Blogs from Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, Middle East

Day 1 - Mark today we arrived in Dubai at 8 o'clock in the morning at the airport. As usual everyone started to rush off as soon as the light went on to say that we could take our seat belt off. We on the other hand just relaxed and waited for everyone to go off the plane (airbus 380.) we moved through the passport checks and controls like lightning and before we new it we had bumped into my uncle Colin (not literally.) Then after all that he took us to a shopping mall! (boring.) But to be fair we did go and get nice food and nice drink so I started to fell human again after that horrible flight! Next we went to another shopping centre but this time there was this absolutely huge! ... read more

Day 1 - Tuesday, April 1 2008 I brought a biography of Nelson to while away the idle hours. In retrospect, maybe not such a good idea. This ship is French, not Italian as we’d supposed. Recherchez du Trafalgar? Non, non, mais oui, l’Admiral d’Villeneuve est un matelot magnifique, ne c’est pas! So that’s Horatio confined to the cabin for the rest of the voyage. His presence in the wardroom appears to be un petit non diplomatique. As you see, my French is coming on splendidly as a result of such fraternite with the master and the officers whose English is on a par with my Franglais. I’ve even managed to pick up the motto of the French navy. Apparently, the English translation is “To the water - it is time.” In French, it’s “A l’eau, ... read more

Friday 10th February With yet another 5am start (I swear people here don't want me to sleep) I went to meet a friend, Marie, to get a ride to Ras al Khaimah for the first Ras al Khaimah half marathon. A race boasting the title of "Richest Half Marathon in the World", although neither Marie or I were holding any high hopes of claiming any of the large prizes (I think her chances were higher than mine after 2 weeks sitting out at sea on a platform!) Ras al Khaimah has less expats than Dubai and Sharjah, giving the place a different feel. It's clear from the amount of construction that the city is beginning to develop quickly. It's a coastal city with an estuary and mangrove swamps running through the middle of town and mountains ... read more

hola senors and senioritas! have I told any of you my grand plan to learn Spanish when I return home? well I've decided I need to know more languages and Spanish is the first... anyways, back to the country I am actually in at the moment! I wish I had my journal with me right now because I know I'm going to forget things, but then it's kinda good cuz I'll still have stories to relay when I get home that nobody has yet heard Last week Anna and I and 2 of her friends went to Dubai to go to Global Village, which is a huge area filled with kiosks from different countries around the world. There were performances and shopping and loads of giggling from us. It's hard to describe it without it sounding ... read more

just a quick note to say that I have changed my flight back to Bangkok to the night of Jan 3rd in order to be able to meet up with Adeline to go to Burma so I'm stepping up my adventures! tomorrow we go to Dubai to see the sights whoop whoop! and merry christmas to those who celebrate it! (is that better Sarah? just trying not to alienate my Jewish friends-hi Shawna and Jenny happy channukah!)... read more

what has happened since my last blog? well I went to the Christmas party, was not underdressed, had loads of fun went and got henna done on my hands and then tried to do my own feet to not much success and it's gonna last a while, ugh. Getting the henna done was cool though, we went to a ladie's saloon (yes, I do realise there is an extra 'o' there but I don't think they realise that and besides, if everyone makes the same spelling error there is a language agreement there and it means that it's the right spelling, at least for here-I *heart* linguistics nerds that taught me that) I wanted to post pics but my cord is at Anna's pad so you'll all have to wait for the amazingness that is the ... read more