Driving car from Riyadh to London.
Oct 5th 2009, 1:28 pm
#16
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Joined: Sep 2006
Location: The Island of love
Posts: 882
Re: Driving car from Riyadh to London.
wow, sounds great. We said when we first arrived in ME years ago we'd like to drive back to UK - but never did it. Do keep us updated.
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Oct 5th 2009, 1:40 pm
#17
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 8
Re: Driving car from Riyadh to London.
Will do, I hope to record all the detail so it's easier for anyone in the future, there are plenty of pit-falls (I've fallen into most of them!) and the language barrier is a big issue, but I'll press on and see what happens.
Oct 5th 2009, 2:19 pm
#18
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Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Riyadh.
Posts: 1,899
Re: Driving car from Riyadh to London.
The teacher friends decided to fly back to Scotland to get married instead of driving back, so sorry on that one!
Anyway, sounds a great adventure, what car are you in by the way. Hope you're taking plenty of pics for your records, but feel free to post up a few of your travels.
Good luck on the Syria crossing.
Anyway, sounds a great adventure, what car are you in by the way. Hope you're taking plenty of pics for your records, but feel free to post up a few of your travels.
Good luck on the Syria crossing.
Oct 5th 2009, 2:21 pm
#19
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 29,625
Re: Driving car from Riyadh to London.
why don't you start a blog off, then we can all read your adventure?
Oct 6th 2009, 4:11 am
#20
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Joined: Aug 2009
Location: Riyadh - as of end of August
Posts: 60
Re: Driving car from Riyadh to London.
Hey - hope your trip is going well.
I used to drive overland trucks and regularly drove London - Cairo - Kathmandu or London - Cape Town and vice versa, both involved going through the Middle East. The entry in Turkey shouldn't be a problem at all and there shouldn't be any charges. (However I always had a carnet de passage fro my truck - an import / export document). There are many vehicles passing backwards and forwards from Syria to Turkey. If you're going to Greece and then Italy you should be fine. The only problem I've had in Europe is Yugoslavia (now Serbia) but you can avoid this by going through Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania - all very beautiful!
Have fun - it's a great trip!
PS: Remember you need insurance for Europe and this usually comes in the form of a green card - you can buy these in Turkey. If you get stuck PM me.
I used to drive overland trucks and regularly drove London - Cairo - Kathmandu or London - Cape Town and vice versa, both involved going through the Middle East. The entry in Turkey shouldn't be a problem at all and there shouldn't be any charges. (However I always had a carnet de passage fro my truck - an import / export document). There are many vehicles passing backwards and forwards from Syria to Turkey. If you're going to Greece and then Italy you should be fine. The only problem I've had in Europe is Yugoslavia (now Serbia) but you can avoid this by going through Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania - all very beautiful!
Have fun - it's a great trip!
PS: Remember you need insurance for Europe and this usually comes in the form of a green card - you can buy these in Turkey. If you get stuck PM me.
Oct 10th 2009, 4:03 pm
#21
Just Joined
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 8
Re: Driving car from Riyadh to London.
Hi folks.
Well, I've made it to Greece, but it's cost me a fortune getting here. There was a cockup right on the Saudi border which meant I could't use my Carnet...so I had to import and export through each country, and use an customs clearance company to raise the enourmous amount of paper work (commonly known as a manifest) I know I've been ripped off badly, but when the customs guys took a fancy to my car and said it might be confiscated\impounded it was my only way out, plus the police chief in Syria appeared to be a total phycho! Any how, got into Greece no problem (with the help of my green card) and I have to say it's nice being on 'home turf'. One thing that suprised me was the almost total abscense of anyone who spoke english across Jordan, Syria and most of Turkey, which held me up no end. I'm staying in a lovelly little village on the northern coast for a couple of days to collect my thoughts and tidy the car up (it looks a bit lived in....cos it has been!!) I'll post an update soon
Well, I've made it to Greece, but it's cost me a fortune getting here. There was a cockup right on the Saudi border which meant I could't use my Carnet...so I had to import and export through each country, and use an customs clearance company to raise the enourmous amount of paper work (commonly known as a manifest) I know I've been ripped off badly, but when the customs guys took a fancy to my car and said it might be confiscated\impounded it was my only way out, plus the police chief in Syria appeared to be a total phycho! Any how, got into Greece no problem (with the help of my green card) and I have to say it's nice being on 'home turf'. One thing that suprised me was the almost total abscense of anyone who spoke english across Jordan, Syria and most of Turkey, which held me up no end. I'm staying in a lovelly little village on the northern coast for a couple of days to collect my thoughts and tidy the car up (it looks a bit lived in....cos it has been!!) I'll post an update soon
Oct 10th 2009, 5:32 pm
#22
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Posts: 1,056
Re: Driving car from Riyadh to London.
Maybe when you get back we all hope in once piece,
you should write a book about it all !!!.
you should write a book about it all !!!.
Oct 11th 2009, 6:14 am
#23
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Posts: 882
Re: Driving car from Riyadh to London.
take lots of photos
