Day 175

 by Wiebe

Day 275 | First day in Dubai

Day 275 | Wednesday December 14

The first real day in Dubai. We had to sort out some practical stuff like getting a SIM card, a pass for the tollways and other small issues.

When we got to the car in the morning (which was parked in the apartment’s garage) we found out someone had pulled the plug. Jan Willem talked to the security and they told it was not allowed as the electricity is shared here. We had to drive to another place to talk about it from where we were sent to another place. We would do that later. The car was fully charged tough so no problems for today.

At the Marina Mall Jan Willem sponsored me with a SIM card so now I can be always online and make phone calls etc in the UAE. Because that’s what you can do with a SIM card. Be sure to follow me on Instagram because I’m posting a lot of photos and videos during the whole day and everyday at Insta Moments.

Introduction to Dubai
JW wanted to give me a ‘proper’ introduction to the city so we had lunch at the Dubai Marina. The Marina is a district in one of the centers of Dubai. Like almost every district in Dubai this area is completely man-made. They had to dig out the canals and harbor and it’s the biggest watersport and living project in the world. 

We had lunch at Pier 7 with a beautiful look-out over the Marina. For me it’s a culture shock. The past 5 weeks I was eating traditional lunches on the floor of clay-made houses in rural areas of Iran and now I am in the middle of this luxury life. Greg, a friend and business partner of JW joined us and we had some interesting talks about the city.

Global EVRT
In the afternoon I had a meeting with the guys from Global EVRT (Electric Vehicle Road Trip). They heard about my project and invited me to join the EVRT which takes place from the 29th of January till the 1st of February. It’s a road trip through all the 7 emirates with only fully electric cars. During the 3 days many events and congresses are organized to promote sustainable mobility. Today we met each other to introduce ourselves and talk about our projects. The guys are all very passionate about electric cars and it’s potential. We have a lot of matching goals so it is very interesting for me to join this tour.

Stunning views at the Marina
After the meeting I headed back to Pier 7 were the guys were still eating and enjoying themselves. Later we moved to a bar on the roof of the building. While I already had a nice view on the 4th floor it got even more stunning here. It’s unbelievable how big and fancy everything is here. Around midnight we called it a night.

PICTURES

Lunch with JW & Greg
The view from restaurant.
The Marina
The Marina
The Marina
The Marina
The Marina
The Marina
Something went wrong here but I like it.
The Marina
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 by Wiebe

Day 174 & 175 | Vilnius Pt. II

Day 174 | Sunday September 5

My host Bernie has a lot of contacts throughout the city and today he arranged something special. A Dutch friend of him is about to open a ski-center in Vilnius, Slidinėjimo Akademija. Not one with snow or brushes but a rotating track. It’s about a 15 meters long and the height can be adjusted. It’s been a while since I skied for the last time, at least 18 years, so it was nice to do it again. It was a cool experience, I expected the track to be a bit stiff but it was actually pretty easy to make turns. The ‘cool’ thing is that you can do it with your t-shirt on as it’s of course not cold at all. For Bernie it was the first time but he got the hang of it pretty quickly.

In the evening I met Johan, another friend of Bernie. Johan made a road trip per bike from Lithuania to Malaysia, so from here I’m making the same route as he did and wanted to meet up with him to hear his experiences about especially the middle-east. I got a lot wiser, felt relieved about some issues I was thinking about and had some new things to think about.

Johan is a traveler pur sang himself. He had a baby a few years ago and couldn’t resist to travel again. He bought an old fireman truck from Austria and with his girlfriend and baby they traveled around the world. Great inspiration for later. You can find his stories and pictures here.

Lithuanians are very proud of their language. This is because they have been under pressure for a long time and due to circumstances over the years the country changed a lot. The language is something that never changes. Bernie and Renata told me that there even is a law that says you always need to stick to the language. They received an email from the government who saw the menu of one of their restaurants online. For a dish they used different words than the original Lithuanian language and now they risk a fine if they don’t change it!

Day 175 | Monday September 6

The day started with a meeting at the Dutch embassy in Vilnius. Via Facebook I was in touch with Bert, the ambassador, for already some days. He even offered me a place to stay at his house, a really nice gesture. He told me more about sustainability in Lithuania. How the country bought a boat to get their own gas so they can be independent from Russia and how the Dutch are helping with giving advice about our biking infrastructure. 

For lunch I had a meeting with Zilvinas, journalist from 15 Mins, one of the countries biggest media channels. He took me for lunch and asked me everything about my trip. You can read the article here, it’s in Lithuanian of course but definitely worth putting through Google Translate.

Than I picked up Johan and drove to Mindaugas. This guy converted his own Honda HR to fully electric already in 2008. I made a video about it (which is very technical but interesting) which you can see here:

Full Electric Honda HR-VFull Electric Honda HR-V

Pictures 

At the embassy
The electric Honda
Indoor Skiing
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