Kategorie: Saudi Arabia

Hello all!

After 3 months altogether we are back in Saudi Arabia (Jeddah). But why did we had to ‚come back‘!? What happened? Unfortunately we had to pause our world trip for three months since my (Carstens) mother unexpectedly passed away in May 2023. Of course, this very sad event did change a lot for us. We flew back to Germany to take care of family and things. But before we had to find a place to park Wischnewski for an uncalculated long time. That was not a simple task to organize. Where do you put a (9,5m, 14t) truck? It is our home and we of curse wanted Wischnewski to stay save. And: leaving a vehicle in a foreign country outside of Europe is a big and difficult task to arrange. The customs authorities absolutely hate that. But again, the hospitability and friendliness of the Arabic people solved the problem within hours. A new good friend from Jeddah – Fayez (our hero) – organized a save place right away and gave us what we needed to leave the country without our truck. Now we only had to cross fingers that Wischnewski could stand the heat. Summer was coming up in Saudi with expected 40-50°C.

Good news: When we returned in September all worked out well with Wischnewski. The (Mercedes) engine started immediately willing to move on. We only had to clean up and had to fix minor damages. Especially plastic and all that is glued did not like the Saudi summer heat…

The other good thing was that we could meet again with our friends from Spain/ Ecuador (Magy & Carlos) to travel together in the next months.

Best wishes from
Heike and Carsten

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Hello all! 

In April 2023 we (for the second time) went to Saudi Arabia. That country is so big that it needs months to investigate. As we already indicated in our first blog post, we quickly became big fans of Saudi Arabia. Since this country offers so much positive surprises, wonderful people, astonishing cultural understanding and a great landscape to visit. The heat became a bit of a struggle for us but that did not come as a surprise (desert without heat? No!). By the way: driving through the desert is just the best!!

One thing is clear: Saudi Arabia is a perfect country to visit for overlanders. It is still developing everything that is related to tourism but maybe this is what it makes so extratordinary. A real adventure. And so good to experience that Saudi and the Arabic world is nothing like we think it is (from the media). 

Best wishes from
Heike and Carsten

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Hello all!

What do you know about Saudi-Arabia? …Riyadh? Oil? OPEC? Osama? Prince XYZ? Muslim country?

We understood quickly that we did not know anything of relevance when it comes to Saudi-Arabia for us ‚on the ground‘. As we already learned from Iran, Iraq and Kuwait the hospitality, openness and friendliness of the Arabs is extraordinary. For us it is hard to imagine that a stranger who meets you somewhere on the street could (honestly) invite you to a family celebration or to a dinner ‚right away‘. And again: the best way to meet people is to put your truck to a water spring and begin filling your tank. No five minutes later a local shows up, very interested end enthusiastic, and get’s in touch. But important to mention is, that the Arabic hospitality is more than a duty from the times of the nomads, it is a positive belief. And a great way to get in touch.

Like you see it on television or on YouTube: we sat in a Saudi beduin tent, somewhere in the desert, surrounded by camels, having dinner and dates plus tea, ..and great conversations with people from a very different cultural context. So exciting! We never had a clue that travelling through the Arab world could be so enriching!

Best wishes from
Heike and Carsten