Friday afternoon we drove to Hatta which is SE of Dubai about a one hour drive. I have 12 of these “road stretching in front of us” pictures and I will be good an not post them all here.
Before leaving Dubai, we passed this train station construction that is part of the metro light rail. I think this may be the first/last stop on this route.
We also passed the sewage trucks waiting in line to get to the sewage treatment station. (mentioned in “Lack of Infrastructure” entry in October)
As you can see it is a long line. The drivers complain that the wait can be eight hours long, which leads some of them to illegally dump elsewhere. There are stiff penalties for that, but it will probably continue to be a problem until the number of treatment facilities catch up to the supply.
Also, before leaving Dubai, we gassed up. We have yet to see a gas station with more than one pump per island. They don’t seem to know that they could be pumping into two cars at once. You might be pleased to know that gas prices here are about the same that you are paying (in Oregon). Although, the price seems to be at a fixed rate and never fluctuates, so they don’t bother to put up signs advertising the price. No competition.
I have oodles of dune pictures, too, but will only present my best so as not to bore you. The dunes stretch into the distance as far as we could see and the further you get from Dubai the redder the sand becomes. It was also still damp in places due to our recent rain.
As we were driving out, we could see quite a few people camping in the desert with their SUVs and tents. On the way back, there were exponentially more people camping and driving ATVs on the dunes. This is what the locals do for fun on the weekends during the winter.
You might have to enlarge the picture below to see all the SUVs and people on the ridge of this dune.
The young men were speeding around on their ATVs with few helmets to be seen.
The border between the UAE and Oman is not straight. The countries are like two puzzle pieces that snap together, so to get to Hatta which is in the UAE you have to drive through a “knob” of Oman. They don’t bother with border crossings and passports, etc., because after a few miles, if that much, you are right back over the border again.
As we got closer to Oman and Hatta, we began to see hills which became more and more impressive.
Some of the hills, like those in the picture below, show a strange erosion pattern. There are indentations that seem to have eroded from below. Not sure what causes that, not being a geologist.
So, at this point I will take a break and give you a break. We haven’t actually gotten to Hatta, so consider this a teaser for the next post.
Archive for the ‘United Arab Emirates’ Category
Trip to Hatta
December 22, 2008Find the camel
December 19, 2008
We drove from Dubai to Hatta today. Here are two pictures with one camel each. Can you find the camel?
Where we didn’t end up – thankfully
November 22, 2008At the end of an incredibly long road…
…lined with colleges of assorted sizes and subjects…
Lies a college, which shall remain nameless, who considered me for a librarian position, which they didn’t offer and I wouldn’t have accepted. It was the right decision. It is a very large institution and the faculty live in campus housing. I am very glad we did not end up in that bubble. We are so happy to be living in the heart of the city with the wide variety of humanity.
Below is the mosque of this campus. Notice the men in traditional local garb.
Here’s a similar shot seconds later. Notice the female students in Western garb, not considered modest by local standards (too much bare skin and shapeliness).
Lower your voice. We are entering the library.
Quite lovely.
Beautiful window dome.
We are glad to be in Dubai and I am happy with my workplace. We ended up at the right place. My college has a little bit of a bubble effect, but I leave it at the end of the day and head into the city. We have to make our own way in dealing with red tape, licenses, identity cards, etc., but we came here for the adventure. I was attending a library conference today and talking to another librarian who has been in the country only a little longer than I. She asked where i lived and asked how I like it. Apparently, my answer was too glowing. She was baffled that I would love it so much. We were interrupted by someone else, so I didn’t get to explain. I think many come here for the good salary, but not for the adventure. The salary is very helpful and it did figure into our decision to come here, but we are REALLY here for the adventure. So far, it has not disappointed.
The Road to Al Ain – without Dorothy Lamore
October 17, 2008On Monday, my coworkers and I drove to Al Ain for a meeting with all the library supervisors in the college system. We drove out of town past the camel race track, so we saw camels being exercised. (Sorry, no pictures). The road to Al Ain is long and mostly straight. It is notorious for accidents because some drivers really put the pedal to the metal.
Lots of bushes and trees grow along the sides of the road giving the illusion of green, but in some of the other photos you will see what lay a short distance beyond this green fringe — red dunes.
My camera doesn’t do such a good job of getting the true color. These pictures are pale in comparison to the real thing.
This is the wall around what is generally referred to as “the unfinished palace.” It was quite ornate and impressive. Construction has been stalled due to financial concerns. Some say it was questioned exactly where the funds were coming from…
The following pictures are of the dirt devil that crossed the road in front of us. I didn’t expect any of these pictures to come out due to the fact that we were in constant motion, but I kept snapping just in case.
I enjoyed the trip. It was nice to get out of the city and see something new. Having come from Oregon High Desert, I think the desert has a beauty all its own. Everyone in the car is fairly new to the UAE, so we would point and say “camel” everytime we saw one. There were some in pasture areas and also some roaming about loose nibbling on bushes.
Road Trip #2 – Abu Dhabi
October 11, 2008
So, here we are in downtown Abu Dhabi.
This shot shows part of a mosque in the foreground and a beautiful highrise in the background.
They do love glass and shiny things here.
I didn’t take this photo for the reflection in the glass, but it turned out kinda artsy fartsy. If I had been trying, I’m sure it wouldn’t have come out this good.
It is not uncommon, in fact it is very common, to see large billboards and murals depicting one sheikh or another. This is probably Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE.
Here we are sitting on the steps of the Presidential Palace, which is not the Presidential residence, but an amazingly posh hotel.
Here’s what it looks like as you drive up.
They do love their fountains here. Water, water everywhere!
This is looking down from the steps. Notice the construciton in the background. It’s hard to find a view that doesn’t include construction and cranes.
