Painful start of our 3rd Orient trip

December 16, 2025 to January 6, 2026

After over 10 years of traveling with Globi, we’re experiencing for the first time that the camper unit doesn’t work right away. We’re assessing our options.

Arrival

We’re delighted to find our Globi undamaged and protected from the sun by cloths at Mohammed’s farm. After removing the clothes, Globi starts without a hitch on the first kick. However, we can’t activate the Masterbus; it simply won’t start. Apparently, the lithium batteries have inexplicably discharged, even though the solar panels were generating enough power. We drive to a hotel where we spend the night and can figure out what to do next. We try to get electricity from the hotel, but they won’t give us any!

I check the relays. The main switching relay is on, the deep discharge relay is off, and when I manually switch it on, it trips again after a certain time. This means the lithium batteries are deeply discharged.

Day 2

Beno, our Mastervolt specialist, is able to access our system via TeamViewer despite being on vacation and determines that the batteries are deeply discharged and that the front battery is showing an error and keeps tripping the relay. Thanks to the hotel employee who drives me, I find a workshop that allows me to leave Globi plugged in overnight.

Day 3

Great, we have power again, now we can get going. We drive the stairs out and finally start getting settled in. Strangely, the battery capacity remains at around 96% all day and even after the next night, but the voltage keeps dropping. I don’t understand this.

Day 4

After consulting with Beno, who also finds the information very suspicious, I disconnect the front, faulty lithium battery. Now the voltage collapses completely within three minutes, and we have another deep discharge. After discussing it with Beno, we decide not to have new batteries sent, but to ship Globi back to Europe. Gabi begins the necessary arrangements.

Day 5

We set off towards Jeddah, where we have an appointment for our annual service at MAN. After about 350 km, we find a nice hotel that provides us with electricity and a good room. Since I’m worried that the lithium batteries might draw power from the starter battery, I physically disconnect the emergency start relay between the two batteries completely. Gabi receives information that we can get a spot on a ship to Antwerp, at a price that already hurts just hearing it. We take the spot.

Day 6

We drive about 650 km all day. We stop at a rest area to use the restroom. After using the restroom, Globi won’t start. The starter battery is dead, even though we’ve been driving for over five hours and no warning light came on indicating the generator wasn’t charging. After the third attempt, it starts again, hallelujah! At a rest stop, we manage to get electricity from an Indian man and sleep in Globi.

Day 7

In the morning, Globi barely starts, but it does. We drive to MAN without turning the engine off again and manage to arrive before the truck ban, which is very strict in Jeddah. We’re happy to be safe. In the afternoon, the annual service is carried out, the filters and oil are changed, and Globi receives a new, original MAN battery, which is a bit more powerful than the old one. We feel safe on the road again. Gabi receives a message that we have a customs problem with our paperwork, as the Saudis don’t stamp documents upon entry but only store everything electronically. However, we need such a document for customs to leave the country!

Day 8

The MAN manager arranged for an external team to fit our six tires, which we had purchased in the UAE and shipped here with the help of friends. The MAN workshop doesn’t do this service. The chassis is now perfectly prepared for travel.

Day 9

As soon as the truck ban is lifted, we’ll pick up Globi. We’ll fill all our tanks; we won’t get such cheap diesel again so quickly. When we arrive at the hotel parking lot, we discover we have a diesel leak. Diesel is leaking from the diesel particulate filters, which were replaced at the garage yesterday. We immediately arrange for a mechanic from MAN (on a Friday in Saudi Arabia) to temporarily seal the leak. He arrives and seals it temporarily. In the meantime, over 250 litters of diesel have spilled onto the hotel parking lot. We drive Globi back to the garage to have the damage properly repaired.

Day 10

We can pick up Globi again; he seems to be leak-free. Since the starter battery has been getting weaker and weaker during the over 1,000 km drive, I think the defective lithium batteries are somehow drawing power from the starter battery. I completely disconnect both lithium batteries to ensure no current can flow.

Day 11

Waiting for solutions from Massi, the shipping agent, and Beno, the Mastervolt specialist, is very tiring for me.

Beno thinks disconnecting the batteries is a good idea. He didn’t comment on the local dealer I gave him.

Day 12

Notification from customs that our request has been accepted and that the process is underway at the customs office.

We then empty the driver’s cab.

The local shipping agent is keeping us busy; they need documents again that they already had and ultimately want them scanned as well. However, it looks like customs has cleared. Though we’re not entirely sure yet.

Day 13

This morning, I received a note with an enclosed letter all in Arabic letters. I didn’t understand a thing and hoped it wasn’t a bill I had to pay immediately.

Today we boarded up Globi’s windows with our ship’s metal sheets and folded the underride guard back out, so Globi is officially roadworthy again.

Day 14

Today we were allowed to plug Globi into a 220V outlet at the hotel, which allowed us to lock all the storage boxes. Now Globi is completely locked up and ready for his journey through the Suez Canal.

