Blogs from United Arab Emirates, Middle East

My friends started to request to join me on my hikes, so I created a little group with my weekend plan. I'm an early riser and do not like to hike in the middle of the day. So, if they were willing to get up early and join me, I was good with it and even set my start time a half hour later. First hike of the new year was a solo one though, so I could get back into my rhythm. I am by no means a fit, fast hiker. I usually do well at my own pace because I go slow and don't stop for long breaks, instead, I do frequent mini breaks just to catch my breath. Ain al Sheria 4.6 miles, 450m elevation gain This hike is known as the Geological ... read more

After just 39 days at home, we are off again! This time we are leaving on a jet plane for Ireland which we will explore in detail for a month before heading on to Spain for about three weeks. On the evening flight to Dubai, today has been a long day. With most of our packing finalized yesterday we have felt like we have been killing time waiting, waiting, waiting for it to be time to head to the airport! We walked this morning to get some steps recorded before our long-haul flight later on. After our walk Bernie headed over to the shopping center for a massage to iron out all of his bike rider’s kinks for our holiday. Having indulged in my massage last Wednesday I cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, so they’ll be ... read more

Everyone knows Dubai. Or even Abu Dhabi. People even refer to them as countries. The country name is United Arab Emirates. And it is made up of seven emirates: Abu Dhabi (the biggest, by a lot), Dubai (the most well known), Sharjah, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, Ajman, and Umm al Quwain. I highly recommend the Etihad Museum in Dubai which gives a nice breakdown of the formation of the country in 1971. But this blog is the first of others around the country that I would like to share. This one will focus on Fujairah. Now, one thing to note is that the borders of each Emirate can be very confusing, as you have multiple enclaves especially in the mountains. The Emirates are formed primarily by the tribal affiliations, not necessarily geography, which also includes Omani ... read more

Here we go. Snuggled in, internet connection down, seats up, bags above and we are nearly off. Due to depart in 5 minutes and it appears we will. Strange how the few minutes seem important when the flight is scheduled for 14 hours! Good news is that if the wings fall off I’ll be the first to know as I’m almost directly above the port wing. Do you have port and starboard on planes? Boarding was seemless and easy but everything just takes time. We arrive and check in then we wait, we board then we wait but… The inflight info system has informed us that 2000 plus movies are part of the entertainment, that should mean 3 or 4 will be OK. Hope I find them. The safety details are currently displayed and have attracted ... read more

World Cruise 8 Publishing while in Dubai on 26th. Dubai today and tomorrow , then Muscat in Oman. Have got into some good book series, some good talks, and craft making, hence blog writing slow! ( Have you heard of the Cazolet series, Chis?) Will do some more after that as 9 or 10 sea days, through Suez Canal to the Med and Valletta in Malta. Friday 10th March Port of Laem Chabang for Bangkok. 27degrees C. 13N. 100E. A Glimpse of Bangkok Early start! Went out to buses a bit early so could check out most comfortable seat for foot space and knee space. It is 2 hours into Bangkok, a long way if you can’t bend knees or move feet… Seat at front not always most comfortable. Roger has fond memories from his trip ... read more