HERBIE´S WORLD TOUR
SEPTEMBER 2009
Im September 2009 starteten Dominik und Zainab die große Reise rund um diesen Planeten!
OKTOBER 2009
Im Oktober bereisten
sie Syrien, Jordanien und Saudi-Arabien und hielten sich anschließend
in Dubai auf! Dort war es hitzeheiss, Käfer und Wohnwagen, natürlich
aber den beiden, geht es hervorragend! Für Oktober war dann die Weiterreise per Fähre durch Iran geplant! Der Käfer (Baujahr 1963) und der DDR-Wohnwagen-Klassiker Qek (Baujahr 1986) sowie die Insaßen freuen sich schon sehr auf diesen Trip!
Hier seht ihr einen Artikel aus einer indischen Zeitung der Emirate, in welcher Dominik und Zainab erschienen sind:
Die Reise ging absolut nicht spurlos vorüber! Ebenso berichtete "The National" über die außergewöhnliche Reise!
Getting the travel bug
Decked out in red, white and blue racing stripes and the famous “53” circular decal of Herbie the Love Bug, this 1963 Volkswagen Beetle began its journey in Vienna 8,000km and three weeks ago. Covered in dust and containing a box filled with bags, orange juice and a bottle of French’s mustard, the Bug slid to a halt in a car park on Hamdan Street in Abu Dhabi.
Dominikus Hocher, 25, who had not a single problem with the car since he purchased it four years ago, said it finally suffered a minor electrical fault last week coming into the capital. He and his wife, Zainab Staubmann, 23, pulled their Bug and its matching caravan into the busy car park next to the Al Mariah cinema and slept there for two nights as they waited for a replacement part to be shipped from Vienna.
In the meantime, the couple killed time at the neighbouring Chilis restaurant, where they spoke to The National about why they decided to drive an exact replica of Herbie across Europe and through the Middle East. “It was always a dream of ours to see the world and to get to know other cultures and people,” Mrs Staubmann said. “When you experience travel by plane, you get culture shock. By car, it’s a smooth transition.”
Stopping at petrol stations to tidy themselves every day, the duo pulled their van over to sleep in Romania, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
“The first time, we couldn’t get entry into Saudi because there was no visa. They had told us at the embassy in Vienna that you could get a visa at the border so we had to go back to Amman and wait for three days,” she said.
The couple were then granted a three-day transit visa to travel across the 2,000 kilometre stretch of the Empty Quarter in a car that pre-dates air conditioning. With the camper attached, the 34hp Bug could only reach speeds of 80kph.
“We didn’t pimp the car out or anything like that,” Mrs Staubmann said. “It was exhausting of course. I’m proud we made it.” She and her partner said that, in addition to expanding their horizons, they were also looking into living abroad. The road trip, which they hope will eventually span the globe, will give them a chance to decide where they want to live next.
However: “I only drive Bugs. I just like how they look,” he said.
An aficionado of the anthropomorphic vehicles that became inexorably linked with the peace and free-love era of the 1960s, Mr Hocher said Herbie was his eighth Volkswagen Beetle.
“I bought it from an old man in Vienna; it was has last car. He said: ‘You’re a lucky guy, it’s the same model like Herbie’ because of the year and the colour.”
Mr Hocher added the racing stripes and the number decal.
“It’s very special. The car has a positive energy. When people look at it they smile at the car. Other cars are competitive, flashy race cars, they’re very aggressive. Our car, they smile at it because it is cute,” Mrs Staubmann said. “This car has a soul.”
The Bug’s cuteness factor has also helped the duo cross international borders.
“It’s sympathy,” Mrs Staubbman continued. Border guards “waved us to the side and they wanted to know the details about the car. There’s no modern equipment.”
Herbie developed a cult following in the West with a series of films produced by Walt Disney. It was first featured in the 1968 film The Love Bug.
The film explains the origins of the beloved car: a down-on his luck race car driver purchased the modest vehicle from a San Francisco socialite to find the Bug has a mind of its own, and it rather enjoyed competing in major racing competitions. The series proved to be popular enough to recast the car in films throughout the 1970s and 1980s, in which Herbie races in Paris, Monte Carlo and Mexico.
In its most recent incarnation, Herbie: Fully Loaded was released in 2005 starring the actress Lindsay Lohan. Mr Hocher said he has no idea how many kilometres the car has clocked as the odometer has turned over several times. He thinks it could be between 400,000 and 800,000 kilometres.
He said he has personally put 80,000 kilometres on the Beetle. Although he was shocked to encounter the problem with the regulator after travelling to Abu Dhabi from Vienna, the couple said they are not disappointed.
“At 8,000 kilometres, it’s good that this car has made it so far,” Mrs Staubbman said.
