http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , United Arab Emirates en-us Thu, 03 Dec 09 04:04:33 +0000 Thu, 03 Dec 09 04:04:33 +0000 I woke when the hot sun leapt the balcony and splayed over the floor of my hotel room. I opened the glass door and for a while watched this part of Dubai Deira the markety bustling part wake up. My priority for the day as it is most days was to arrange my next travelling leg. After some quick research on the web I caught an airconditioned bus to find the main Emirates Airlines building wh http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-454788.html Hello againWell after my luxurious and relaxing 10 nights in Doha staying with Trude and her family it was a bit of an effort to pack up my bag again and catch my flight to Dubai. Luckily it was only about 45 minutes of flying so it wasn't too taxing. So I made it to Dubai...arrived in the rush hour apparently but didn't get stuck in traffic....the only hiccup getting to my hotel was that it was http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-449927.html Flight to Dubai and Shiraz http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-449924.html Goodmorning goodevening and goodnight....... RIGHT so currently sitting in a large part of the Dubai international airport the food lounge to be precise. But there is a significant lack of food around. However the actual building itself is rather impressive. Oil does buy some pretty cool things. including reclined tacky leather chairs for me to lie about in whilst i wait for my connection.Ye http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-448421.html Welcome to our first travel blog.. We cant promise it will be the most entertaining read but we will try our best to keep it up to date. After too many goodbyes and tears from me we are eventually away Flight was OK shorter than 7 hours although tv was rubbish we both wanted to watch ice age as it was the only decent film on but the sound wouldnt work so we entertained ourselves by having a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-446109.html PrologueThe international airport outside of Abu Dhabi is in itself the perfect metaphor for that city. When I first arrived and my travel weary self emerged into that sparkling edifice a shimmering technicolour place that somehow resembles both a flowering lotus and a Turkish bath I remember thinking that I would need to dedicate some serious time to explore the building upon my departure. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Abu-Dhabi/blog-445384.html We arrived in Dubai at about 7.45am and it was 33 degrees outside. Thankfully on the first day it was a dry heat but it was pretty humid for most of the fortnight. The first thing that struck me about Dubai was that it was much bigger than I'd first imagined. The clusters of towers sprawled out around us and in to the distance as we drove to Cam's O's best friend flat. A common misconception a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-443953.html Yeah been a real bad year for traveling. I am sure everyone would agree with me what with the depression going on Then again the itch doesn't stop so gotta hop on a car and head where the road takes you. The long summer is finally over and we decided to head back into the desert in our rented FJ Cruiser. Great car with lots of goodies and no good on sand Traction control is useless so was the d http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Empty-Quarter/blog-443191.html Al Ain is the oasis town in the centre of the United Arab Emirates where for many years tribes locals from Abu Dhabi surrounds who worked on the coast for their fishingpearl diving trade travelled inland to this oasis in the summer months for some cooler relief. What was once a long arduous camel ride is now a 1 12hr freeway drive from Abu Dhabi island. It nears the border of Oman http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Al-Ain/Jebel-Hafeet/blog-442324.html And the journey has begunI leave in the next 6 hours from Dubai heading to Hyderabad India. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-441864.html The weather.... At the start of September AD was still unbareably hot.....like 45 degrees every day..with high humidity.....so it was an effort or stupidity to go outside much during the day. The dash to your car or waiting for a taxi was a debateable scenario...do you bother or not I am pleased to report that by the months end the weather has pleasantly changed We are still in high 30's bu http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Abu-Dhabi/blog-441017.html Hello again We're actually now in HK being a bit slow with the blog update as expected but we'll attempt to get back on schedule soonDubai was a great start to our trip. After the stress of packing up and leaving the UK what we really needed was a bit of chill out time with not much running around. The Dingle family Richard Laura and 5 month old Layla were fantastic hosts. We arrived on Se http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-440503.html Sunday 20thDid a partial tour of the canal system by water bus most impressive. Complete the tour tomorrow.Discovered a great little ldquoristoranterdquo on the square near the hotel serves a good selection of food and the top Chianti is very quaffable. Advised to satisfy our curiosity that a ristorante is owned by one person a trattorie is owned by a family but both serve the same http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-439353.html Kia Ora TrendsettersAnd Congrats to the All Blacks on their success against the Aussies better late than never and Henry lives another day There is quite a following of Kiwirsquos who get together apparently to watch the games in a nearby bar. It doubles as a great reason to have a beer for morning tea we would have joined them but took the opportunity of the long weekend here to zip dow http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-439301.html Tall towers of air conditioned comfort generally shield us from the approaching desert on our doorstep. Abu Dhabi island is surrounded by desert once you are near the edge of town behind the smaller buildings bitumen roads lies a vastness of desert which links each city here. Driving to Ras Al Khaimah Northern coastal Emirate of UAE we pass a deepening orange sand spreading out into dunes http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Abu-Dhabi/blog-438488.html Have never been to Dubai and decided it was time to visit. I think i picked the wrong time of year to go. It was very hot both in day and evening. One of the local folk said that this was maybe not the best time to visit. All in all it is very intersting place. I only stayed a coupld of days but did enjoy myself alot. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-438387.html Hey everyoneSo I've moved Here are pictures of my apartment. I have a huge one with oodles of space. Did I already mention I had room for visitors I am more than happy to put anyone up I am referring to my friends who receive notices about my blog. As you can see from my pictures a bunch of us from work went to Sharjah which is a Emirate past Dubai. The wife of one of the teachers knows a l http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Sharjah/blog-437484.html As previously mentioned I have been experiencing the joys of having my underwear cleaned and pressed by those little men at Bombay Laundry. One day I asked a friend from school to pick it up for me as she lives in town and we are now living in khalifa B. The next day I was informed that my clothes were being held due to the fact that the school had not paid the complete bill yethellipWe are n http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Abu-Dhabi/blog-437480.html Hello I have had a few emails chastising me for my poor blog keeping so I thought I would check in and let you all know I am alive and well and what I've been doing.Dubai was a mess lol. Everyone had told me it was going to be hot but I had no idea it would be as hot as it was. I really have no idea why people insist on living in the desert its a stupid thing to do like who originally ro http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-437038.html Day 2 started beautifully. Less humidity in the air. Barb and Howie had a great early morning walk. I was suffering a little traveller's diarrhea probably a bit of heat stroke from the previous day. Nothing that a little immodium couldn't handle.At breakfast we discussed how to spend the morning and early afternoon should we head over to the Mall of the Emirates and see the indoor ski http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/United-Arab-Emirates/Dubai/blog-436861.html