Where is it and why go? The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a
collection of small states about 7 hours away from London. They have
gained wealth from their oil reserves and are often associated with
ex-pat oil workers. The UAE often hosts world class sporting events,
such as the Desert Classic (golf), the Dubai Open (tennis), horse
racing and rugby, to name but a few.
Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates or UAE. It is
the largest and richest state and widely known as the Garden City of
the Gulf. Abu Dhabi began as a fishing and pearl diving centre, but
is now one of the world's cleanest and most modern cities.
Dubai has always been known for its cheap duty free and the luxury
cars it raffles off in the pink marble lined foyer of the duty free.
It's now also a very popular holiday destination in its own
right, boasting the world's first 6 star hotel, many other top
notch hotels, golf courses, trips into the desert, a souk etc. You
can still the old, traditional style of dhow plying up and down the
creek that separates the city into two. Incidentally, Dubai's
annual shopping festival takes place between
1st and 31st
March when most stores offer significant discounts and savings!
Ras al Khaimah is on the northern tip of the UAE, only one hour
away from Dubai. Here you can escape the busy crowds and
commercialized shopping centres. Her you can find old forts and
watchtowers, old villages and mountains.
Ajman is the smallest of the states and is some 25 minutes north
of Dubai. It does not have any oil reserves, so it retains its
traditional fishing culture.
A good tour of the UAE and Muscat and Oman would be to initially
use Dubai as a base and explore: Day 1, spend time in Dubai, visit
the Jumeirah mosque, the Dubai museum, take a trip along the creek
and visit the souk. Day 2, take a day trip to Sharjah and wander
around the restored old town and the new souk. Continue to Ajman and
visit the museum that describes life in the UAE before the discovery
of oil. Day 3, take another day trip to the east coast and the state
of Fujeira. You can see mountains and gorges, oases and desert. Day
4, take another day trip to Abu Dhabi, see the skyscrapers and
palaces and visit the islands offshore. Day 5, take a trip into the
desert, climb up/roll down some sand dunes and visit the Haja
Mountains. You could stay over night in a camp and be entertained by
the inevitable belly dancer and cabaret – it's how it's done
over there!
To extend the trip, you should continue down the east coast from
Fujeirah to Sohar in Oman. Here you can see the pre-Islamic Nakhal
fort, the Sohar fort and various souks. Stay overnight and on Day 6,
continue south in Muscat and visit the fish souk, the Muttrah souk,
Al Alam Palace and the museums. Stay overnight in Muscat and on Day
7, head south west to Nizwa and see the fort and souk and various
(Jabel Shams Wadi Ghul, Al Hamra, Tanuf, Misfah, Bahla etc. Stay the
night in Nizwa and on Day 8, head for Sur and see Izki, Sinaw, Wahiba
Sands Wadi Bani Khalid. Stay overnight in Sur and on Day 9 return to
Muscat.
