Travelling between the GCC countries

One of the many unintended benefits of the life of the Expat is the opportunity to travel and experience different cultures and countries.

Last week I had one such opportunity again to travel from the UAE to Bahrain and from Bahrain, through the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia back to the UAE. Now I have been to these countries many many times, both for business and pleasure, and have driven extensively in all three of them. This familiarity gave me the confidence to export my vehicle from Bahrain to the UAE... The Wise Expat and his family recently relocated from Bahrain to the UAE, and one of the last relocation tasks was to export the family vehicle, which has been standing collecting dust. On a side note, this vehicle can now be entered into the world's filthiest car and I would imagine that it would have a good shot of winning this title!

Back to the purpose for this entry..., Exporting a vehicle... now this is a task not for the fainthearted, or those who are challenges in the patience stakes... I have never seen so much paperwork needed for a transaction, and it felt like I was on a mission to collect as many as possible government stamps on my forms. With all the will in the world, I completed the paperwork successfully, and set of the next day to take on the might of the Saufi Immigration officials on the Bahrain/Saudi border. Having lived in Bahrain for almost three years, The Wise Expat has a strange familiarity with Bahraini officials. The Saudi officials on the other hand... is a different value proposition! You see, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia dont have a tourism culture, and visitors invariably get a sense that they are not welcome in the Kingdom. In Saudi, the vibe is... do your business and get out!

It is with this sense that I braved the Saudi border, and after spending the better part of the day on the Causeway, I was unceremoniously turned back because I did not have a transit visa before hand, when it was explained on a few occassions that one can obtain a transit Visa on the border.

As most visitors to Saudi will know, there just is no sense in negotiating with the Saudi Immigration officials... and because it was Friday, I had no choice but to abandon this export process and return to Bahrain. I got back on a plane to the safety of the UAE... thinking to myself... I should get a cargo company to move this vehicle!