Day 10. I’m in amazing Erbil, Kurdistan.
I start the day with a visit to the hospital to take a PCR test for Jordan. My flight is tomorrow morning at 5.
*It’s day 9 actually
PCR check done. Should have result by 8. Yes you’re getting to see everything.
Quick visit to the Netherlands Consulate in Erbil to talk about my trip with @maaikekeizer from @nlinkri.
I’m at the most amazing antique shop where they were blasting German schlager music through the speakers. Funny experience.
I came in touch with @vvanwilgenburg, a Dutch journalist in Kurdistan. He took me to this amazing antique store in a basement in Erbil. Saw so much interesting stuff here. The owner super friendly, offering drinks and telling about his stuff, some are 500 years old.
Incredible collection
It's almost a museum and actually, the owner wants to create a museum about this. @vvanwilgenburg wrote an article about this:
We had a break at this lovely chai and shisha shop in the heart of Erbil. @vvanwilgenburg
If I come back here I'm going to buy one of these pretty rugs for my home.
Ended up at a BBQ organised by @vvanwilgenburg. Real Kurdish night with a singer playing the bağlama, shishas and a lot of Kurdish hospitality and friendliness.
Becoming Kurdish. Thanks for the great gift @vvanwilgenburg!
The unavoidable flight. See you Kurdistan, that was an unexpected amazing adventure. Definitely will be back!
In Amman in 2 hours.
Arrived in Amman, Jordan. Before departure you needed to book a PCR test online. When arrived at airport you need to show your QR code and there were like 30 test boots and the nurses were all young models. That made the nose swab definitely more enjoyable.
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Just jumped off the Mauritanian Iron Ore train and what an epic ride it’s been. It all started two weeks ago with my Interrail adventure from the Netherlands, a journey that now seems worlds away compared to the raw and rugged experience I've just had.
In Mauritania, iron ore is a lifeline, accounting for half of the nation's exports. Every day 3 of these colossal trains leave from the mining town Zouerat to the port of Nouadhibou.
The journey of 704km takes 17 hours and the trains are huge. They can be up to 3km in length and each train carries 17,000 tons of ore, enough to build an Eiffel Tower. Making them among the longest and heaviest trains in the world.
HNY!
I'm starting 2024 with a new adventure: taking the train from Netherlands to Mauritania to hop on the Iron Ore train, a long ride straight through the Sahara. With my @Interrail pass in hand I will travel through southern Europe and Morocco. #interrail #GoOneStopFurther
This is the route of my trip. It will take me about 14 days to reach Zouerat, the starting point of the "Sahara Express."
Doing 1 overnighter in Barcelona, a few stops in Morocco to enjoy the country and finally exploring Mauritania. Going back in the same way.
For more info on the Mauritanian Iron Ore Train I highly recommend this excellent film: vimeo.com/225516052
Preparing the return home Dubai - Amsterdam. Completely without flying. Majority by train, some parts by bus. Iran has some beautiful train rides, unfortunately they were mostly sold out.
This time will do Istanbul - Bucharest by train instead of the bus.
I was supposed to leave last Thursday, because of bad weather the ferry from Dubai to Iran got postponed until this Monday and today I heard it won't be before Wednesday. Should be home around March 10.
For the people who are just joining in. On the 3rd of Jan I left Amsterdam for Dubai. Wanted to do the route basically as shown above but because Omicron I couldn't enter Iran and had to divert via the Arabian Peninsula. Which was very interesting, adventurous and enjoyable
Had fun sharing my earlier adventure and lessons today at the WFES. For the ones who recently started following me: here's a thread about what I did before.
A few years ago I challenged myself to drive without money and in an electric car from the Netherlands to Australia.
To make it to Sydney I asked people to "Plug Me In" with energy. On my website plugmeinproject.com people could select their location and offer me a meal, place to sleep or electricity for the car.
Thousands of strangers signed up and so the route of the journey was determined. I travelled from plug to plug. From the Netherlands to Italy, from Italy to the Northcape and down again via Russia and eastern Europe.
People started to call me the "Forrest Gump of Automotive."
Day 14. My hotel offered a late check out. I took some quality time for myself and prepared my talk. It’s only 2 days until I’m speaking at ADSW. There is no public transport in Riyadh. You really need a car here. I walked around in my area. Can really enjoy Arabian architecture
Loving these Arab toilet signs
I’m at the bus terminal for my ride to Abu Dhabi. Trying to find the right platform.
Day 11. In my original plan, I would arrive in Dubai on day 10. I prepared less for plan B, meaning from today I have to wear my underwear inside out. Yes, you're getting all the details.
Now getting ready for the bus Amman - Hail (Saudi Arabia). Step for step I'm getting there.
Waiting for the bus to depart. I’m travelling on the famous German ‘Nichtraucherbus’
Funny, the girl who sold my ticket yesterday just came to me to thank me. Apparently she was on trial and her manager saw her speaking English with me yesterday and that got her the job.