Hitchhiking and UAE are two things, which in the first moment don’t match with each other, but how is it really?
Where is the UAE located?
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is located at the Southeast of the Arabian Peninsula and shares borders with Oman and Saudi-Arabia. Also sharing maritime borders with Qatar and Iran, but I personally don’t count them.
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the country, but the most known and popular city would be Dubai.
How is hitchhiking working in the UAE?
Hitchhiking was done from Abu Dhabi until Al Ain, which is just 170 kilometers of distance, so not much of hitchhiking. I still assume that that should be good for giving a little idea of how hitchhiking is working in the country.
It worked outside of the city in general quite well, even though people might not know what exactly you are doing. They are going to see you on the sidewalk struggling and trying to help you.
We had just five rides and the average waiting time would be around 10 minutes. This is a really good time, when comparing it to some European countries like Italy. It felt like it would be quite easy. Also the people were really friendly and inviting for food or drinks, which was amazing.
Perfect during all of this was that it was no problem to communicate in English, because that is a language, which is really common in the country!
From a star ranking it would be four from five stars, due to the high amount of taxis stopping. Overall it was of course amazing from the waiting time and the kindness of people!
What do you need to know before doing it?
You can speak English and people are going to try their best to help you but also many taxis are going to stop and try to get you in their car.
When you are a couple, try to be respectful with their culture and don’t hold hands or kiss each other, that is for some people not acceptable in public. When there is a male driver, then the guy should sit in front of the car, same as when a woman is driving, then the girl should sit in the front, when it is a heterosexual relationship.
Also don’t wear inappropriate clothes, both men and women.
It can be really hot, especially in summer and shade is sometimes not easy to find, so be aware and prepared for it.
The experience
We did it in winter, so that was from the heat most of the time not a big issue, but I don’t even want to know how it must be in summer, probably like hell!
The hitchhiking was quite decent, many people helped in a short amount of waiting time, this was really enjoyable. Of course annoying the taxi drivers, especially when they didn’t really want to drive away, to wait for other people. That was kind of annoying, while waiting for a ride.
We were invited for some tea and food, which was amazing and tasted great. This is normal in this region, but should not be taken over the top, in my personal opinion.
Even at the border to Oman, there was someone who quickly was willing to help!
Summary
UAE is a country where people are going to stop and help you, even though they don’t know what hitchhiking is. With most people it is possible to communicate in English, which will make your life for sure easier.
The waiting time was not much, but when thinking of summer, then probably even 10 minutes in the sun, without shade would be hell on earth. During that time, I guess it would be in general not the time, when the UAE or in general the Middle East should be not the best idea to travel to. Hitchhiking is probably not smart.
It felt safe doing hitchhiking there and the people were really nice to us.
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