Information: The original language of this blog is German. Any other language is translated using DEEPL's machine translation (www.deepl.com), without proofreading.

Middle East

United Arab Emirates, visas and travel plans

 
16 March 2023 / David & Regula / Tags: Asia, Cycling, Middle East, UAE

Entering Abu Dhabi, everything was dressed up: the superlative shining Sheikh Zayed Mosque (90000T white Macedonian marble, largest hand-knotted carpet, largest marble mosaic and third largest chandelier (11T) in the world), the shopping mall in front and the crowds of tourists in shorts or miniskirts. After two weeks on the dusty road, these were unfamiliar views.

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Who Would Have Thought? Cycling Through Saudi Arabia!

 
17 January 2023 / David & Regula / Tags: Asia, Cycling, Middle East, Saudi Arabia

Already for three weeks we are doing what would have been unthinkable ten years ago: We are traveling by bike through Saudi Arabia. It was only in 2013 that women were allowed (at that time only in recreational areas, accompanied by a male and in compliance with the dress code, i.e. with abaya and veil) to ride a bike. Since 2018, women have been allowed to drive cars, dress codes have been lifted, and tourists can enter Saudi Arabia eVisa. All these measures are part of Vision 2030, with which the crown prince wants to reduce the country’s dependence on oil.

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As fast as possible through Jordan

 
7 January 2023 / David & Regula / Tags: Asia, Cycling, Middle East

With the entry into Jordan we experienced the biggest culture shock of our trip so far. When filling out the entry form, we laughed about the fact that David had to state how many wives he was traveling with. The next morning we realized how serious this question is in Jordan. More about this later…

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