Israel (02.03.2020)
With Hungary, Wizair was able to fly from Riga Airport to Eilat (Israel). To the many questions of Eilat Airport, the Israeli Border Guard (Why did I get where I would stay, what would I do in Israel) did I quickly answer - "I'm a Diving Instructor, my group is still on the road and I'm going to Dahab, Egypt" . The border guard still asked if I traveled a lot, if I had been to Italy or China (ps countries were known as the epicenter of the virus), and after a quick portrait picture I was released for Israel.
From Eilat Airport I drove by Bus No.30 up to Taba border point. On the bus, I met a helpful Latvian family with two children who went to an Israeli hotel, which was located before Taba itself, to relax during the spring holidays, who had planned to spend the 2nd week on vacation. I very much hope that they did well and returned to their homeland before the outbound flights from Eilat were closed.
For border charges, they are not small - Israeli border crossing charges (110 Israeli Shekel / 28 Eur), Crossing the Egyptian border (405 Egyptian Pound / 24 Eur).
Egypt (02.03.2020- 03.04.2020)
I have spent more than a year in Egypt, usually using direct flights, this time crossing the Israeli / Egyptian border on foot. On the Egyptian side, I had a taxi arranged in advance, which was arranged to take me to Dahab.
During the mission in Egypt, it was planned to expand the qualification of a diving instructor and to welcome a group of Latvian divers on March 20-27 when arriving in Dahab for a scuba diving holiday. I am a scuba diving professional, I have been practicing this interesting and challenging hobby for 15 years as an instructor. scuba diving and freediving skills in Latvia, scuba diving club Diving Club.
When information about the possible closure of air flights appeared on the Latvian Internet, and there was a requirement to register, I applied to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, the Consular Register and also wrote a letter to the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in Egypt.
On March 19, Jānis contacted me from the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in Egypt and started offering evacuation flights from the Egyptian capital Cairo to Paris and Germany, then to Minsk / Belarus, then by taxi to the border of the Republic of Latvia. Prices for air flights started to climb, to fly through Belarus and to take a taxi to the border, it seemed too far to change.
30.03 Jānis formed a WhatsApp group for notification - Evacuation from EG to LV. Here I met compatriots with whom we traveled back together. The WhatsApp group started to develop more intensive escape routes, thanks to Jānis LV Vēsniecība in Cairo, and on April 1, when I returned from my freediving training in the Red Sea, an offer was received, flight from Cairo to Stockholm, Sweden for 237, -Eur! The price seemed super low, because I had already heard about German and British airlines in the dive center, asking for 1400 Eur for a ticket to Europe! The search for a route from Stockholm began.
Departure from Dahab - Sharm el-Sheikh - Cairo began on April 2 at At 8.00 (600km / 8 hours of travel cost 660 LE / 38Eur), it was mandatory to wear the masks given to us by the Danish representative in the big tourist bus specially prepared for tourists. A total of 15 people from six countries were gathered in Dahab - 2 from Denmark, 4 from Latvia, 2 from Lithuania, 4 from Sweden, 1 from Norway and 2 from Finland.
Cairo 2-3.04.2020
We drove by bus in four of Latvia - Anžela, Māris, Edgars and Valters. We each comfortably accommodated two chairs. It was originally planned to stay in a hotel, in the end we got much better, because when we arrived in Cairo, our group Angela talked about accommodation in Cairo, in the family of a well-known Egyptian Gomal. A driver, a young and helpful Egyptian, who only communicated in English with Google Translate assistance. Arriving in Cairo, we were warmly welcomed in an Egyptian 3-room apartment, followed by a dinner where we were overfed and all four of us slept in the same room. I laid two blankets on the floor next to the closet and fell asleep in a few minutes. The next morning we were up at 6.00, gave a message to the driver, and the driver took us through Cairo, looked at the pyramids from a distance, saw the Nile, two bridges, one with lions and we were at Cairo airport already at 10.00. We had information that we were departing from Terminal #2, approaching no one knew anything, from there the security sent us to Terminal #3. At the airport terminal, we were the only foreigners, including some 10 Egyptians to act as security guards, after waiting for 2 hours, another person arrived on a flight to Stockholm. We started contacting all possible services and received information that the departure is from Terminal #1. We went to our terminal, served our only flight at two windows, there were employees of the Danish and Swedish embassies at the airport, dressed in masks and gloves, passengers also kept their distance and wore charges. Face masks did not last long on people's faces, as it is difficult to breathe for a long time, most of the masks were off the plane. We leave at 15.20, we received free cheesecake.
Stockholm 03-04.04.2020
We arrive in Stockholm at 20.10, we were the only passengers at the airport, the airport area was full of planes, we went shopping, we stayed overnight in “Forenom Aparthotel Stockholm Arlanda”, paying 84 Eur for four.
Arriving in the morning Stockholm - Helsinki, Finair, travel pl. 8.15, followed by a strict airport security check, had my medical mask and gloves removed, I had all my luggage checked with the opening (the only place in the whole evacuation), as if a positive explosives test, a repeated test was normal. After passing the check, souvenirs could be bought at the airport, as there were many grocery stores, some even had a 50% discount on all goods. The sellers accepted the money, but their faces were worried, instead of the usual smiles.
The flight to Helsinki took 1 hour and 15 minutes, took place with a propeller plane ATR 76-500 with 72 seats, the plane occupied 1/3 of the plane, all the crew and staff were women.
Helsinki 04.04.2020
We arrived in Helsinki pl9.30, full airfields with Rynair and other airlines. In Helsinki, the situation was much more serious than in Sweden, all the shops were closed, the aisles were closed, and at the exit the staff in full suits asked medical questions about fever, temperature, diarrhea. I said that I was completely healthy and I was allowed to go, no tests were done. The quarantine questionnaire was ordered, and pens were allowed to be kept. Gave us a free coupon for transport to the ferry, we saved 50 Eur.
Before boarding the ferry Helsinki-Tallinn, a young Finnish border guard, vigorously demanded where we were going from, I said that I was in Egypt, on business, I am "Scuba Diving Instructor"He liked it, he went to the ship. The ferry we had was MEGASTAR, departure at 16.30, the journey to Tallinn takes two hours. Both catering and shops worked on the ferry, two hours passed by the Baltic Sea very quickly.
Tallinn 04.04.2020
We sailed, the Estonian border control, which was sitting behind the glass, had to fill in a questionnaire, when I told them that we were going to Latvia, sent it to the bus, settled in 2 chairs, led us to the Estonian / Latvian border crossing.
Riga 04.04.2020
We got off the bus around 9.30pm at the border, thank you, went to the Latvian side, pulling suitcases, we went to the border. The border guards of the Republic of Latvia did everything outside, in the dark, shining their headlights, asked where they were coming from and asked them to fill in the questionnaire with their pens, we filled it on the hood of the Audi car. He was warned that events had to be complied with, 14 days of self-isolation and a printed adopted law was given to A5. Border guards in Estonia and Latvia did not have their passports in hand, for fear of getting something.
At the moment I am in self-isolation, my health is good, I have no symptoms, I am in a rented apartment in my hometown, my family comes to visit me holding a piece, I talked from the 2nd floor balcony. This is a time to strengthen your health and immune system, do breathing exercises, yoga and meditate.
If you have questions or comments about the trip, or have questions about diving, write to me at daivingslv@gmail.com
Valters Preimanis
