Roadtrip

It is Memorial Day for us Americans, but just a regular workday for the rest of the UAE, so we decided to take our very first UAE Roadtrip. So with map in hand, Friday morning we left Abu Dhabi for the Northern Emirates.

We really did not know very much about it, just what we heard from locals and a few who've been before us. Some friends told us to go to Sharjah. We hoped it would be a small town-quaint and perhaps a truer example of older traditional Emirati culture. It was very nice and a bit different, but it is really a suburb of Dubai.

In Sharjah we went to the Qanat Al Qasba (Kazbah) where we saw the Eye of the Emirates (big ferris wheel) and took a dhow boat out at sunset. It was very beautiful and very nice outside (after dark). We also went to the the Blue Souk, where hundreds of little shops (about 20x10) sell gold, jewelry, clothing and electronics.

It was all very interesting, but we are not big shoppers. There's really not a lot of things we need. And I really wanted to see some mountains! Up until this point we really had not gone outside the major cities, but we decided to go to the Eastern coast, to the emirate of Fujairah. The map showed well developed roads which turned out to be marked very well also.

We did cross mountains; barren, craggy and rocky. The landscape looked so harsh, but still beautiful. I've never seen mountains like that-perfect for goats, which we saw several of. Soon though we were right on the beach. We drove up the coastline with the ocean on one side and mountains on the other. It was all beautiful and surreal.

We knew there were several resorts there and we found a great one-the Rotana (see the mountains behind the resort). Our stay there was almighty refreshing! Finn Sisu surprised me when he told me we were swimming in the Indian Ocean! I had no idea.

Click for picture: The mountains go right into the sea.

Wild Wadi

We decided to take advantage of being so close to Dubai and went to the water park at the Burj Al Arab - Wild Wadi.

We invited several friends and stayed all day long! As with many things in the Emirates, and Dubai in particular, it was over the top. We reserved a private cabana (an area of 600-800 sq ft). There were loungers, fresh towels, lots of shade and a table and chairs, and we had our own "attendant" who brought us fresh fruit skewers, coconut lolly-pops and anything off the menu.

Our cabana also afforded us private entry onto the lazy river (pictured) which also offered easy access to, umm, the slides. I say that because you ride a slide with jets UP hill to get to the slides that you ride DOWN hill.

We stayed all day long, until after sunset. The Burj after sunset is absolutely gorgeous (see the link above). We were totally exhausted the next day. It was lots of fun.

Ibn Battuta & Alegria

We loved the Cirque du Soleil show La Nouba at Disney World last fall so we could not miss the traveling show Alegria, now in Dubai. We decided to make a nice weekend of it and spend the night, also. Our hotel room was unbelievable. We were expecting a room with a bathroom and maybe a view. What we got was a whole full size apartment with 2 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a full kitchen, formal dining and living room. And that doesn't even count the massive foyer and laundry room.

The show was set up at a Dubai mall. Ibn Battuta was a 14th century Moroccan scholar and great explorer (he traveled even farther than Marco Polo). So naturally, Dubai has a theme mall to commemorate this legendary traveler. The mall's six courts reflect the architecture of each region he explored – Andalusia, Tunisia, Egypt, Persia, India and China. It was a real trip!

The show was, as always, unique-if just a bit too long. But I think we should see them all before we pass judgement. Wonder just how many shows there are...