Serious business began during the global exhibition “EXPO 2020” in Dubai. Lithuanian business representatives who came there wanted to see not only the shiny metropolis but also other emirates. Then K. Urbonas fully dedicated himself to the work of a guide.
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VIP trips and philosophy: “The best guide is the one who does not interfere”
The interlocutor organizes individual, high-class trips where travelers do not have to worry about anything – from clothing for mosques and tickets to drinks or diving equipment. He shows the country through the window of a jeep adapted for excursions and tries not to impose his opinion on clients.
“I think the best guide is the one who does not interfere with travelers. My goal is to make the person happy and to become friends during the trip,” says the Lithuanian.
In the Emirates, Kęstutis also has plenty of local friends. In the Dubai market, where one can easily overpay, he leads compatriots to trusted traders – Omid (whose shop displays the Lithuanian tricolor) and the Kashmir seller Ibrahim.
“Even if travelers go without me – it is enough to show my photo and the tourist gets all the experiences they would have had traveling with me,” says the man. They have agreed on fair prices, and Kęstutis teaches travelers the most important rule in the East – to firmly say “no.”
Arab pace, cepelinai in the desert, and rescuer missions
Seeking peace and wanting to escape the expensive and fast pace of Dubai, Kęstutis settled at the foot of the mountains in another emirate, where he rents a house with a yard. He constantly comes up with various initiatives for Lithuanians living in the Emirates.
In the desert, he has cooked cepelinai with compatriots, baked a šakotis on a homemade oven for the opening of the Lithuanian Embassy in the UAE, and even smoked fish in the desert.
From time to time, he organizes trips to an uninhabited island for Lithuanians living in the Emirates, but besides fun, Kęstutis and a friend also perform another – voluntary mission. Both local residents and UAE special services know them as rescuers ready to pull out vehicles stuck in sand or water at any time.
Once in the desert, they even had to rescue the camper of the Dubai Minister of Labor.
Last New Year’s Eve, at the police’s request, they agreed to supervise the area designated for fireworks viewing and rescued Emirates residents stuck there. And once in the desert, they even had to rescue the camper of the Dubai Minister of Labor.
“That time we even argued with the minister – he tried to repay us with money, and I could not explain that we do everything for free and voluntarily,” smiles the interlocutor.
Changed regional assessment and geopolitical challenges
Until now, Kęstutis’s working season lasted from November to April, and in summer, when the heat reaches 45–48 degrees, he prepared for the new season, but this year brought unforeseen challenges. After the military conflict began in Iran at the end of February, all reservations were canceled, and new inquiries from Lithuania stopped.
According to the interlocutor, in Europe people often started to view all the Middle East as a single war zone, although even in the Emirates daily life has not changed at all.
“I understand people. They see news headlines and naturally ask – is it safe to travel? But living here, the picture looks completely different. Daily life goes on as usual, companies operate, people go to work, and the only thing I feel in my work is that people from Lithuania have simply postponed their plans,” says the interlocutor.
New stage: “Wanderings in Oman” expedition and Dakar
Despite the reduced flow of tourists from Lithuania, Kęstutis realized a plan nurtured for several years – this summer the first expedition “Wanderings” to neighboring Oman took place. Everything is different here. According to him, it is a very exotic country with diverse nature, culture, and history. Even in terms of security – Oman is neutral in the current conflict.
“In eight days, two jeeps with camper trailers covered more than 4300 kilometers, and the route led through mountains, deserts, wild coast, and the most remote corners of the country. We even spent nights above the clouds,” K. Urbonas told about the first trip.
The first participants of this expedition were not tourists from Lithuania but Lithuanians living in the Emirates. Seeing the real situation on site, they boldly embarked on the journey.
“I believe that sooner or later people will start traveling again. Perhaps first someone needed to go, try the route, and see with their own eyes how everything really looks,” K. Urbonas looks optimistically at the upcoming tourism season.
Asked how much a week-long wandering through exotic Oman costs, the interlocutor answered about 1600 euros per person with everything included: accommodation, wanderings, food, and drinks.
“We travel differently than usual – each wandering is unique and planned according to travelers’ hobbies and wishes. Wanderings will not be limited to Oman alone. In January 2027, we are preparing to go to Saudi Arabia to watch the Dakar Rally. For this expedition, we have prepared five crews – jeeps with off-road campers. Travelers will be able to watch Dakar up close, traveling with all possible comfort by renting our camper trailers,” the interlocutor spoke about future plans.
About Russian forms of address and languages
Those who have visited the UAE noticed that Lithuanians are most often addressed in Russian here. Why? The interlocutor smiles, saying he discussed this phenomenon with locals and received the answer that with our sternness and faces without smiles, we most resemble Russians to them.
Asked if he himself learned Arabic while living in the UAE for a long time, he explains humorously: “According to statistics, 230 nationalities live here, so the main language everyone communicates in everywhere is English. I started learning Arabic by ear. This is a melting pot of nations where languages mix with each other and eventually result in a mix of words from various nations. I try to speak Arabic with a local, and he replies that these are not Indian or Pakistani words.”
Tourism seasonality
By the way, as in Lithuania, so in the UAE, the tourism season is closely related to the seasons and weather. So for the interlocutor, the working season is only a good half-year – from November to April, because then the country is plagued by heat, reaching 45–48 degrees during the day and up to 36 degrees at night.
“The truth is, the climate here is quite different from Lithuania, so the heat is felt differently. Next to the ocean, the sky is covered with clouds, looking like fog, which I call ‘niaukučiu,’ which suppresses direct sunlight, making it easier to endure the intense heat,” smiles the Lithuanian, adding that he had to earn enough in half a year to survive the remaining six months.
Would he want to return to Lithuania?
K. Urbonas rarely returns to Lithuania, although his parents, brother, and sister live in Kaunas. He last visited his homeland a year ago.
“When I return to Lithuania, I feel a lot of stress, a fast pace. When I came to the Emirates, the Kaunas man in me had to die. What are our Lithuanian qualities? Responsibility, keeping one’s word, truth, punctuality, but here they do not exist. If I followed these Lithuanian qualities, I would not survive in the Emirates, I would perish. Here there is a completely different culture and no one worries if a person is late.
We were first taught two things. When in negotiations you hear: tomorrow, God willing, you can get up and go home. Because if a person wanted to sign a contract, he would do it right now, but if he says this phrase, know that nothing will happen. When you start living here, you have to adapt.
Now, when I return to Lithuania, I see many things that are no longer acceptable to me, for example, service culture, attention to the visitor. Here, people always approach the person: help, offer, serve, polite, warm, and open communication with the client. I no longer recognize cities in Lithuania; in this regard, I have ‘degraded.’ Everyone creates their own life; my life is now here,” K. Urbonas spoke openly.
While living in Kaunas, the interlocutor worked with drones since 2009 and published a book about this city from a bird’s eye view. With the help of businessmen, he organized one of the largest photo exhibitions in a public space: decorating the fence surrounding the then already empty “Merkurijus” shopping center wall on Laisvės Avenue with large-format photos.
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