Nightmare at the border September 1, 2007
Posted by leicia in oman!, traveling shoes.Tags: dubai, trips
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And yet, surrounded by rocky mountains, it was dazzlingly bright and hot on that hilltop… there we were in the uae border, submitting our documents for visa stamping. Among the 7 of us, I was eventually singled out as my designation reportedly do not qualify me to enter uae. What the?!? Both my resident labour card and road permit stated that same designation. And despite showing to this officer all our legitimate proof that I was indeed employed by a local company in a managerial position and invited to dubai for an international conference, I was not allowed entry…
Our PRO under HR apparently screwed this one up for me. They were supposed to be the locals incharge of our legal documents and should probably know the ins and outs of expatriate movements from the rulings of the ministries. Besides that technical term, we were told I have not yet completed 6 months in the sultanate to allow me trips to the emirates…
Although it would have been another new and wonderful adventure, I do not mind at all not being able to go to dubai, because I know there would still be lots of opportunities. I just hated the fact that I have been told after traveling 5 hours under the desert sun, wasting my weekend and everybody else’s time! I should not have been issued a road permit in the first place if they had studied my papers. And how the heck was I supposed to go back to Muscat when all my companions can drive on?! When we asked that to the officer, he just shrugged and suggested bus at the oman border and taxis at sohar, an hour away form the border. A single, asian female with 3 bulky bags getting into a bus or taxi in the middle of this place. Yeah, a really wise idea…
Good thing we came in 2 cars. One of my officemates drove me back to sohar where our company driver, still coming from Muscat, met me in kfc. On the drive back, I was told by our PRO that the rules changed from the time she processed our papers which was probably just a week ago and from the day of our travel yesterday. but the thing was, prior to this trip my other officemates were following it up with her regarding my designation because they had their suspicions. the one who accompanied me back actually experienced the same thing also with his wife and kids 2 years back. But since she didn’t say anything or raised any concern at all, we trusted everything to be in order. A simple cross-checking and confirming it would have saved me and the rest of my colleagues all those horrors…
Thankfully, everyone got to their destinations safely. My companions, to the hotel in dubai, and me back to my flat. Not even counting the indignity of it all, it was an utterly frustrating and a completely unnecessary experience…
Now, that’s really scary. Good thing you got to where you’re going safely.
buti na lang nakauwi ka…kala ko nagsidetrip ka o naghanap ka ng kalaro ng badminton…ahihihi
ge lang trix, dubai is still full of sand…ahihi
you can always go there anytime soon…
oh boy..why do u always have travelling probs?*wink*
hahaha…bitaw bai no! there’s always a hitch, and it always has to happen to me…sana not the third time around!
gawd! that;s scary. shitty even. good thing you got home safely. puchaks, if i were in your shoes, i would have cursed and ranted all the way back. but that’s just me.
if it’s any consolation, something similar happened to me in some border of some country. and i shouted at everybody else. but then it usually doesn’t help if you freak out. that was a good disposition you had.
[...] ok about the aftermath. the weeks following that trip was hazy. i came down with the flu for several days right after i came back. must be all the fatigue during the travel and the pile-up of work before and after the trip. when i was getting better, i ate something that upset me for a couple more days. my immune system must be really low, then this monthly thing came which i’m slightly embarrassed to say, made me even weaker. at the same time, i got the colds which is everywhere. its the changing weather here now, so sunny one moment, raining the next with lots of gusty wind blowing everything your way. Presently, i’m sneezing all over the place, trying to do damage control and praying my usually-reliable and strong physical resistance kicks in and finally shove all these maladies goodbye once and for all. as my best friend farah said, i’ve maxed out my sickness quota for the year. the last time i got kinda sick was maybe 2 years ago when i first came here. and if im not mistaken, that was my first attempt to go to dubai as well! that story is one for the books, i swear. to refresh the memory, click here [...]