of doing something amazing; I was delighted regarding leaving the safety of Doha to get to the strange Saudi border and even cross it!

As Italian nationals and participants of the European Community, there are couple of countries for which we are called for to acquire a Visa before departing. Saudi is just one of those nations, so we patiently put on obtain our visa (to be done at the very least two weeks in advance) when we finally got it, we considered it, shivering with anticipation, delighted by the concept of going to check out the unknown.

We cleared out of Doha through its desert landscapes inhabited by the most diverse setups: from an entertainment Water Park, to a satellite station, to the sewer treatment plant and at the end of the roadway, ultimately, the border.

We will enter just what we assumed was an unfriendly nation; someplace you ought to go only in case of emergency situation and for the shortest feasible time.

It turned out that I, as a female, was required to use the abaja and the hijab (the black gown and scarf) and keep a low account, not to mention that I needed to prevent driving the car or even sitting in the motorist's seat. I took the risk and went beyond the boundaries of discreetness by posturing for some photos under the roadway indication showing a gun, a bottle and some words created in Arabic. We thought it indicated it was forbidden to smuggle weapons and potentially alcohol into the nation.

The sensation of being in a surreal place vanished virtually completely when the officer at the entrance to Saudi asked my husband which football group he supported. He replied he really did not support any kind of and the man asked me "exactly what regarding you madam?", and started joking with me concerning Roma soccer team and the player Francesco Totti.

Ultimately it appeared like Saudi individuals were not as unfriendly as we believed.

And then, one and a half hours later, we had a cold shower when at the exit boundary, before being handed the tickets, the officer claimed (to be honest, in a very pleasant method): "Mr. Marco!"

I and my hubby took a look at each other for a second, each people went crazy by the individual knowing his name.

Apart from this unsettling event, crossing the Saudi borders was not as negative as we expected and we were still perfectly on schedule.

The real trouble was suddenly the UAE border.

We had actually flown in and out of Dubai numerous times in the last year and we really did not even bear in mind paying for any visa or undergoing any kind of visa procedure, yet it resembled they had actually altered some guidelines since the UAE boundary going across factor was a full mess.

Thousands of individuals were chaotically queuing around a high counter behind which the police officers were hiding and minding who knows whose business, and none of them was offered and able to inform us specifically what to do. It ended up we needed to fill in a mysterious kind, of which the policemans had run out. When the kind magically appeared we completed it and afterwards we were provided an item of ripped paper to be given to the officer in charge of the "eye scan". When we had our eyes scanned (!) we could continue to the high counter and at some point obtain our consent to get in to the country.

On our way out of UAE, we had to have a hard time to find the right boundary. Apparently there are 2 roads causing Oman, each of them dedicated to different type of people: GCC (Gulf Teamwork Council) and non GCC nationals. Obviously we uncovered it only when we were queuing at the GCC nationals' boundary. The good news is we found a merciful male that escorted us to the ideal course to reach the best border.

It felt like a mystic allegory, and in the end we found the proper way into the Promised Land.

But the best course is not always the most convenient; you will constantly experience some difficulty you will need to encounter and patiently fix. At that stage perseverance had not been among my merits anymore, and when a tour guide aimed to allow 20 of his German vacationers leap the line before us asking (in Arabic) the officer to refine their keys before our ones, I could not resist the possibility to take every one of my irritations out on him.

And finally we could enter Oman, worn down and mindful that we had to do it all once again on our way back home, in one week's time.

Points might have changed meantime, so if you prepare a trip via the above stated countries, make certain you validate all details well in advance.

I am an Italian journalist, blog writer and freelance copywriter currently living in Qatar.

I have a level in History of Fine Arts, a master level in Corporate Public Relations and I am a member of the Italian register of reporters. My main passions and area of expertise respect arts, music, fashion, takes a trip, nature, animals.

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