Blogs from United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 4

Firstly, I apologise to those who tried the link to previous Dubai trip found in the last blog. They didn’t work. Hopefully, the links are now fixed so please feel free to revisit our previous trips to Dubai. I guarantee something different each time. From a surreal Halloween party that we unknowingly gate crashed in 2011 to wondering what would happen if I drop a penny off the top of the Burj Khalifa in 2014!! Back to the story...Just as the first person to catch Covid-19 in the UK and not bring it in to the country was diagnosed, a man who lived in Surrey, we were checking out of our hotel oblivious to this fact. Although today was embarkation day, the ship, the MSC Lirica, would not set sail until 10pm. For this reason, the ... read more

I bet you didn’t expect this amid total global lockdown that has had to be enforced as a measure to deal with this modern day plague of biblical proportions – Covid-19. Currently it is difficult to travel to a neighbouring town never mind foreign travel. ‘Foreign travel’– soon to be deleted from the English Oxford Dictionary? For those of you born in 2020 and reading this in the year 2035, ask your parents about foreign travel. Travelling abroad for leisure and fun. Ask your parents about fun! It really was a part of most people’s life before the world changed forever. There are only so many boxsets I can watch or books I can read. My shoe leather had worn down from the amount of daily walks I have done. I can’t even go to the ... read more

Frequently considered a Dubai suburb due to its close proximity, Sharjah (literal translation means “rising sun”) is actually the third most populous and largest emirate of the United Arab Emirates, and due to its cultural affiliation, the city is visited by many tourists annually. It is the capital city of the Emirate of Sharjah and shares all kinds of political and cultural relationships with the other six. Many residents work in Dubai and live in Sharjah. Due to the influence of Islamic values alcohol is forbidden, so restaurants and hotels do not serve it, so since Sharjah is a dry state, bars, pubs and nightclubs are almost non-existent. This should be an interesting trip, to be sure. While Dubai is all about flashy tall buildings and shop-till-you-drop malls, neighboring Sharjah takes a much more subtle approach, ... read more

Dubaï je n'avais pas pour habitude de revenir sur un voyage que j'avais pu faire avant mes périples d'été, mais exceptionnellement, je vais vous faire partager ce court séjour. Comme j'ai toujours en tête Hawaï, il m'arrive de temps à autre de regarder les temps de vol pour cette pour cette destination. Les années se suivent et les temps de vol ne diminuent pas environ une soixantaine d'heures pour un aller retour. Les escales sont interminables. L'idée m'est venue récemment qu'au lieu de chercher à partir par l'ouest (USA) parcours classique, pourquoi ne pas regarder par l'est via Hong Kong ou Singapour que je ne connais pas et en profiter pour faire une escale un peu plus longue. A voir. C'est au cours de cette première recherche que j'ai vu un bandeau publicitaire pour les vols ... read more

We had a good first night on the ship. It was just strange not to have it rocking as it was still docked in Dubai. After a leisurely breakfast, we had a wander around the ship to familiarize ourselves and get our bearings. This is one really huge ship. It looks like most of the restaurants are at the back and our cabin is nearer the front. Think we may be doing a lot of walking in the next 14 days. We also stopped off for a short presentation on Muscat, Oman in preparation for our visit tomorrow. On walking around we made mental notes of some of the things that we wanted to do or see during our voyage. At 1.30pm we had the muster safety drill. This was done by way of a video. ... read more