Our favourite ginger man is trapped in Kuwait! Graham is stuck and he needs YOUR help.
My next country is (hopefully) going to be Bahrain, but there is a problem.
The predicament/dilemma I’m in is that I came here thinking that
1. There was a ferry from Kuwait to Bahrain
2. Failing that, uou could get a Saudi transit visa here
Both of these things are sadly not true!!
The boats stopped 2 years ago and you can only get a transit visa if you’re a resident here. The only ways to get to Bahrain are: on a boat down the Gulf, transiting through Saudi or transiting back through Iran. Iran and Saudi – the two hardest visas to get in the world!!
So I’ve applied for a Saudi visa in London (which could take WEEKS to come through!) and while I’m waiting for that I’m actively looking for a boat to take me to Bahrain or Qatar or UAE. Oil tanker/Container Ship/Cargo Ship/Yacht/Speedboat/Dhow/Rubber Dingy – I have no preference as long as it’s buoyant enough to get me there!!
But so far, George Zipp – there seem to be very few container ships that come this far up The Gulf, and oil tankers (of which there are many) are reluctant to take passengers. There’s hundreds of motor yachts here (not a single sail) but everyone I speak to says that these boats just do not go out of Kuwait waters, even though there is a boat show in Bahrain this weekend!
I’ve even asked the local fishermen, which, considering what happened to me in Cape Verde is saying something!
Any help you can give me would be amazing!!
If you can assist, or know anyone that may be able to, please contact Team Odyssey via the ‘contact‘ page on the website – thanks. We’ll be forever in your debt…
Leo.
Huge respect for your mission. What a cool chap you are. I understand you’ll be surrounded by ‘British Ladies’ tomorrow morning – sadly I will not be able to make it; but you might like to ask the boating fraternity amongst them if they will oblige you transit to Bahrain…just for the adventure; I certainly would if I had a boat. Good luck!
If you get a visa, i’m willing to drive u from Kuwait to Bahrain its a 4 hour drive 😀
We’ll split the gas money hehe.. TC.. n good luck
Hi. This is the first time I’ve heard of your expedition. I’m a Kuwaiti citizen and heard the big news about you passing through. Sorry that your stuck there, I know getting Visas in our region is absurdly hard. Good Luck.
Hey ! today i met you in school on the water cooler in kuwait 😛 , and now i totally regret not taking your e-mail ! Your like my idol now! and one day when i grow up ill try to beat ur record 😉 !
anyways if you can or want to say in touch send me ur email 🙂 tc bye and i hope you get out of kuwait soon! and good luck!
Hi,
Last year I had some trouble getting a saudi transit visa (for travelling by motorcycle) even though I have residency here in Kuwait as I am a British expet teacher working here. After a couple of telephone discussions with the Saudi CONSULATE at the embassy, they finally looked the other way and issued me a transit visa without any mention of motorcycle travel.
Also a few years ago my two sisters came to visit me and I managed to get both of them a Saudi transit visa, albeit a SINGLE/one way visa through to Jordan.
I think if you can get somebody to apply for a transit visa with you then and state that you’ll be travelling together, then they may very well issue you with one.
Please let me know how you get on and if you need me any more help from me, or if you’d like me to travel to Bahrain with you.
Best regards
Sharif
Sorry about the unfortunate news I still think you will enjoy your stay.
I can’t wait until your talk tonight @ cubs
E-mail: christian.simpson99@yahoo.com
sorry about the dellay but I bet you will get to barain and have lots of fun here in Kuwait
Can’t wait until your talk at cubs tonight
E-mail: christian.simpson99@yahoo.com
simpson.jnsc@yahoo.co.uk
Hi,
I am was one of the 14th Dromedary Guides
I took your autograph
It was really fun going around your website!
I’m happy you got stuck! If you didn’t, you would never have met me 😉
At least try to enjoy Bahrain a little after all that effort, as I’m sure you’ll never go back again, glad you are finally getting there!
See ya on the other side!
Hi did you ever find a way to get from Kuwait to Bahrain over the water? plz shoot me an email! I am thinking of doing this myself one day!