Explorer Mikael Strandberg

“Just sit back and enjoy your time in Oman!”

“Everything in due time!”

“This is the Arab World, everything just takes a bit extra time!”

Muttrah harbour by night.......

I have heard these phrases quite a few times since I arrived to the conclusion, that the Arab World would be my place to be for the upcoming years. I am an extraordinarily impatient person at times, especially when it comes to trying to get an Expedition on its feet. But, the good thing with getting older, is that you have had time to realize that one needs to learn and just follow the main stream of how things are run, otherwise you will die with a broken heart and a serious stomach ulcer on top of that! Things just take time in this part of the world and there is a reason for this.

When Sultan Qaboos took over Oman after a bloodless coup against his father, Saeed Bin Tamur, 1970, the country had no secondary schools, only two primary schools, they had only 10 km:s of paved road, they had two hospitals run by an American Mission and Oman was involved in a civil war. Today it is one of the most progressive and well-to-do countries in the world. His Majesty Sultan Qaboos have done an amazing job and have also caught up with its richer neighbors and have supplied even remote villages in this desert sultanate with electricity. The capital Muscat, where we live, is a vibrant, modern and for everyday, a fast growing hectic city. Traffic is one of the worst and most dangerous in the world. I am scared every time I venture out in the traffic. The country is growing at such a fast pace, so that the city´s infrastructure is not coping with the demand and far too many drivers are not trained to handle this growing traffic. I have been very close to getting killed several times since coming here for some utterly stupid behavior called tail piping where other drivers are a mere inch from your car no matter the speed. And, on top of that, drivers are aggressive, blaring their horn and every time they pass you they seem extremely stressed and tired. It is what city life in the West is like.

Traffic is still relatively slow in Bahla, but in Muscat, a nightmare....

One just gets a feeling, that things are moving a bit too fast for the local inhabitants. One has to remember it is less than 40 years ago, when very few Omanis for example had shoes nor electricity. Amazing development! For this reason, the deeply ingrained traditions coming from their Bedouin roots are still very strong. And that is one major reason everything in this part of the world is an enormous waiting game and personal contacts and bonding is more important than any other place on earth. One person just doesn´t take a supreme decision, no matter how powerful he is, without asking other members of the group. It is Bedu democracy.

Mountain bedu of Oman.

I have realized since I came here, that patience is more than a virtue. It is way of survival. I guess that is one reason this Expedition is meant to be, patience is very good for the survival of the human race. And that is kind of what we are doing right now, learning patience, waiting for things to happen, because in some ways things are just out of our hands. It is up to others to take a decision. Either good, like a go ahead or not at all, buddy. It is not that we don´t have anything to do. On the contrary. We could work day and night and still only cover 10% of what we have to do. For example, there´s the issue of all the other countries on route, where we need permits, contacts, visas and on top of that we have to find good camels, and they are dead expensive here, some racing camels cost 1 million dollars…..per camel! And precious time just have a habit off running away….soon we have to go through the heavy labor of renewing a visa to this spectacular country…not easy, but possible.

But, in the meantime we have set up an interesting day to day life. We work in front of the computer most of the time in our apartment when not meeting friends, making new faschinating contacts like royals, ambassadors and Bedouins or buying food at all these gigantic supermarkets, but we are trying to find more local and far more interesting shops…we walk a couple of hours a day at high speed, try to find the Arab soul in all this and enjoy the weather. Most of all, we are waiting for things to happen…

Walking through Maasiland in the year of 2000, not donning local gear as usual, but called Olorogwa whether I liked it or not....

One of the main visions of the Arabian Expedition is to build a bridge of understanding between the West and the Muslim East and within the Arab countries themselves. No matter how one look upon things, this is one of the major problems that the world is facing today. There´s an enormous need for information, education and clear debate on both sides. One of our major hopes regarding this upcoming Expedition, of which 50% is Arab, Salim and Nasr, and the rest made up of me and Pamela, who is Asian-American, is to communicate via the Internet every third day, where debate will be one of the most important issues. We need to communicate. If this is possible, to create a forum for debate just like we wish, we don´t know yet.

The reason I bring this very exiting and important issue up in this report is due to this email that I received yesterday:

Know that the Bani Hasan tribe has been undertaking camel treks out of Yemen across Africa for centuries – guess that’s already been “explored” (without GPS receivers and sat-phones).

I’ve lived in Yemen for a while now and you are like every dick head tourist I’ve seen coming through here, donning local clothes and a jambiya (you know the locals laugh at foreigners doing that, right?), giving yourself a local name (priceless) and blogging about the place like you discovered it.

However, you stand apart in your unfailing ability to aggrandise yourself for doing what is otherwise standard adventure tourism. You’re no more of an explorer than the 1000th Yemeni traveling through Sweden can claim he is exploring stockholm.

