Border Crossings are always interesting, when not knowing what to expect. Sometimes you didn’t know about some things and getting declined and send away. It happened a few times, so why not prevent it from happening?
Which border did we cross?
We were at both of the borders close to the city Al Ain, which is the border you are going to reach, when starting from Abu Dhabi, in the direction of Oman.
They were not really busy and also seemed to operate decently. The one was during normal times possible to cross by walking, after it is a little town. The other one 100% only by car, but it is the one you should take, because the people, who are going to drive further are driving there. This is only important, when you are actually hitchhiking.
What would be good to know before?
At both of the borders at Al Ain, it was not possible crossing the border without being inside of a car, when we were there. During other times, it can be possible that the walking gate is open.
So when you plan to hitchhike, it is not a problem, you just need to get into a car, that is the most important. Also when crossing from the UAE into Oman, you need to pay an exit fee, which would be not a thing, when leaving the country from the airport!
Before crossing the border from the UAE into Oman, it is important to have the visa for Oman, when needed. Maybe you can get it at the border as well, there was a sign for visa, but there are some reasons why I would not recommend it
The reasons
- It takes unnecessary longer, when the visa online will be done in a few minutes.
- They seem to just accept cards.
- When you are hitchhiking, the person in the car also needs to wait, which would be a bad move from you.
- It can happen that you won’t receive the visa and getting them back into the UAE isn’t fun. Other way around, that should be no problem, because getting into the UAE is not hard.
Don’t have something illegal in your luggage, they are most likely to check it. Maybe not taking out everything, but checking a bit. When you get caught with something it will be not only bad for you, everyone you are with is likely to get into trouble as well.
Before and after the border, there is no shade. When doing it in winter, sure that should be no problem, but in summer I would not say the same! Also when hitchhiking, after the border in Oman, there is for a long time no shade!
How to get there and are there transportations?
From Dubai there would be a bus to Oman, that would be besides going by flight, the easiest way.
From Abu Dhabi, there would be no bus driving to Oman. The only way with public transportation would be to get a bus to Dubai and take the bus from there.
It is possible to hitchhike there, from both places. Then it is just important to sit in a car, before crossing. From Abu Dhabi, the best way is to go to Al Ain, where you can find two borders. This should work in a day.
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How was the experience?
When arriving at the first border in Al Ain, we were sent away, before walking was not an option. Luckily our driver was bored, so he drove us also to the other border, where they were saying the same thing. Here they told us that we can just try to get in another car.
It took not that long, before actually someone, who spoke English stopped and took us. Generally speaking, gaining the trust of someone, who could get into trouble when the luggage would be not okay, is not easy. We were lucky that someone was trusting us enough, but still, it could have taken the whole day.
When exiting the UAE, we were surprised by the fact that there was an exit fee of 30 AED, so 7,48 Euros per person and no cash allowed, only a card. At the airport that was not needed but landborders are always a little bit different.
Leaving the UAE wasn’t hard. The car got x-rayed before entering Oman and at the passport control it was also easy. Due to having the visa before, we received our entry stamp and our luggage was checked. Nothing bad was in there.
Welcome to Oman!
Summary
The border crossing was more difficult than expected. First with the exit fee, which was not expected, which was not bad.
The other thing, by needing to cross sitting in a car, would have been more a thing of something being bad. Luckily the help was there quickly but still, that would have been good knowing, before making decisions of how to reach. A bus would have been a better idea, rather than potentially stuck at a border in the middle east.
The people are in general nice at the beginning, of course when you are being unfriendly to them, don’t expect them to be super friendly to you! Also the change of scenery is insane, at least at both of the borders, we were at!
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