On a Visa Run – Kish Island Experience

Kish Island is the most visited exit point for expats in UAE.  It is a 15 kilometer – long island located at the Persian Gulf with 30 minutes flight from Dubai Airport.

After I signed my offer letter – my employer advised me to exit the country so they can process my Working Visa.  Since I came here in UAE as a tourist – I need to shoulder my exit expenses.  I asked them for my exit options and advised that the best would be Kish Island. (Oman is an option as well but it depends upon the company since they need to pay extra if the employee will do Airport to Airport (A to A).  Actually, I don’t have any idea where the place was so I searched and read blogs pertaining to the Island. After reading some – I was overwhelmed with the negative experiences and feedback bloggers have written about the island.  Some friends also given their testimonials and I started to feel anxious  - I tried checking for some countries where I can possibly  have my exit  but its the fare is quite expensive and others requires a visa. ( Kish Island doesn't require a visa up until 14 days of stay only)

Kish Airline – the official carrier of the island has only 2 flights a week (Friday and Saturday) from Abu Dhabi Airport so I need to fly out of Dubai since they have flights every day.  I tried checking the price online to compare but I am getting an incredible huge price. I was advised to go and visit travel agencies because they are using a special system for checking and booking flights. My friend arranged my flight and was quote that the cheapest would be 750 AED. (I checked how much was the conversion – and it was too pricey for a 25 minutes flight – well, as If I have a choice).  The ticket must have a confirmed outbound flight and an open return flight since you still need to wait for your visa and it may take days (depends upon your employer) before you can return back.

Since all testimonials I have read was a bit off – I prepared all the things I need for the exit. I bought food for 3 days so I can save. I also brought a lot of wet tissues and bath room tissues, a mug, a spoon and a fork. I also downloaded songs and movies so I won’t get bored during my stay and a book.  For clothes – since it’s a Muslim country and as a foreign, we need to strictly abide their dress code so I packed all clothes that can cover my entire body (long sleeves, pajamas) and a Sheila for my head.  I don’t have an Abaya – but as per the blog that I've read, Kish Airport lends visitors abaya’s during their stay for free yet of course you need to return it on your flight back.

My flight was at 1730 but since I am from Abu Dhabi – I need to go to the airport as early as possible since it’s a 1 and a half hour’s drive away from Dubai.  I was one of the few early birds to line at the check in counter - and I am seeing a lot of Filipinos lining on the queue.  A lot of Filipino works at the Dubai Airport and I have a few chit chat with the counter personnel while he was weighing my luggage.

I made friends with the “kabayans” while waiting for the flight and tried listening to some of their stories and sentiments.  We also made an arrangement for the hotel that we will be staying

My employer requires me to send the exit stamp on my passport so they can process my working visa.  The airports “Customer Service Center” caters scanning for 4 AED so we went there to have our passports and boarding pass scanned as a proof of exit.  (Make sure you have your employers email address so the personal can send the copy right away.)

Our flight was delayed; it took off at 1825 and we arrived at 1855  UAE time. Kish Island  has a time difference of 30 minutes from UAE) and I've noticed that 85 percent of the passengers were Filipinos. 

The plane was kinda old with dilapidated seats. Flight Attendant was not so friendly and I can't understand the information they are giving though I am sure its the flights info and safety precaution but they serve snacks. A shuttle bus will get you to the airport (though its just 5 mins away). Before entering the airport, a security personnel will scan all female passengers that need to change clothes. There is a small changing room and a cabinet where all free abaya's are kept. Some passenger brought their own "costume". I was thinking that it needs to be an abaya but I was wrong.  As long as your top will cover your whole arm with the hands only showing and will cover your entire butt  - you are good to go. If I only knew -well..

Two immigration window were opened to entertain all the passengers and it took a while for them to stamp the passports for they do manual checking. No scanning tools and high tech device available.

Kish Airport Immigration Section 

 A free coaster awaits all passengers and will transport you to the hotel of your choice.There are many budget hotels available in the island but you must be very careful in choosing a place to stay. I heard a lot of stories that some hotels houses drug addicts and allows prostitution. Some hotels has bed bugs, holds 10 beds in a room where stealing is rampant.

All "Kabayan' chose the Hotel Fatabi - for it's near the airport and the Kish Ticketing airline is just around the corner - the down side was - all passengers tried to fit it to that hotel. Its over crowded and noise was everywhere. Before all passenger get off the coaster - a hotel personnel will get all visa runners passport, regardless of what hotel you will be in - I actually didn't surrender mine - for I was skeptic but they do a head count so there -  I have no choice. A "kabayan" who I think been in and out of Kish numerous times said that Farabi is not a good one. I asked her where will she stay - she said Fanoos is good. (A friend also advised of that hotel before going to Kish its just that it's a bit far from the ticketing office.) The lady asked the driver if he could drop us at Fanoos yet he refused for the reason that we are less than the minimum passenger they cater for drop off and advised us to get a taxi instead. Luckily, some passengers backed out and will look for a different hotel than Farabi so the driver took us all. 