Why not explore the mind of the self-important ethnocentric tourist? You’ve got a head start.

amelahodalt (this person did leave his or hers email, but no name)

Me an ethnocentric dick? Possibly....

During my 25 years of exploration, I have never, ever received an email as offensive and full of bitterness, jealousy and hatred as this one. I am sorry to, once again, find out that so many people feel bad in this world of ours and use so much of their joy to live to pour out their hate and bitterness for something they disagree with. I have received tons of letters, emails, phone calls throughout the years and I have been stopped in the street many times by people who disagree with what I do, who I am and how I see life. Of course, I wish everybody would love me, but that is definitely not the case! But I accept all kinds of critique. It is part of any life where you have personal opinions.

However, to be able to have a debate about anything in life, opinions have to be free and many. Within a limit. Offensive emails like this one, based on hatred, jealousy and bitterness, leads nowhere. But there are, after all no smoke without fire, and some of these issues this person highlights comes up a lot in my sphere, what is an explorer and what is true exploration, so I will start a debate by answering this persons accusations. Feel relatively free to come with opinions, but since I moderate everything, because I on and off get these type of emails, I will not allow more emails like this one, which is free of any reason, good research and thought.

About the Beni Hassan tribe, like the more well-known Beni Hilal tribe, and other Arabs who have traveled both ways, to and from Mecca, this is true, but there´s absolutely no written records that a full east to west trip has been done without a prolonged break. Especially not in modern times. However, one of the main ideas with the Expedition, is to highlight the Arabs as great travellers and their amazing journeys. One of them is the well-known Ibn Battuta. And that is why 50% of the members are Arab, so that they can become modern day Ibn Battutas and give the Arab world a voice from the exploration point.

Reality today, in the modern era of exploration,is that this is how most Bedu travel with their camels today...even the famous Al-Mahra tribe.

When it comes to satellite phones and GPS, it shows that you have no idea about my past history of exploration, feel free to read this. I have never, ever used a GPS and never will. However when it comes to satellite phones, I did have it on the Siberian Expedition and will have bring one on the upcoming Expedition. This is due to the need to communicate via Internet. Plus that authorities nowadays won´t let you into the country without one. It is considered another measure of security. But, I will never, ever, use the satellite phone to call for help or assistance. It hasn´t happened and it never will.

When it comes to donning local dress, I agree fully with you. This is the first time in my life, that I have put on local dress, and I agree with your assessment. The reason is as follows: I was given it as a gift from Pamela and our two friends Mohammed and Hussein, to wear for one day. From which all photos are taken. I felt very uncomfortable, but realized that there were many in the souk who actually felt honored and liked it that I wore there local Sanaani dress. But that was the only time. But, it could well happen again in the future. Once again, I wish you would have done your home work better. This is the thing with blind hate, jealousy and bitterness, it works over reason and research. Better to do something with your own life in stead. Enjoy it. Do it in a way you think is appropriate. Write about it. Because communication is the most important issue for a stable future for the globe.

Together with Hussein...yes, we are all laughing!

The giving of the name Ahmed Al-Hamdani was the same evening. It was Hussein and Mohammed who gave it to me. As a sign of their respect. For what I don´t know. However, many western tourists, adventure travelers and explorers have been given names whether they like it or not. Two well known ones are Wyman Bury and Wilfried Thesiger. I have been given local names, whether I like it or not, meeting other people, tribes, like the maasai. I was throughout my Expedition there called Olorogwa, which means the fiery one. Local names are always given by local people as a sign of respect and appreciation. Maybe that is why you have never experienced this.

When it comes to my love of writing, well, I will always write as I have just discovered a place! For me, I do discover all the time and for me it is a new discovery. It is about loving life. I really love life! And whether you like it or not, I have a following of readers globally who wants me to write the way I do. And its people. If you don´t like my writing, why bother reading it?

That last paragraph reeks of jealousy. I won´t even comment it.

To sum it all up, I see you love Yemen and the Yemenis, which I do as well and you have come across a lot of tourists and travelers that you don´t like. I am sorry to hear that. Why don´t you start a blog and write about your feelings? Find a solution to your anger?

Communication in minus 45 in Siberia......

Yemen was one of the highlights of my life in many ways. See the slide show from there!

Since Pamela and myself together with Salim and Nasr will face the upcoming debate together, Pamela, who is an academic look upon the email like this and will leave her comment as a comment! Start the debate!

Just came back from London and ended up at my brothers house in Dala-Järna. Which is where I am born, bred and educated. Kalle, my brother, is out of work, 60 and don´t know what to do with life. Any suggestion from me, which includes him cycling from Sweden to Oman, writing a blog about his thoughts and inspiring other people in his situation how to do with life, ends with:

“Am sixty for Christ sake!”

