Blogs from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 91

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Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 19th 2008

I have travelled through Dubai Airport several times on my way to and from India or some other Asian country, but this is the first time I actually have left the airport and explored a bit more of the Emirate. The reason for this is because my sister has recently moved to Dubai with her family and so it is the ideal time to see a bit more and learn a bit more about the country. Of course the most important reason for coming is to visit my sister who I haven't seen in 2 and a half year and my niece of slightly more then 2 I have only seen on photo's too... I have had a great time here, though the weather is sizzling to say the least, with temperatures reaching up to 43 ... read more
Dubai
Dubai
Dubai

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 16th 2008

Por motivos de trabajo, tenía que venir unos días a Dubai, asi que de paso nos vinimos todos y nos vamos a quedar unos días de vacaciones. Llevamos menos de 24 horas aquí, y hay una frase que sale de nuestra boca a cada rato: "esto es alucinante!" (y eso que todavía ni salimos del hotel). Los próximos días, a medida que vayamos paseando, vamos a escribir mas sobre este lugar, pero en este blog queríamos contarles de nuestro viaje hasta aquí, que para nosotros fue toooooooda una movida. Salimos de casa a las 3 de la tarde hacia el aeropuerto. Ya estamos aprendiendo a que tenemos que ir cómodos y con poca cargar, asi que Mariela se llevó una cartera, Pepe su maleta de juguetes con rueditas y yo la mochila con la compu. El ... read more
Jugando en el aeropuerto de Tripoli
Que vuelo tomamos?!!?!?
Generacion Ipod

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 16th 2008

Well we went on a wee dive trip on the weekend to Al Aqqa in Fuijairah which was just lovely. I purchased an advanced diving course for Dave’s birthday present as well as two nights accommodation at the lovely 5 star Le Meridien Al Aqqa Beach Resort. I had stayed at this hotel with Ma and Pa Ade when they were over at xmas and at the time I thought that it was just lovely so I decided to go back with Mr Norman. Dave was a little bit apprehensive at doing the course, but he really had nothing to worry about as he is a good diver. So on the Thursday night we drove over to Al Aqqa from Dubai after work (approx a 1.5 hour drive) and checked into our lovely room for the ... read more
Chelle
Fishes
More fishes

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 15th 2008

So, I am in Dubai right now on a four hour stopover. I just endured an 8 hour flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur, a 3 1/2 hour stopover and then a 7 hour flight from KL to Dubai then this stop over. My ankles have swollen to the size of a large elm tree trunk.... and to make matters worse, my throat is swollen and my medication is in my checked luggage! I'm surviving on the tastes of Lemon/mint Riccolla lollies because I couldn't find strepsils anywhere! So theres my first whinge for the trip. But I am super excited to get to Ghana, it's just a matter of getting through this next 8 hour flight. And I am worried about how hot it is going to be! I mean stinking hot, 38 degrees Celsius ... read more

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 15th 2008

Sitting in Santorini, it's a bit hard to sit back and recall our two days in Dubai. Although less than a week ago, it seems a lifetime away. There are certain things I definitiely remember. Dropping my camera in the Arabian Gulf being a key one (and of course the reason why there are no photos with this blog). Yes, my faithful old Pentax is dead, it doesn't swim, and my attempts at taking it to bits with Christie's pen knife availed nothing more than my being able to say "so that's what the inside of a camera looks like". Yes, my looking at the inside of a camera is about as useful as my looking under the bonnet of a dead car. Unless there's a sign somewhere saying "this bit is broken, hit it twice ... read more

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 13th 2008

Tuesday 13th May - Woke up at 8am for hotel breakfast and then caught a cab for a tour of The Mosque - one of the very few that are open for the public to enter and take photos. I found it very informative about Islamic culture and then watched as a muslim prayed before Allah (God). Caught a cab to Jumeirah again, this time to get daylight photos of the Madinat and Burj Al Arab as I was disappointed the ones I took the previous night did not turn out well. Then another cab across to the Mall or Emirates - The biggest shopping complex I have ever seen which houses an indoor ski centre. Bought a pair of Arnette sunglasses and then chatted to an American girl who has been living in Dubai for ... read more
Mosque
Muslim
Muslim 2

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 12th 2008

Monday 12th May - Landed in Dubai at 5am local time. Waited over an hour for my luggage before getting a taxi to the Rami Hotel in Bur Dubai and checked in early. Walked down to the most ancient part of Dubai - Bastakiya, which has a conservation program in place to protect its heritage. The heat was a shock to the system approaching 40 degrees before lunchtime so headed down to the Dubai Creek and took a boat cruise before disembarking on the other side in Bur Deira and wondered around the gold souks. Had lunch at the Hilton which was air conditioned before heading back to my hotel room for a 1 hour power nap. Was woken around 5pm by the loudspeakers of the islamic prayer which were right outside my hotel. Took a ... read more
Bastakiya
Bastakiya 3
Dubai Creek 1

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 11th 2008

Well here we are on our last stop of our big trip - Dubai. We’ve been enjoying the heat (not) and the hospitality of Brad, Suzie, Riley, Kelsey and their friends. We were taken to the Friday Brunch that has become somewhat of a tradition among the ex-pat community over here and enjoyed an all you can eat and drink fest for four hours before retiring by the pool and finishing off the beers. We (naturally) had a sleep in on Saturday before our local guide (aka Brad) took us to a few of the sights and returned us back to the apartment in time to be picked up by our Desert Safari tour. This tour was awesome. They picked us up from the apartment and drove us out to the desert (which wasn’t that far ... read more
The Burj Al Arab
Trish with our jeep for the desert safari
Trish on the desert safari

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 9th 2008

Apparently so is that well-known hotbed of subversion, Couchsurfing, since attempting to access either site in the UAE yields this: "We apologize the site you are attempting to visit has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates." Damn cheapskates trying to avoid staying in 7 star hotels, and how cheeky trying to call home cheaply. (incidentally 7 star hotels don't like casually dressed tourists approaching their gate...)... read more

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai May 8th 2008

My next step in trying to find a crack in the wall of Central Asian bureaucracy was to fly to Dubai and spend a few days trying to get on flights. There's one tomorrow evening to Bishkek, one on each of Saturday and Sunday to Dushanbe and another to Bishkek on Monday. I figured that three different airlines operating to two different countries from two airports should yield at least one success. Of course the headache won't end there - there's the small matter of my Uzbek LOI stating that I'll be applying for the visa in Kazakhstan and then walking across a particular border crossing from Tajikistan, which no longer makes logical sense if I'm not starting out in Kazakhstan. Whatever. It'll work out somehow. In the meantime I get to explore Dubai, although this ... read more




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