Land-based travel in the Middle East

4/24/2012 2:23:55 PM

Just came across this question. If you fly into Qatar, it is land locked with Saudi Arabia. The only way to get into Saudi Arabia is with a transit visa. I lived in Qatar so I had a residents permit which made the transit visa easier to obtain. You do this through local agencies, I got my first one at the Saudi Arabian embassy after 7 trips but now they’ve farmed out that work. A friend of mine was able to get his father a transit visa but his father had to be in Qatar for about a week before it was processed and it may have made a difference that he was traveling with somebody with an RP.

There is not much of public transportation that I came across. However taxi’s are relatively cheap compared to western countries. Air Arabia is a local airline based out of Sharjah (North of Dubai) this will help you move around a little more. Your big obstacle is Saudi Arabia, it’s not an easy place / next to impossible to enter.

1/10/2012 7:57:58 PM

I entertained the idea to spend some time in Dubai as well, considering I have to change planes there anyway.
I talked to a friend last week who lived for several years in Al Ain, a city in the UAE on the Omanian border.

It seems the UAE are okay for travelling by yourself, but a city like Al Ain with a population of over 370,000 and a possible gateway into Oman has no cheap places to stay. Only 5 Star hotels, way over our budget.

Getting over into Oman is possible but takes some time and you need a four wheel drive and a local guide to cross the desert. She said the desert is dangerous unless you travel in a group.

There are no trains in the area, but some long distance buses. You can go from Muscat in Oman to Dubai (5h) and Abu Dhabi (6h). The Lonely Planet for the Arabic Peninsula also mentions a bus from Muscat to Mukhalla in Yemen (6h) but I don’t know whether that is still running considering the situation in Yemen right now. (I was in Eastern Turkey a few weeks ago and all buses to Damascus had been cancelled.)

Overall I get the idea, that the infrastructure for independent budget travelers does not exist in the area.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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