It was like 10 to 15 minutes drive before we reached Fanoos. As soon as the coaster bus stopped in front of the hotel, a lot of "Kabayans" went to approach and get the luggage of us new comers. The hotel receptionist and other staff are fluent in Tagalog. They hand us a paper to register and asked for AED 100 as a deposit. After transacting - they assigned a room for me. As much as I want to get a buddy - I can't for the hotel don't have enough room to occupy us. They asked me to follow the hotel attendant - and said that the room that I'll  be staying only has 3 guest - unlike the others wherein they got 10 beds in a room - I was relieved knowing that we are not crowded. When I saw the room  - I only saw 2 beds. I asked him - where am I going to sleep? The attendant  pointed an old bed cushion - and said place it in between the beds. What? You are telling me that I'll be sleeping on the floor? the attendant said YES. I raged in anger - and told them that it's unfair - that I'll be paying the same amount yet I'll sleep on the floor? The attendance called his co-attendant to take to me - but the answer I got was more unacceptable. There's no available room and that's the best room they can offer - or I can look for a different hotel. I got engaged with a 15 minute discussion with the attendant - for I don't want to travel late at night to find a place to stay - way dangerous. 

Isla Cagbalete

Weekends are my off – and not every BPO employee has it (one of the many anak ng dyos). I normally spent my days off out – anywhere. It was Saturday, 13^th of April when we decided to go play wake boarding in Nuvali, Laguna. We went there December last year but we failed to play because there were 80 people in line at the beginner’s lane. So un na nga, Camille picked me up at noon, yeah, noontime where Mr. Sun showcases his stinging heat affection kc we all woke up late,tsk. She picked Karlo up first then me since I live near C5 road para derecho na sa SLEX. Karlo tried to invite some friends yet since the invitation was so sudden, they can’t make so it was just the three of us. We were giggly hoping that we can go play while driving the so many toll station of SLEX since it’s not a long weekend. Camille was starving so we decided to stop muna at Petron San Pedro where there’s a series of food chain. We left her eating her meals while I and Karlo go roamed the area to find a convenience store to buy him some smoke. After that eating part, we then took the Silangan Exit which was a short cut – as per Camille. Entering the Nuvali premises requires a valid ID and a payment of 40.00 for whatever reason – we don’t know. We felt anxious when we saw a lot of cars parked, then burst, oh no – ang daming tao! The security guard didn’t allow us to go park the car inside but since we were positive and determined, we bossily said – kuya, may space pa oh!, so there, he let us enter the parking lot which is full na pala talaga which made us exit the Republic Parking Space and park outside with the grave stones and all. Tas un na nga, mega unload ng mga bags to head the registration area with the question na – how many people you have in the beginner’s lane??? Receptionist: We currently have 40.. (not mentioning the people who are signing their registration form and the ones who just came). LUOY!!!!

So there, our excitement turned into depression, haisst..  This is not happening – we failed again – lakas maka ekis. Since it’s hopeless, we just took some photo then sat at the waiting area; me- trying to search for some internet connection. So what’s our plan B? Camille suggested the Bagasbas Surfing Spot in Daet but that was a one hell of a travel. Karlo said that his “Bessie” (best friend) was in Cagbalete Island. I immediately checked my maps for some possible routes and how far was Mauban, Quezon; and wooot – found 3 routes with route 3 as the nearest with 105 km. Ola!!!! Karipas ang mga bakla!!! But wait –we will go swimming – I am not ready!!! I only had a spare of clothes – no extra undies, no bath towels, no toiletries and all other swimming paraphernalia – oh no!!! We will just buy there – sabi nung dalawa, ang lakas makamayaman ng peg but that made me calm.  Since my map only works if you have a net connection, Karlo lend me 60 pesos credits to register sa Supersurf50, so alam na, I am a prepaid user and always walang load – remember that. Karlo tried to contact his Bessie but he was not responding, we thought that he was busy swimming or anything related to that. I had fun checking in to Foursquare while checking where we were. Camille is really good in driving and directions, however, since there was a slight delay with my connection and a lot of public busses going straight ahead, we missed the route 3 intersection so we just decided to follow the buses which were using the route 2 direction. It was almost a smooth drive except for those slow moving vehicles and election campaign cars – lakas makabwiset.. Anyway, you’ll knew it when you’re about to enter a town proper  - its traffic and some roads were narrow but the Tayabas-Mainit-Mauban Road was just so perfect. I think it’s a newly constructed road – with few cars and everything was so green and what interesting in this place was – even if was already dusk yet Mr. Sun’s rays was like of 3 pm – weird.  It was quarter to six when we reached Mauban which made us screamed with happiness – yet another problem arose, how are we going to get to this island? Till what time ung Bangka? Karlo’s Bessie was still on a comatose mode – deadma, no reply at all.

