The videos document my pilgrimage from Indonesia to the African continent by land (no airplane!). The route: 1.) Indonesia: Traveling through Sumatran Mountains and Prehistoric Sites 2.) Malaysia: Meeting with the Aborigines of the Malay Peninsula 3.) Thailand: Tracing the Southeast Asian Ancient Empires 4.) Laos: Experiencing the Lao-China Railway 5.) China: Backpacking the Tibetan Plateau to the Edge of the Silk Road 6.) Kazakhstan: First Contact with the Central Asians 7.) Uzbekistan: Pilgrimage in the Land of the Timurids 8.) Tajikistan: Lost in the Fenn Mountains 9.) Afghanistan: Visiting Afghanistan after the Taliban Takeover 10.) Iran: Surrounded by the Ancient Civilization of Persia 11.) UAE: Short Transit in Futuristic Cities 12.) Saudi Arabia: Pilgrimage in the Holy Land of the Muslims 13.) Jordan: Catching a Glimpse of Jerusalem 14.) Egypt: Ending in the Land of Pharaohs
Curated by: Bang Jago (174 videos)
On the 177th day I left at dawn for Bahonar Port to take a ferry from Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Sharjah, UAE, crossing the Persian Gulf. At the port I was surprised when I was greeted in Indonesian. It turned out he was an Indonesians who cycled from Palembang to go for Umrah. His name is Devan and he left Palembang in June, five months ago. He claimed that he started his journey with a budget of $120 and got lots of help along the way. God indeed gives mercy to pilgrims. The ship we boarded was a ship belonging to the Valfajr company. Passengers were required to arrive 3 hours before departure. Yet, many arrived less than 1 hour before the scheduled departure at 10 am. The ferry departed at 11:20 am. I was a bit surprised when passengers like me could take photos at the port and on the ferry, even though the military port was right besides us. On the ferry, men sit on the right side while the women sit one the left. It was relatively full even though I read many reports that claimed otherwise. Maybe it was full because there were additional passengers from the previous ferry's schedule on Thursday which got cancelled because of bad weather. We soon entered the Strait of Hormuz. Qeshm Island with its skyscrapers began to appear. I heard that this island was a special economic zone. At 2 pm, lunch was served: Rice with two pieces of chicken and a cup of yogurt. This meal was included in the ferry ticket price of around $70. Oman was visible in the distance to the east, although slightly obscured by fog. Not long afterward the sun began to set over the Persian Gulf. The ferry arrived in Sharjah at 8:30pm, but the immigration process took so long that we were only able to leave the port at 11pm. Because there were no buses, I was forced to take a taxi to the hotel in Dubai. We went via the main road. On the way, I saw Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Next, I would travel around Dubai. ___ Stage 1 Route - Sumatra (DONE!): Jakarta - Bandar Lampung - Baturaja - Lahat - Pagar Alam - Bengkulu - Lebong Tandai - Kerinci - Jambi - Kuala Tungkal - Batam - Johor Bahru Stage 2 Route - ASEAN Mainland (DONE!): Johor Bahru - Kuala Tahan - Kota Bharu - Su-Ngai Kolok - Nakhon Si Thammarat - Chaiya - Nakhon Pathom - Bangkok - Nakhon Ratchasima - Phimai - Nong Khai - Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang - Chiang Rai - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Boten - Kunming, China Stage 3 Route - China (DONE!): Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Shangri-La - Shambala - Litang - Chengdu - Leshan - Chengdu - Xi'an - Zhangye - Jiayuguan - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Almaty, Kazakhstan Stage 4 Route - Central Asia (DONE!): Almaty - Shymkent - Tashkent - Nukus - Muynak - Turtkul - Khiva - Bukhara - Samarkand - Tashkent - Khujand - Fann Mountains - Dushanbe - Kunduz, Afghanistan Stage 5 Route - Afghanistan (DONE!): Kunduz - Samangan - Mazar-i-Sharif - Balkh - Kabul - Bamiyan - Band-e Amir - Yakawlang - Lal - Chagcharan - Herat - Mashhad, Iran Stage 6 Route - Iran: Mashhad - Tehran - Isfahan - Persepolis - Shiraz - Ahvaz - Shalamcheh Border - Shushtar - Shush - Bandar Abbas - Sharjah, UAE *Follow my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/obeysianipar/) for direct messages **Message me for sponsorship --- Music Credits: And Awaken - Stings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.