Its now day nine since the war began and I have finally got an opportunity to leave Qatar. Not by plane as originally planned for March 5th, but by bus. The Canadian Embassy has provided me a seat for crossing Doha to Riyadh by land during the war. This is how that travel day transpires from start to finish.
Before Departure
I receive an email at 1:38am letting me know that the bus I am scheduled on is departing from a large hotel across town at 6:30am this same day. I try to fall back asleep for a couple of hours, however that proves futile. Instead, I get up, make a cup of coffee and begin to get my things in order.
At 5:30am I check out of my hotel and take an Uber across the city in darkness. Arriving at the large hotel, I am met outside by embassy staff and shown into a large waiting room. There are already several people there, perhaps a dozen. When the departure time of 6:30 rolls around we are all greeted by the ambassador, Karim Marcos. Staff then take us through the procedure of checking our identification, giving us a wrist band and tagging our one piece of luggage each that we are allowed.
The hotel provided coffee and a beautiful array of small breakfast snacks that were a welcome treat while we waited for all of the participants to complete the check in process.
Departure
At 7:40am we are guided to the bus waiting outside the hotel, our luggage loaded and we take our seats. So few people have shown up this morning, that the second bus is not required and the single bus is only perhaps half full. We pull out from the Lusail neighborhood at 8:15am and I am on my way from beautiful Qatar. A member from the Doha Canadian embassy accompanies us on this part of the journey.
Qatar
Such a small country, that by 9:20 we have reached the other side and by 9:50 we are in southern Qatar. The views from the window are of light coloured sand and camels on an overcast day. My feelings are mixed, excitement, nervousness, exhaustion and hope.
Now at the southern part of the country, around 10:35am, the calm turquoise sea comes into view. We stop to pick up two more Canadians at a resort. From there it is a matter of minutes before we arrive at the Qatari immigration to begin the first portion of this Abu Samrah border crossing.
Abu Samrah Qatar Side
The bus pulls up to the Qatari immigration hall at 10:45am. This portion of the crossing entails that everyone enter a building, and provide the officers with your passport to get stamped out of the country. Just as you would when departing at an airport, a photograph and fingerprinting are done.
A little over an hour later, at 11:50am we pile back on the bus and make our way thru no mans land. And at 11:53 we cross the physical border marked by a simple chain link fence in the distance. At 11:59am the first sign appears on my left, ‘Welcome to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’.
Abu Samrah Saudi Side
First stop is at 12:05pm and that is for passengers who have not already applied for and been approved for a visa, to get one. Myself and over half of the other riders had already done this. We wait on the bus or use the toilets.
After everyone is back on the bus, we head for the Saudi Immigration Hall at 12:30pm. There must be almost a dozen other buses in addition to all of the private vehicles. Here all passengers get off and walk into the massive room. We are taken as a group towards the officers who then stamp our passports, take our fingerprints and photographs and officially welcome us into their country.
Once everyone here was finished it was back onto the bus. We drive through what looks like a large outdoor hanger where we pulled over and get off again. This is Saudi Customs. We are told to leave all of our belongings on the bus. Officers climb onboard to inspect the bus while we stand in a line outside. They also look into the luggage holds but don’t make anyone remove their belongings for further inspection.
After getting everyone back on, we now drive through another large hanger where an officer takes the small piece of paper we were each given when our passports were stamped. As we pull away, the new staff member on board, from the Riyadh embassy loudly says, ‘Welcome to Saudi Arabia!’. Of course, I burst into tears and cower in my seat, the amount of relief I feel is enormous. It was officially 1:35pm when we drove on and into beautiful Saudi.
Across Saudi
It’s a minimum of five hours on the bus from the Abu Samrah border to Riyadh. The views are of vast piles of sand, undulating sand, that changes from the almost white of Qatar to the deep red of Saudi. There is so much sand and its on a constant move. It tries to flow across the highways like water and is continually pushed back with machinery.
At 3:50pm we stop for a toilet break at a gas station. We are given 10 minutes. As soon as I get off the bus, I spot a truck full of camels and I can’t resist a quick hello. Then it’s a dash to the loo and into the shop to buy a bottle of Pepsi and a chocolate bar. I need to try and use my credit card because when I was booking emergency flights this morning, my card was not working. This is to test if it has been blocked and indeed it has. Dang. Just another obstacle.
At 5:23pm we are still travelling across Saudi. The appearance of camels is keeping me entertained as daylight wanes. The sun is low in the sky at 5:40pm and at 6:30pm we are pulling into the outskirts of the city of Riyadh.
Riyadh
The bus arrives at the hotel, our drop off point, just after 7pm. Everyone gets off and is greeted with the big smiles of the Riyadh Canadian embassy staff. They guide us into a room and have some coffee and goodies set up for us to enjoy.
Along the way, the staff had provided us with information about this hotel and a few others. I knew I would be in no mental state to book an Uber and continue on this night, so I booked this hotel for the next two nights using Expedia. At 7:15 I take this photo, thank all of the staff profusely and head to the front desk to check-in.
The Canadian Embassy’s in Doha and Riyadh were absolutely amazing this whole day and never left us alone. They covered the cost of the bus ride but all other costs are out of our pockets, this hotel included and all further travel.
Into my room now, its small and costs a lot, but I’m finally safe.