After Abu Dhabi, the duo went to Dubai and said they had plans to visit Oman, Iran and India. They have visas to enter Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and hope to follow the historic Silk Road. The travel time isn’t a big worry for either of them. “We quit everything,” Mrs Staubbman said. “Our flat, our job. We have no registered address.”
However, the sacrifice seems to be worth it: “More and more people take an interest. They want to take photos. The farther we are, the more interested people are.”
One day, they even hope to take the Bug on a ferry to Australia from Singapore, and maybe even back to North America. “Right now, we are looking for sponsorship because would like to continue travelling for up to a year,” she said. “We have our own savings, but it is not much.”
So far, they said, their experiences have been overwhelmingly positive.
“Some people knock on the camper van,” she said. “Some people are a little rude. But it’s better than a tent. It’s a little more safe.”
Their parents, they said, are supportive of their dreams and they have promised to stay clear of areas where weather or politics may put them at risk.
“We want to
drive as long as possible around the world,” she said, adding
that the couple did not have a specific plan about where to go next.
“And we have no time limit. We’re going to take our time.
There’s no pressure or competition, we want to take our time for
learning and seeing things.”
NOVEMBER 2009
Reisebericht (17.11.2009) von Domi und Zainab:
Nach 17.000 km haben wir heute Goa (Westkueste Indiens) erreicht - nach Oman, Iran und Pakistan.
Besonders Iran und Pakistan waren eine wahre Herausforderung - unter anderem aufgrund der Strassenverhaeltnisse.
Diese haben uns einen Reifen des Wohnwagens sowie den linken Scheinwerfer gekostet. Eine kleine Schramme am Wohnwagen liess sich auch nicht vermeiden. Und der Sprit ist nicht immer der sauberste! Ausserdem wurden wir auf unserem Weg meist von (oft alten, stinkenden) Polizisten eskortiert, die allesamt wie Talibankaempfer aussahen und manchmal sogar bei uns im Auto sassen.
Dennoch geht es uns allen gut und wir freuen uns sehr auf dieser Reise sein zu können.
Von Goa soll es weiter gehen nach Chennai/Madras (Ostkueste) und von dort wollen wir dann mit einem Schiff nach Suedostasien.
DEZEMBER 2009 Reisebericht vom 02.12.2009:
Rechtzeitig zu Domi's Geburtstag verlassen wir heute Indien und fliegen nach Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Wir werden im suedostasiatischen Raum reisen, während Käfer und Wohnwagen sich auf eine grosse Schiffsreise nach Melbourne (Australien) begeben. Kurz vor Neujahr nehmen wir dann ein Flugzeug von Bangkok und holen unsere Gefährten vom Seehafen in Melbourne ab.
Wir freuen uns schon auf unsere naechste Reiseetappe und verabschieden uns nach dreiwoechigem Aufenthalt von Indien.
ALLGEMEINES ZUR REISE
Die Route setzt sich folgendermaßen zusammen:
Österreich - Ungarn - Rumänien - Bulgarien - Türkei - Syrien - Libanon - Jordanien - Saudi Arabien - Vereinigte Arabische Emirate - Oman und Jemen - Iran - Turkmenistan - Usbekistan - Tadschikistan und Kirgistan - Pakistan - Indien.
Von Indien soll dann der Weg per Fähre nach Thailand - Kambodscha - Laos und Vietnam führen und schließlich nach Australien.
Diese Route soll im Zeitrahmen von einem Jahr bewältigt werden, sodass Domi und Zainab dann den australischen Sommer erleben können.
Grundsätzlich - sollte alles klappen - führt dann die Reise via Containerschiff in die USA (inkl. Canada und Mexiko).
Erster Reiseabschnitt bis inkl. Indien:
Noch im Oktober soll die syrische Grenze passiert werden.
Saudi-Arabien muss aufgrund eines Transit-Visums in drei Tagen passiert werden.
Weihnachten und Neujahr wird in Dubai oder Sharjah verbracht.
Mit Anfang 2010 geht es dann ab in den Iran und im Februar oder März ist der Aufenthalt in Turkmenistan, Usbekistan, Tadschikistan und Kirgistan (Seidenstraße) geplant.
Im April steht dann Pakistan und Indien an.
Wünschenswert wäre, wenn sich im Spätherbst Australien ausgeht!
Vorbereitungen:
Der Käfer wurde komplett durchgecheckt, einige Verschleißteile erneuert und sogar eine elektronische Wegfahrsperre installiert!
DER KCW WÜNSCHT EUCH ALLES, ALLES GUTE FÜR EURE GROSSE REISE!! RESPEKT
Wir werden weiter berichten und Fotos online stellen!
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