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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
On the morning of arrival in our first Arabian port, we turned on the TV and heard the news about the death of Osama Bin Laden. First, the good news: “We got Bin Laden.” The bad news: “We’re in his backyard.” Not knowing how the local people would react to this news, many passengers had second thoughts about leaving the ship that day. We know that the UAE has been quite supportive of the United States and a good friend of our country. Also as soon as we docked we saw a fully armed US Navy gunboat patrolling around our ship. So we decided to carry on with our tour plans.
Fujairah is one of the largest oil exporting ports in the world. Mile after mile of huge oil tank farms surround the port. It is the most mountainous of the UAE countries and has the best beaches and good diving spots. We went to the Sandy Beach Resort to do some snorkeling. Everyone seemed quite welcoming at the hotel and they had a nice pool and restaurant. Unfortunately we weren’t able to snorkel as the beaches and water had been fouled by oil. The dive master
told us that when ships come in to port to fill up with oil, they clean and empty their tanks just off shore. This is cheaper that having the tanks cleaned in port. So when they flush out the bilge water it is filled with tar balls. Even when we walked on the beach our feet got covered in oil. So we just enjoyed the pool and a pizza lunch while overlooking Snoopy Island.
As we sailed out into the North Arabian Sea we heard the news that Bin Laden had been buried at sea in this area of the ocean. It seemed pretty weird that we were possibly passing over the remains of one of the worst terrorists ever.
We arrived in Dubai the next day and had a wonderful time with the Wiegand family. We have known Jane and Jeff for years and got together often when they lived in San Francisco. About five years ago they moved to Dubai where Jane works on business development projects. Their son, Tom also lives in Dubai along with his Spanish wife Esther and son. Their other son, Greg, just happened to be visiting with his Indonesian wife Andriana
and two children. Greg is with the State Department and lives in Beijing. We visited them when we were in China a few years ago. What an international family they are!
Jane and Jeff picked us up and took us out to the desert. We saw camels and dunes and new building projects rising out of the desert sands. We stopped at an oasis called the Bab Al Sham Desert Resort for a lovely lunch. We thought of going for a swim at this expensive inn but the charge for just swimming in the pool was over $100 per person. They value their water!
Back at the ship Greg’s and Tom’s families came aboard for a visit. The young kids loved the cookies, ice cream and orange juice, the glass elevators and the swimming pool. The children kept asking to meet the Captain. Captain Scala was just boarding that day after ten weeks of vacation so he was involved in the change of command formalities. But in the meantime we ran into Michael, the General Manager. Seeing the gold stripes, the kids were so excited to see the “Captain.” Mike played along and the kids are still talking
about meeting the Captain.
That night we met up with Jane and Jeff and Tom at the modern Dubai International Financial Center to tour some of the art galleries and have dinner. We ate at an outdoor Lebanese with a view of the Emirates Towers. Seeing the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, lit up at night is quite a sight. It was so nice to be able to spend the day with all of the Wiegands—a truly unique family.
We had many passengers leaving and a whole new group boarding on our second day in Dubai. We needed to pick up some things for our next party so in this city of fancy malls and iconic buildings and man-made islands, we prefer the old souks along Dubai Creek. We went to the gold souk, the spice souk and the Deira souk. It is like stepping back in time as this is how business has been conducted in Arabia for centuries. Narrow winding pathways are lined with shops selling everything from trinkets to million dollar gold necklaces. We took an abra (water taxi) across the Creek to visit the Dubai Museum. 4,000 years of history in
one small museum.
That evening we sailed out of Port Rashid past the slowly aging Queen Elizabeth II, caught a glimpse of the “sail,” the Burj Al Arab Hotel, and retraced our wake through the Straits of Hormuz and back into the Arabian Sea.
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Stephanie
non-member comment
Arabian Nights
Per usual, I truly enjoyed reading every piece of your story. I can almost feel I am there. Thanks for your sharing a bit of Arabia in writing and photos.