Days 262-264: Dubai

Back in Dubai I got back my passport and finally could book my flight on Sunday. It turned out that it was not possible to allocate extra kilos with any of the airlines. So I settled for the one where you can have the most kilos took start with and hoped I don't need took buy too many check in.
Monday I got an unexpected call from the German school.Ooo I was approched by the chairman of its board almost two weeks ago and after I was not able to respond to a spontaneous visit, I wrote to the principal, offering to give a talk, well and that was whom I had at the other end of the line now. Unfortunately they could not react on such short notice and now I did not have any time left, pity...
Tuesday I finally had my flight and it was time to say goodbye to Thoby.

Days 259-261: Abu Dhabi

For the weekend Thoby joined a couple of friends to do deep water soloing in Oman. DWS is climbing on cliffs without ropes, instead the water will soften the fall. I read about this a couple of years ago, forgot about it untli Thoby invited me to comes along on that trip. I was very excited about it, but unfortunately my passport was at the Indian consulat. But Frances whom I met last week was kind enough to, let me stay in Abu Dhabi over the weekend. So I took the Bus on Thursday and was glad to have some company over the weekend.
Abu Dhabi is not quite as crazy when it comes to skyscrapers. Frances took me to a nice chinese place, where you can eat some kind of vegetable fondue. You get a soup pot on a table stove and then you can order all kinds of vegetables, dumplings ans rice cake. Then there is a huge table with sauces where you can mix your own cocktail to go with the food. The choice is overwhelming and the waiter was kind enough to orchestrate a mix for me. We finished the eavening in a sports bar, where a band coverd bob marley songs. I am not a big fan of cover bands but I have took admit that their
sounds was rock-solid.
On Friday I finally made it took the beach, the water temperature is cray warm, amazing. After the beach we proceeded to a house warming party that took place in a beautiful apartment half way up a big tower from where one can enjoy a beautiful view over the city. The guests were a nice international mix. Meeting people from all the different corners of the world has the advantage that it keeps the smalltalk interesting. The boos was good too and my head brought only the next day to my attention how drunk I must have been.

Days 255-258: Dubai

Over these working days the primary tasks were organising the indian visa, get a box to pack Wolter and some minor equipment replacements. In between I was sipping espressos here and there while skyping, messaging and surfing.
When I was not running around I would take advantage of the pool on the roof of the Waleed tower, a really nice feature of Thobys apartment.

Day 254: Abu Dhabi

Saturday was chilling day. After one and a half day of being constantly moving this was a welcome rest. We started in the day with a heavenly breakfast; bacon and eggs, home made muffins and smoothies and lebanese coffee. Thank you, thank you big time Blair!
Later Frances introduced me to xbox dancing, funny how that machine can turn the worst pop songs into a fun experience. Then I got some time with beloved internet start organising the trip to India.
In the evening Thoby and me took a peak at this huge Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque on our way back to Dubai. The dimensions of that building are overwhelming, and one is tempted to forget to look for details, but if you do look closely it gets even more overwhelming. We wondered how this place would age. I have not seen a young and such elaborate place before. In europe equivalent cathedrals are mostly hundreds of years old. It's a beautiful construction and a truly transporting place. Only the bottoms of the chandeliers inside have these bulbs in extravagant colors that reminded us westerners of christmas tree decoration.
Abu Dhabi seems to be the place of superlatives and unique things, the tower with the biggest (skewness) angle, the fastest roller coaster the most expense mosque, the only asymmetric bridge and the list is probably a lot longer...
In Dubai we went down town in the German bar of the Mariott hotel to meet a couple of Thobys friends and watch the champions league final. Well Bayern lost... why was I not sad about this?
Turns' out that was quite an eventful day after all.

Day 253: Wadi Bih

I woke up with a terrible hangover, the sun was up, my mouth was dry and I was a bit unsteady on my feet while packing up my stuff in a hurry, the others having packed up their stuff already.
We got back in the car and drove a bit further into the wadi, where we met Dee and John at a nice wall in the shade.
I did not feel like climbing at all but Blair encouraged me to give it a go and left me no choice to chicken out. I did not climb for almost two years now, having had injuries at both hands that ruptured my regular climbing sessions with Quentin, my dear French friend back in Dresden. It was a nice route, not too difficult and enough technical to be fun. There were a couple of passages where you needed to do hand/finger jams in the crack of the wall. My mouth got dry and the first meters were really hard and took me a long time. having used too much time and energy for the first part, I need to rest, hung in the cord and thought I was done, Blair though differently and would not let down before I would try at least one more time. The second part was a bit easier than the first and went a bit smoother than the first half. Back on the ground I felt almost sober again.
Around midday the sun edged closer to the wall where we were climbing and it was time to leave before the sun gets a chance burn us alive.
So Thoby Blair and me went back to Dubai to freshen up and then drive to Abu Dhabi where Keith, a friend of Blairs, hold a chilly cook out... delicious...