More construction to the left.
There was a large greenscape all around the hotel. Very beautiful.
This is the view down the steps including the fountain flowing all the way down the steps. Water, water everywhere.
We came to the hotel to have high tea. It was very expensive, but yummy and fun. We each got a tray like this with three layers of plates filled with little sandwiches, pastries and desserts. I’ve decided that I really like clotted cream. Mmmm.
This is Daddybird enjoying a sandwich. I told him to look pretty and took a picture. Looked at it, then told him to look pretty with his eyes open. The golden glow to these pictures is probably due to the golden hue of everything there — the walls, the furniture, the lighting. It was very beautiful.
This is a shot upward at the top of the rotunda. Unfortunately, it is blurry. I failed to check the setting on the camera. But, hopefully, you can get a feel for the grandure.
Despite the grandness of it all, we both felt comfortable here. We didn’t feel like poor relations who had wandered in off the street. The acoustics were amazing, too. There was live music being played a short distance from where we were sitting and we could hear it just fine, but were unable to hear the people at the next table talking. We could also easily hear each other as we talked at our table.
Abu Dhabi is a beautiful city, but I don’t think I would take it over Dubai.
Road Trip #1 – Hamriyah Beach
October 10, 2008
So, Paul already spilled the beans about our discovery of Hamriyah Beach, but here are my pictures. They don’t do the place justice. The water was an overwhelming color. Really amazing.
There were scads of beautiful shells on the beach. I picked up a couple just because I couldn’t resist.
This is the road along the beach.
This is the mosque by the beach.
Road Trip #1 – Second Stop – Ajman
October 6, 2008
This is the gate to the museum which, unfortunately, was closed for the holiday. You can see the security guard walking away after delivering the bad news that we could not come in.
This is public art sculpture on a grand scale in the center of the street across from the museum. There’s a bow of a boat (behind the palm tree) and arches.
This is the view just a quarter turn from the last shot. I took it for the variety of colors the buildings are painted. It’s rare for a building to be anything but sand colored.
Here is the only graffiti I’ve seen so far. It wasn’t very imaginative. Apparently, the Vinny gang reign here. The graffiti was in English and Arabic and appeared to be all intelligible words, unlike American graffiti that is usually carefully crafted code and symbols.
Here you can see the public art in the background and the Vinny gang’s artistic talent in the foreground.
Road Trip #1 – Leaving Sharjah
October 6, 2008
So, following our exploration of the Naboodah house, we got back in the car and headed northeast again. These pictures are of the Sharjah coast line, sort of. There are three teardrop shaped bays. Here you can see the oil drilling structures in the background.
Similar to Dubai Creek, there are dhows and piles of cargo being shipped to India or other areas of the Arabian Gulf.
I’m not sure if this sign was in Sharjah or Ajman, but I thought it was interesting that we were on Sharq street. I’m easily amused and entertained. The houses in the background are referred to as villas. Here, you live in either a villa or an apartment. They don’t use the word “house.” The villas always have a wall around the perimeter of the property. Seems a little secretive, but it makes for a neat appearance and you don’t have to be concerned with whether the neighbor keeps his yard nice. I would have said “mows his lawn,” but that’s not common here.
Road Trip #1 – First Stop – Sharjah part 2
October 6, 2008Welcome to the House of the family Naboodah. This is part of the Sharjah Heritage Center. It is a restored house of a wealthy family.
The house is a series of rooms that surround an open courtyard. There is a partial second floor and walkway all around the top.
The extended family lived here and each of the doors above lead to a bedroom for each of the sons. There was also a game room for the children, a kitchen, a storeroom/pantry. I’m not sure why the toilet was upstairs, but it was.
Majlis seating is basically cushions and pillows on the floor. (Majlis = parlor or living room — where men would gather to shoot the breeze, drink coffee and smoke shisha). It was odd to see a wooden bed frame with the mattress up off the floor (just like a Western bed) with majlis seating down on the floor. (Sorry that I don’t have pictures of that. You’ll have to imagine it.)
(By the way, shisha is a very fruity tobacco smoked with a waterpipe.)
These are the lovely lattice works inside the rooms. These are on the top of inner walls just above eye level and provide ventilation between rooms. They are made out of gypsum.
Road Trip #1 – First Stop – Sharjah
October 5, 2008So, we hopped in a car with two of my co-workers and headed out to see something beyond Dubai. Dubai and Sharjah are two cities that are right up against each other. We can see Sharjah from the college. So, even though we had left Dubai, it was a case of little change in scenery because there is no break. The same with Ajman, which is on the other side of Sharjah. We navigated successfully to one of the historical sites in Sharjah. Here are the resulting pictures:
This is across the street from the Sharjah Heritage Center. I took it for the contrast between the new tall buildings in the background and the older, shabbier buildings in the foreground.
The Heritage Center is a large area of historic buildings which include an old style souk (market). Old style, if you don’t count the air conditioning.
This is the entrance to the Islamic Museum, which was closed. We are not sure if it was closed due to the holiday or some other reason. It was easy to see what was closed, because there were large padlocks on the doors.
Again, contrast of old and new.
As we entered the heritage center, there was a large courtyard area. As you can see, we did not encounter a lot of other tourists. It is still too hot for there to be a lot of people venturing out.
I’m not sure exactly what this was – possibly a replica of a city gate. That was closed off and propped up with poles (not looking too sturdy), so we did not venture behind it to discover what was there.
This is the outer wall. It is constructed of pieces of corral (as in corral reefs, of which there are many here). When you don’t have forests, you make structures out of other stuff!
This is the aforementioned large courtyard showing the outer wall and the modern world beyond.
I have more pictures of other things we did that day. Will post them separately in days to come.
Living the Travel Channel 