 As soon as we reached the town proper, we started asking some locals on how to get to the boat terminal and its operation hours. The town was way too different from the previous towns we passed thru – it was small and crowded, pretty much like of the Manila Pier ambiance.  Since Karlo was the one seated at the front seat, he was the one asking for the info and even if the locals spoke tagalong, we were having a bit trouble understanding them because of the words they were using and their accent.  Here’s a scenario with the security guard who was stationed at the local school.

 Karlo: Magandang Hapon po, saan po ang sakayan papuntang Cagbalete? Local: Digit sa Pantalan! (with a very sarcastic tone and grin) Karlo: Alam po namin pero papanu po pumunta? Local gave a brief direction. Hahaha – naimbey and bakla, ang asim ni kuya!!!

The tricycle driver we asked talked so loud as if he was shouting and we didn’t understand his instructions, the only thing we remember was – pataas na daan, so when we saw the inclined road, we went straight ahead but the sea is no longer visible, so we asked another local again, anu ba yan.. We went back and saw the public market with a narrow street jam-packed with vendors and kids playing. We then entered the street yet there was a tricycle heading our direction – hay, one way road, balik balik ulit. So were now at the pantalan yet the terminal doesn’t look like one to us, we’ve been to a lot but it was more like a fisherman’s boat dock station, sigh.  Time checked – 6 pm; Karlo asked if there’s still an available passenger boat going to the island and the response was like a bomb.

“The passenger boats are until 4 pm only, if its peak season then they extend it until 6pm. If you want you can hire a boat or just want till tomorrow. Q: How much is the rent? A: 1700 plus 90 pesos environmental fee per head. Awwwwww!!! What a ripped off – no way. Q: what time is the earliest boat for tomorrow? A: The boat will be here at 8 am and will leave at 9 am, 100 plus 90 pesos environmental fee per head.”

Hmmm.. Much acceptable than 1700 pesos fee but the thing was we won’t be staying in the island that long now since I need to be back home at 8pm. We tried doing bargain with the price but the locals were so rigid so we decided to just visit the island the next day and find a cheap hotel for the night. The first hotel we checked was with a rate of 650 a night but they don’t have a parking space for EUJ, so we checked for another. The second hotel was classy than the first one yet the room rate was 1300 and we need to be out at 7 am.  It was almost the same as the boat’s fee, so we decided to take the risk. Camille asked if she can leave her car, the receptionist said yes, she can but will be paying the amount same as their room -and that was so crazy!!!  We left the hotel and go back to the terminal again, we stopped in front of a mini grocery store, Karlo looked for the lady he had spoken with regarding the boat; I was busy checking on some food since I was so starving and Camille was looking for some rest room since she really need a bladder break. I was back with my bread, Karlo was back with the news yet there’ no luck for Camille. I went inside the store again and asked the lady if we can use their rest room but she just looked at me as if she didn’t hear me. I asked her again and she replied – madami kasing nakatambak sa loob ng cr eh. My god, people here are not hospitable and we felt harassed by the boat men as well. This place was no good but we were hoping that the place is all worth it.

We then settled at 1600 pesos plus 30 pesos environmental fee per head; one way, yeah, as if we have a choice.  We went to the boatman’s house for some bladder break but were confused finding our way back – the place was a maze, we passed by some more houses that led us to the shore: so – it’s what they called the “back door operation”. It was 8 pm when we hopped into the boat, I thought that they were just going to row it but in fairness it was motor generated but it was a very small fishing boat with a max capacity of 3 people and it was so light. Even if I have this life vest on and I know how to swim, I started to felt nervous and feared for my life and of all the song that I could think of, this was the one singing in my head – if I die young, burry me in satin – tae..  It was a 45 minutes boat ride with huge waves crashing in and everything was peach black; I can hardly see the horizon – a total buwis buhay boat ride.

It was a relief when we reached the island after an hour; Bessie was with his friends, seated by at the shore waiting. We asked for food to be served right away since we can’t bear the hunger anymore. We were told that the room was at 2k overnight – aray, mahal din pala, still no choice. The food was fine and we talked about all the adventure over a shot of Empe Light. It was past 2 am when we decided to sleep but agreed to wake up at 5 am for the sunrise. I set my alarm at 5:15 yet I woke up before that because it was so bright, as if it’s already 6 am. That morning was so unusual, a not so typical morning for I didn’t get the change to clean up even to wipe my sleep dust. We all then rushed to the shore to get some photos and the island was a paradise – it’s all worth the risk.   

We went back for some breakfast and play some games then after that we went boating. The island has a chain of resort, mostly owned by locals from the same family tree. They said that a lot of team buildings have been held in this island. Due to lack of power sources, the island doesn't have electricity in the morning but they have generators at night.  They have a specific spot where they take their visitors to swim and it was a 30 minutes boat ride from our resort. This spot was so perfect