This is putting limits to oneself, just because of age. I don´t believe in setting any limits to what is possible or not. Neither does my friends Ollie, Jamie, Gunnar and Sam whom I have met during my visit to London, this cosmopolitan and great city. I will write a bit about all of them -these inspiring people- in the upcoming blogs, because the response from my blogging from Yemen, has been amazing, an average of 1200 readers a day the last three weeks, and it is still continuing. Let me start with Olly.

He is still only 33 or something, but mature like a 50-year old, extremely helpful and generous and I have a feeling there´s no limits to what he can do. It wouldn´t surprise me if he would be running Great Britain at the end of the day. He is that good. But most of all, he is a genuinly good human being who wants to make a difference. And he is every day of his life. I am very lucky and privilaged to have a friend like him. Or, as I say after I have entered the Arab World, he is a genuine brother. And I think, having good friends, is a major part of understanding the meaning of life.

Talking about the meaning of life, I went to London to meet a person with profound contacts, Gunnar, with the very exiting country called Saudi-Arabia, who after every new visit with people who have an intimite relation with this giant of a country, grows and I really want to go there more than ever! Next country to get into deepely as part of the preparation for the Big One, Anyway, on the trip over to London, on the plane, I started to read Mohammed Asad´s book, The Road To Mecca (photo at the top right) and suddenly I realised how simple it is to make a change in life. I started to think about my brother, who is suffering from not having a job, and that just be reading you can get very inspired to change your life. Mohammed Asad changed his dramatically, from being an Austrian Jew to a Pakistani Arab, and Mohammed Asad would easily be another brother had we met or he would be alive. The book is one of the most inspiring books I have ever read.

He is a true explorer in the sence of the word and his exploring, which I personally think should be the base of all explorations, is a cultural bridge builder and a search for the meaning of life. He found his version and he found in the Arab desert as so many others. Like the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus Christ. So, maybe even mine might become a pilgrimige than….This is the book I would suggest for any upcoming explorer to read, when to find out, why do I want to explore and what is true exploration. His prose is beautiful, adventures many, knowledge of desert great and his historical significance is amazing. I will bring his book on my upcoming trip, to bring out when I need inspiration, help and peace of mind at the same time and he wrote this strophe in his book about the eternal question, why do I and we travel, upon meeting a Kurdish Beduoin in the desert: (This will become my quote of life.)

“If water stands motionless in pools, it becomes stale, muddy and foul, only when it moves and flows does it remain clear.”

This will become my quote of life. Next I will write about Jamie.

“I was born in cave”, Bin Hassan told me slowly and calmly when we took a 4 hour break in the middle of the first day, lying in the shade of one of the two four wheel drives that accompanied us, “and I didn’t wear any shoes until I went into the army. And now, today, I have been in Europe, I speak 5 languages, have all modern gadgets and have my own business. It feels like I have taken a gigantic step.”
Bin Hassan was dressed in his white dishdasha, a matching orange-brown turban and looked like a sultan in his grey beard. He was slightly heavy, since he wasn’t moving about by foot as he once did. Like all bedu boys he had to take and look after grazing camels, walking long distances to find something to eat. We were the same age. It made us even more comfortable with each other. Bin Hassan has experienced a lot in his life. He has seen and heard most things.
“The life of the Bedouin has changed a lot”, he said, he like all bedu (Bedu in local tongue) likes talking, it is still a favourite past time, “Today’s young kids are lazy. They don´t want to do anything. They’re spoilt. I would like to do something about that. I want to try to preserve some of the old Bedu culture. Maybe do a long trip by camel.”
“Maybe we should try to pass Rub Al-Khali together?” I said.
“Yes”, Bin Hassan answered thoughtfully, “That will be a very good idea. Let us do it in true bedu style. No shoes, bare feet, just have dried meat, dates, Arabic bread and coffee with us.”
“Unsupported, no cars, no back up” I said.
“Yes” , Bin Hassan said solicitously and told Mussalam in their local tongue, mehri, he who owned Sahara, the camel and he nodded, and Bin Hassan looked at me and said: “We need him to come with us, he knows everything about camels. He lives with them and loves them. We are strong you and me, but not like him. He is very strong.”
Mussalam smiled as always. He was in his mid-fifties, lean and strong. He smoked his pipe, talked about women and marriage and grinned. He was my image of a real bedu. And did he have to show his strength on this practise run?
Yes, because it turned out immediately I sat up on this peculiar animal, which in itself is dramatic, she groaned unhappily and then we sat out cruising through these dramatic sand dunes, me being transported like a child in a zoo, by somebody holding a rope, pulling the animal. It all went well until a group of English tourists turned up and made it all into a circus by trying t get two people on Sahara. A disaster and from that time she was almost impossible to ride for me. She groaned, vomited and looked like she could bite me all the time and even for Mussalam, sitting up on her was like a small rodeo every time. So I set out on foot.

See the slideshow from my visit in Rub Al-Khali here

See the slideshow from my visit to oman here