“I’VE GOT A LITTLE JOB FOR YOU”.
Lane 5.
I had almost given up. A Saudi visa, so it seemed was just out of reach. Sami Sirissi was my last hope and I was all for calling it a day. He talked me into waiting two more days and I’m glad he did. He finally came up trumps. There it was stamped in my passport. The Saudi visa that would enable me to finish the job I had set out on from the UK weeks before. It looked genuine and I’m sure it was. I was over the moon. Sami must have pulled a dozen favours from someone at the Saudi embassy to get it issued. When I asked how much I owed him he just made a sound with his tongue, shrugged and shook his head. It didn’t matter how much I remonstrated with him he would’nt take anything from me. Finally I gave up trying, thanked him profusely once again and made my way back to the lorry. Now all I wanted to do was get back on the road. I went back to the Ambassadors house to give Bernie the good news then hitched up my trailer and in no time was heading down the Amman road to the border.
I sped through the Syrian border controls at Derra and then had my ears assaulted by the deaf and dumb boy screeching at me to give him my papers at Ramtha on the Jordanian side. I remember very little of my time in Jordan other than to say I got to the British embassy on a Thursday and met my contact Tom Murphy. He explained that nothing could be done until Saturday. He asked if I would like to go to the British Club on Friday as he and his wife would be there. I readily agreed and so spent another pleasant day by the pool. I tipped on the Sunday and left Amman that day. A few years later I would be flying into Amman quite regularly often staying at an hotel out near the airport but as for Amman itself I remember nothing. I’m sorry to say I can’t remember the first thing about the embassy or any part of the city.
I headed down to the Saudi border passing signs for Petra on the way. One day I ought to come back and do the tourist bit I thought but never did. The weather was quite hot by this time and one thing I did was buy a large flask and fill it up with cold water, that was a life saver. Again I remember very little of the border or the procedures there except to say it was all very straightforward except for one thing and that was nothing to do with with my Saudi visa. I was wondering if they would let me enter bearing in mind the hullabaloo over the film "Death of a Princess but that part went extremely smoothly. No, it was to do with clearing the load. Although I was sealed in Amman for some reason the Saudi’s wouldn’t allow me to run down to Jedda. Perhaps they didn’t trust us pesky Brits. Well, I’d better re-phrase that. They did allow me to go but I had to have a Saudi guard ■■■■■■ me to the customs in Jedda. When I was told this and then introduced to this old sullen guard I thought this is going to be fun. Where’s he going to sleep. Who’s meant to feed him and as for ablutions!!! Perhaps he will disappear into the desert on the passenger side and me on the drivers side. Well, as long as he didn’t want to come with me I suppose it didn’t matter.
In the end I had a good run down. The guard didn’t speak any english and uttered very little even in arabic. We left the border first thing in the morning and did a good hit the first day. It was hot and the old guard helped himself to my water every now and again. Only sips though. I didn’t mind as there were plenty of little shops from where to restock. I stopped at a roadside shack for the night and the guard treated himself to an evening meal. I decided to eat in and so another tin of Irish stew was consumed. The last thing I saw of him as I drew my curtains was making himself comfortable across a large bench seat adjacent to the table from where he had just eaten his evening meal.
The following day we arrived in Jedda and he directed me to the customs complex. I was still in shorts and wondered if I should put long trousers on before I went inside the office but I couldn’t be bothered. It was by now very hot but as we entered the building the cold air hit me. They must have had the air conditioning on full blast. It was very busy in there with hundreds of Saudi’s all running round in their brilliant white robes. I certainly looked out of place. My papers, which the old guard was looking after were handed over and I was told they would contact the British Embassy. I could see nothing was going to happen that day so resigned myself to spending a long hot uncomfortable night there.