Day 252: Sharjah-Dubai

I checked out late from the hotel once I had a long breakfast and a short photo session with the owner of the hotel.
Cycling to Thobys place in Dubai would have been easy if it wasn't for the heat. After 40km suddenly I felt a chill and realized that I was not far anymore from a sunstroke. But I made it in one piece to the air conditioned apartment of Thoby a ten kilometers further. He briefed me on the plans for the weekend. I a couple of hours we would drive out in the north, camp, get up early next morning and go climbing until midday, drive back, go to a chilly competition at a friends place and then take it easy on Saturday.
And so it was done. On the way to the Wadi we picked up Wofi, who would have almost the exact same program for the weekend. Then we met a bunch of friends of Thoby and Blair in the Wadi, mostly English teaches from Canada and it was not long before discussions got louder as well as the laughter. I had no clue what time I finally pitched my tent to get some sleep, but it was not an easy task, even though I did not put the second layer. Then I acted similarly as the rest of the stones in the Wadi... motionless except perhaps for the snoring, but that would not concern me anyway.

Day 250-251: Sharjah

Once we all arrived at the port and after hours passed the passport and luggage controls we went together looking for a cold beer. We ended up in a shopping mall at Fridays, no beer here, but something to fill our stomachs with. Then David and Magnus went their way to find their family friend to stay with. Marco, Nathalie and me would go to a hotel bar and finally, finally we got that cold beer and it was a moment of bliss.
In the evening I said goodbye to my compatriots and went looking for a cheaper hotel. The first youth hostel did not have any WiFi, a thing a was so looking forward of having again, so I chose to checkout another hostel I found on google maps. The second choice turned out to be only existing in the virtual world. On the way to the third one, it was getting dark, I passed a hotel that looked a bit pricy but I decided to ask anyway. Once I saw that the rooms they had there were fully equipped apartments with high-speed internet I thought that this is the land of sheiks and that I had deserved myself a piece of luxury and checked in.
During the procedure I got to talk to a man that was studying and living for 25 years in Germany. He was interested in my trip and proposed to give a talk at a German school his company built (being a engineer himself). I had to decline the offer of riding out in the oasis with him the next day to see that place, since I was in desperate need of a shower and a lot of sleep.

My second day in Sharjah I did nothing much except interneting. But I managed to get in touch with Thoby I got to know in Georgia. We set a meeting for the next day.

Day 249: Banderabbas-Sharjah

At eight the train arrived in Banderabbas at the south coast of Iran, even though it was mornig the heat was heavy and the slightest movement made me sweat like usually only a big work out does. In the city center I found the shipping agency without much trouble and was lucky enough to get a ticket for a a ferry for this very evening. While roaming the city, killing the time until I could board the ship, I ran into David and Magnus from Ireland. After talking with David for a while, we figured out that we would be taking the same ship tonight.
The boarding procedure was a long one but luckily we had to exchange quite a couple of stories to make waiting a lot easier. At some point we were approached by Marco and Nathalie from Switzerland. They travel with their own Van, actually it is not only travelling, but they actually move to Cambodia and decided to do so on the land way.
It turned out that none of us really have planed to go to Sharjah and all of us had to come up with a plan B for different reasons. Exchanging the impressions in Iran was also a major part of the discussions. The spectrum of emotions that accompanied our experiences was wide spread and ranged from amazement and admiration to confusion and uneasiness.
I spent quit some time speaking with Marcos. He originally comes from the Ticino (The southern canton of Switzerland) but speaks 3 out of our four national languages fluently and with little accent. He told me that he was managing Gotthard from their beginnings on for quite some time, which left me in awe.
It was already late in the night, when the chef of staff of the ship called us to come with him. Marco and me already suspected that he would lead us to some beer stash (since we asked earlier) but instead we then stood on the front deck of the ship, which is usually out of bounds for passengers. Here it was calmer than on the rear decks, being further away from the machines and there was a nice warm wind in our face and a clear sky above our heads. I joked about this spot being the Titanic-movie-spot and the sailor laughed and went on that we unfortunately have to miss out on Rose here. So we stood there for a while looking at the stars in the sky, the fluorescent looking water hitting the bow of the ship and at the barely visible fishes swimming in front of the ship. The sailor said, that spending time on this part of the ship made him working this job for 25 years without getting tired of it, he is on the contrary still loving it.
Back on the rear deck I later chose a bench to sleep outside. The temperature was ideal, not to hot and not to cold, so I quickly and comfortably fell a sleep on the wooden bench caressed by a summer breeze.