To drive Globi into the RoRo port, I need a permit, just like everywhere else in the world. The agency hadn’t obtained this permit and wanted to have Globi loaded onto a trailer with a crane. This would have almost certainly caused massive damage to Globi. The agent said, “Yeah, pretty sure!” I insisted on an entry permit and arranged an appointment with the agent at the port for 11:00 AM. We went with the agent to customs, who wanted to know everything in detail, checked all the documents again, and claimed the truck had been in the country too long, which would result in a fine. I simply explained that I had a permit for the vehicle valid for one year. They were satisfied with my explanation and stated that they would not issue a permit; only the port authority could do that, which made sense. We drove a few kilometres to the port authority, where it took me about fifteen minutes with my ID and explanation before I was allowed in. The manager in charge explained, somewhat agitatedly, that three different permits were required and that he would be the last to sign. He would be there until 4:00 PM that day and again on Sunday. He wrote down the procedure for us. Next, we went to border control. Here, they explained that the broker, the person inside the port area, had to submit an application before they would process it. After an hour, the application arrived. Once the official had read it, he demanded photocopies of all my identification documents. He refused to make them himself. So, we drove 15 km into town to a bookshop to make copies. However, the bookshop closed at 2:00 PM. So, we drove the next 8 km through the congested city to the agent’s office. There, we made copies and drafted a letter in my own handwriting, explaining the situation. With that, we drove back to the port to border control. This time, the official told us that the time had expired and we would have to submit a new application. The agent called the broker to ask him to submit a new application, but it didn’t arrive for over an hour, and the border control officer sent us away. The day was over; we drove back into town without success. Tomorrow is Friday, and nothing will happen then. On the way, we received a call that the application had now been submitted. We turned around and drove back to border control. After lengthy translation problems with the black truck, which came out as white on ChatGPT, I received a PDF permit that is only valid on Saturday. It is now 1800.

Day 15

I photograph Globi’s living space and lock it up for good.

Day 16

Instead of 8:00 AM, I only receive the green entry permit from the agent, valid for today, by 9:30 AM, but at least it’s here. We have the permit printed triple in colour at the hotel, just to be safe. We immediately drive to Gate 4 at the port and arrive at 10:00 AM. Unfortunately, there’s no broker here to accompany us. The agency responds to WhatsApp messages, but they don’t do much. According to the agency, the broker should be here, which unfortunately isn’t true. At 11:31 AM, I receive instructions from the agency to drive in; the broker will find me. I drive in and, despite having the permit, am turned back at the first gate. I don’t understand why; no one speaks English. I contact the agency again; they say the broker will come. At 1328, I’m still standing between the gates, and I keep being promised the broker will arrive immediately, but he never shows up. At 1440, the young employee who wandered through the administration offices with me on Thursday finally arrives. He’s a help because he understands what the officials want. We drive together to the port authority because their permit is missing. After an hour, we get it, and I can pass through the first gate. I get stuck again at the second gate and am sent back. The agency hadn’t provided the necessary paperwork. The employee drives to the agency and gets the paperwork. At 1540, I can finally pass through the second gate with the paperwork. I’ve never seen the broker. He sends me a Google Maps location in the port, telling me where to go! I find the place; it’s where the trucks are weighed. A man knocks on the closed officials’ booth. I approach him and ask if he’s the broker. He then shows me a photo of my truck; he doesn’t speak English! He tries something else in the administration building, then disappears again. More and more trucks arrive. The drivers are friendly and inform me that the shift change is at 7:00 PM and someone will probably come then. We drink tea and wait. The shift change takes place, but no one comes to the scales. From the young employee waiting at the gate with his assistant, I learn that the broker wants to go home and continue the process tomorrow. I resist and want to wait a little longer so I can be in control. At 8:00 PM, we call it quits, and the broker sends me another Google Maps location. I refuse to drive through the port at night; he should come and drive up. He actually comes, and I see that he can at least drive. He leads me to his parking space. The Indian man in charge wants me to unload. I explain to him that it’s not a semi-trailer, but a single truck, and that I can’t remove the living container. In that case, we’re completely in the wrong place. He explains to the broker where the correct location is. He drives ahead of me. The person in charge doesn’t want to let us park because the paperwork isn’t complete. After a long discussion, he finally allows it and signs a document confirming that the truck is parked on his property, with the key in the ignition! The broker drives me to the young employee at the gate and disappears again. The young employee kindly drives me to the hotel, where I arrive at 9:30 PM.

Day 17

At 11:00 AM, the agency insisted on receiving the two unstamped CDPs. I initially refused until Massimo, from our Swiss agency, persuaded me to hand them over. At 12:55 PM, the courier arrives and picks up the two CDPs. At 5:55 PM, I receive notification from the agency that the customs clearance with the necessary documents has been received. So Globi will definitely be loaded.

Day 18

Waiting for shipment.

Day 19