Wischnewski is back in Saudi (April 2023)

Hello all!       (–> Text übersetzen in Deutsch)

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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Wischnewski in Oman – 3/3 (March 2023)

Hello all!       (–> Text übersetzen in Deutsch)

a very special part of our trip in Oman was a trip that we took through the Omani desert ‘Wahiba Sands’. We met in a group of 5 offroad trucks to master the desert. That was extraordinary. Driving on dunes and through sand is very special. So is sitting around the campfire place in the night enjoying the beautiful stars of the milky way (nowhere better than in the desert). We formed such a great group of overlanders, that was very big fun and definitely a highlight of our overall trip so far.  

Best wishes from
Heike and Carsten

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Wischnewski in Oman – 2/3 (February 2023)

Hello all!     (–> Text übersetzen in Deutsch)

in Oman there is a nice area in the south-west, close to the border of Jemen, called ‘Salala’. This was another pretty beach area. We also drove through impressive mountain areas and the famous Omani ‘Wadis’ (often dry riverbeds that – here and there – get water from the surrounding mountains – there the Omani live and agriculture takes place)

Best wishes from
Heike and Carsten

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Wischnewski in Oman – 1/3 (January 2023)

Hello all!       (–> Text übersetzen in Deutsch)

after doing some repairs in Dubai, the next exotic highlight of our world trip came closer: Oman. Located a bit at the far edge of the Arabic peninsula, Oman gave us a relaxed feeling. We found beautiful mountains and landscape plus nice beaches (that we often had to clean up when we arrived, …a lot of trash everywhere, to sad!). Beautiful was the number of dromedaries that you find in most parts of the country, running around free, at beaches, in mountains, in Wadis, on highways, everywhere. So cute and friendly they are (see pictures).

Different to e.g. Saudi-Arabia we did not meet many Omanis since there are not too many around on the streets. The country has a population of about 5 million people of which roughly 50% is migrants from India, Pakistan, Sudan. The Omanis are the ‘owner of things’ (mostly not be seen on the streets). The migrants are doing the work in shops and on the streets. So we mostly met migrants (what was pleasant too). It felt a bit like a two-class-society. The good thing about this demographical structure in Oman was that there are plenty of Indian and Pakistani restaurants (yummy again, like in Dubai).

Best wishes from
Heike and Carsten

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Wischnewski in Dubai (December 2022 / March 2023)

Hello all!

Since we had a flight back to Germany for Christmas celebrations in December 2022 our way did lead us to Dubai (in the ‘United Arabic Emirates’). Our expectations of Dubai were not very high, shopping malls and skyscrapers did not sound very appealing to us. But (once again) reality taught us not to judge to fast. This time we had plenty of time to experience Dubai in its (enormous) size. Imagine that it is circa 45 kilometers to cross Dubai, it’s so big. And as we learned there is no thing to do on the planet that you could not do in Dubai (on the ground, in the air, on the water and below). What impressed us was that they did build the whole city within 40 years out of nothing. That surely was the biggest project that the planet so far did see. What an initiative to build that city at a place where you have not even one resource available. They had to transport everything you need to build Dubai to Dubai: material, machines, people, know how, financials, order, rules, visions, everything! The city’s infrastructure is substantial: No one building was the same, each building was specially designed and just pretty to see. Dubai surely is a kind of artificial world, a bit like Las Vegas, but still impressive, definitely worth to visit. It is so much more than the shopping malls that we expected to see.

For us it was of biggest positive events to go into the ‘Indian quarters’ where the guest workers live (millions of them). There we got so much great Indian food, SOO good, so cheap and so filled up with flavor!

Best wishes from
Heike and Carsten

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