A drive from Yemen to Ukraine . . . and back Voyage through Arabia [Archives:2003/06/Reportage]
February 10 2003
BY DR. IGER TSHINKO
NARRATED BY SHIEKH ABDULMUAMEN MOHAMED ISMAEEL
This experience came through an exciting journey that started from Yemen all the way to my homeland, Ukraine, and back to Yemen, by car!
I have always wanted to travel through a number of Arabian countries with my family. I wanted to get a feel of the Arabian touch as I drove through different Arabian lands, and also I took it up as a challenge for me as a driver, and my lovely Toyota as a vehicle.
The start
Preparing for the trip required a great deal of contacts and paperwork, I was lucky to have many people who helped me, starting with the president of the republic, to Sheik Abdul-Momen Mohammed Ismael, doctors Abdul-Nasir Al-Kabab, Mohammed Ahmed Al-Kabab and Abdul-Rahman Al-Kabab, and also King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz and the Saudi Ambassador and Councilor who granted me the visa to go through KSA on my way home and back.
After thorough investigation, planning and arrangements, we started off on June 15 just after having lunch with our dear friend Sheik Abdul-Momen, who gave us a farewell, heading from Sana’a to Hinss.
We crossed Amran and Hajja and the road was simply too beautiful, especially the way between Amran and Hajja. And when we reached Hinss it was already evening, so we took rest at a friends place where we had food as well.
From there we set off to the Yemen – Saudi border. Around midnight we reached the customs where they told us that we were the first Ukrainian family to cross the Saudi border by car. They were very kind to us.
Through the circular road around Mecca we headed to Jeddah, which we reached in a relatively short time due to the good roads. The places we saw on our way were quite nice and we were impressed by the amount of development we witnessed on the way.
And I had a feeling of an achiever following the routes of some centuries ago of many wanderers such as Ibn Batota and other Arabian legends.
Jeddah was a nice city and its people were quite friendly as well.
It happened that I lost the way at one point and the traffic officer was more than happy to help. We were heading nonstop to Yanbo,. By that time the temperature was quite high and if it wasn’t for the AC in my car, it would have been unbearable.
Sand trap
So when we reached Yanbo at 2 a.m., we decided to stop and rest for two hours. I forgot that we were in a dessert road and when I tried to start off again in the morning the car wheels were stuck in the thick sand.
Uselessly we tried to make the car move. We even put hard objects under the wheels but it was in vain.
At that time a Helix stopped to offer help, and even then, the five people who came to assist from the car could not succeed. Even though we were dressed as Arabs, they recognized that we were foreigners and it was fun telling them in Arabic where I had come from and where I was heading.
Rescue came when a Landcruiser stopped and easily dragged our car out of the sand trap. All said farewell to us and blessed us in Islamic words and wished us a happy journey.
I just want to say one thing at this point: it’s not true that Saudi people are rude and unfriendly.
Some people when we told them about our plan to cross the desert rout through Saudi told us that we lost our minds! They said to us: “You will come across Bedouins with their wild animals, and there will be gangs and thieves. You will never be able to make it!”
But we made it, and we enjoyed it to the extremes! Yes we saw the Bedouins and we saw they camels too, but you know what? They were extremely nice and friendly and throughout the three days we took to reach the Saudi-Jordanian border, we were met with extreme hospitality and kindness.
In fact, I did meet the gangs and thieves I was warned against, but not in Arabian countries. If I get a chance I will talk about my experiences with them on another occasion.
Car breakdown
It was a beautiful well-advanced city, but we couldn’t spend much time there as we took the circular road from there to Damascus almost nonstop.
And just before we could reach the Syrian boarders, our car broke down.
It was evening already and everything was closed.
I was afraid I would be stuck at that point till the morning, so I called for help from the first passer by, whose brother luckily was a mechanic. I tried explaining the situation in broken Arabic while this man called his brother to assist, and once the mechanic took a look under the hood he knew what exactly went wrong and we arranged to drag the car into a car garage which was closed, but they opened especially for us.
We told them where we were coming from and where we were going, and they assisted in every possible way. The mechanic refused to take charges for his work and I just paid for the oil and spare parts that were used in fixing the car.
Not only that, but the man whom we called for help offered that we stay the night at his place, but we couldn’t because we wanted to reach home as soon as possible. And I took it as a challenge that I can do it, even that by that time I had driven more than 2,000 kilometers with just two hours break.
We did want to spend some time in Syria. I must say it is different from all the countries we had crossed. It had its own unique beauty and charm.
Is this really home?
The direction after that was Turkey, a very beautiful country indeed. We were fascinated by what we had seen while we were waiting for visas for Bulgaria, which was three stops before we reached home.
Crossing Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, we finally reached home, Ukraine. Ironically it was on my own country’s boarders that I faced problems the most.
At a place called Renée, they did not allow us to enter Ukraine because we were traveling on a vehicle with foreign numbers. I explained to them that I was working in Yemen and that I will be returning there after two months, but the officer didn’t seem interested to even listen to what I say.
Some Ukrainians at the place tried to calm us down and interfere in our favor, but he was adamant on not letting us enter. I narrated to him the number of countries we crossed without a problem, why should I get stuck on my own country’s boarders?
However, we had to go back to Modova and contact some of the lawyers I knew for advise. Finally we found a breakthrough from another point at the boarder with aid from our Moldovian friends and we managed to go home. I don’t want to detail the problems we faced there and on crossing the boarder.
Going back
Unfortunately even on our way back we faced the same obstacles. They invented so many reasons not to allow us to cross the boarders out of Ukraine, and said that our papers were incomplete.
I felt so furious that I wanted to fight with the officers, but I was calmed down by my friends and warned that they might do something against me that I would regret. They said that the officers might even put drugs in my car and accuse me of a bigger crime and I was not ready to handle all that, so I bought my way out with a bribe, and finally managed to go to Moldova.
Funny things like falling asleep while driving happened,; and while I was driving the line besides the Dead Sea in Jordan I met many nice lovely friends.
In Saudi I remember stopping the car to rest for a while without turning it off, an officer came and inquired if there was a problem, but I told him that I fell asleep while driving and I wanted to rest for a while.
He said that there is a parking lot nearby and offered to take us there, but I thanked him and managed to get there own. But the officer insisted on accompanying us till we were safe and bid us farewell. We crossed the Saudi boarders to Yemen peacefully and with no problems and we eventually arrived home. When I reached Yemen I was feeling that I came to my own home, just a foreign country in which I work in.
Thank you Arabia
We took so many lovely photographs and our experience was one of a kind. I found out that the Arabian people are much nicer than those of the so-called developed countries. Wherever I went, I was welcomed and kindly spoken to, unlike when I was in Europe, although I am a European.
According to my personal experience all the bad things we hear about Arabs and Arabian countries are not true. On the contrary it’s always the opposite. If there is anything I want to say at the end, it is “Thank you Arabia for being who you are!”
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