Middle Eastern Adventure

We got up on a Saturday morning and drove to Amsterdam airport (30 min)and boarded a plane for Dubai, United Arab Emeritus (UAE). It was a six hour flight going east. When we arrived we took a taxi to our cruise ship. The airport was FULL of people at 10pm, I saw later that it got even busier at 1 or 2 am! After hitting an ATM for some UA Dinars, we made it to King Rashid Port in a short time. The Costa ship, Luminosa, is less than a year old, so it smelled a WHOLE lot better than the Costa ship we took to north Africa a couple of years ago. In the morning we sailed to Muscat, Oman. The day started out right (it was my birthday!) with champagne in our cabin (from the travel agent?) and blue, sunny skies. (27 degrees C-which is about 80 F) That sure beats the Dutch weather! Rather than taking a cruise excursion with a big bus, we went it alone and started negotiating with a taxi driver about what the price would be if he took us to the places on the list I had made up. This also gave us a chance to see which one of the many drivers could speak English best! We chose "Moon" a Pakistani man in full Arab dress. He had been living in Oman for several years and was very knowledgeable. I went to my first mosque, very peaceful and beautiful. Moon went with us to the souk (shopping market stalls) where he negotiated for us and bought Fred an Arab hat and me a shawl. I bought a little camel, since I seem to have started a collection from the Middle Eastern countries I've been to so far, or the ME children I've taught. He took us to a little mall by the sea, and we remarked about all the westerners who were there...lots! Blonde-headed babies in strollers, ladies in jeans and flip-flops, you could've been in Chicago if not for the warm weather! The sea was beautiful (HAD to stick my feet in the Arabian Sea!) with pale sand and mountains up to the coast. I want to always spend my birthdays as the first day in a new country! Once back on the ship, we were placed at a table with Dutch-speaking people, probably because we booked the trip in Holland, and they had me listed at Dutch in the paperwork (?) so after dinner we asked to be changed to a table where people spoke English. The next day we arrived in Abu Dhabi, and I was AMAZED at the shipping going on in the port! There were HUGE ships unloading thousands of containers, and I could see big, shiny colored buildings with "Arab Shipping" printed on everything. There was a parking lot FULL of thousands of new Toyotas, mostly white. I could see the skyline was lots of big skyscrapers, not what I expected. We found another taxi driver (same routine!) and headed straight for the mosque. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE, and is known as the "New York of the Middle East" as opposed to Dubai, with all its glitz and glamour, which is the "L.A. of the Middle East". The grand mosque is the largest in the country, and is open to non-Muslims. You have to wear the traditional coverings, as a woman) So, after donning the black robe (very hot over my white jeans and top!) I put on the head scarf and Fred took my picture. We were totally blown away by the beauty of the place! We removed our shoes and stood in this huge courtyard surrounded by white. As I took a picture, my "low battery" light flashed, and that was it for my pictures. I got a couple more of the beautiful inlayed marble floors, walls, and the incredible chandeliers, but the rest is just going to be in my memories, or I'll have to go back with my camera! I would recommend this to all Americans. We have many misconceptions about the Muslim faith. I found the people to be very kind. Friday is their holy day,(and closed to non-Muslims) and the mosque is only open to non-Muslims for a half day on Sunday, so we're lucky we got to see this incredible place. We then went to a mall which blows away any I've ever been to in the U.S. It was full of stores, but even though I tried, I couldn't find a dressy dress for a wedding I'm going to in Milan in April. Prices are not cheap either, even though there is a country-wide bi-annual sale. Lots of big-designer shops. Discouraging, since shopping in Holland is an exercise in futility. Clothes are either cheap and not made well, or outrageously expensive, like 140 euros for a pair of MK jeans! ANYHOW......Abu Dhabi was beautiful, incredible, and I would go back in a minute. The next day we sailed to Fujurah, UAE. I had wanted to go snorkeling, but the ship said there wouldn't be anything to see. So, we took a taxi to a nice hotel on the beach, and spent the day sun bathing and I took a couple of dips in the Arabian Sea. It wasn't the sandiest beach, but rather pebbly. The rest of the town was rather run-down and seedy-looking. This was my least-favorite stop, especially when we passed the Mariott with a big sign for their "Dive Center... to see the great coral reefs that surround the shoreline". Guess I'll have to come back here, too!
Our new table-mates were all from England. I thought we spoke the same language,but no. They laughed and laughed at some of the things we said, and we didn't always understand the point they were making. One was a young couple working in Dubai who just took the cruise to get away from work. So many big international companies are based in Dubai. (banks, engineers, and of course, oil, which, by the way, gasoline cost less than one euro per gallon!) No wonder everyone drives over there! The roads were excellent, and gas is cheap!
We sailed for Bahrain City next, in Bahrain. It's an island, and there's one road that leads to... Saudi Arabia. We could go up to the crossing, but were not allowed to go into the country. Again, we taxi'ed it. Our driver, another Pakistani, was very responsive to our political questions. He didn't feel they were treated very well by the Arabs. He said that most all of the labor jobs are done by East Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi men. He said that the Arab men own everything and sit around drinking tea or coffee all day. These taxi drivers can't become citizens either, so they work for a while, fly home to visit their wives and children, and come back for another 6 months. They do this for YEARS! We later saw this at the Dubai airport. Not ONE woman on the plane to Delhi. In Bahrain we went to the (free, thanks to the king!) camel farm where we saw more camels than we need to see for the rest of our lives! The cutest were the new 2 week old babies with curly brown fur! Unlike the rest, they didn't smell and had no flies. The mothers were curious about us, and the big males had to have one foot tied since they are aggressive. They're funny looking animals...but a big part of their culture and development here. Our driver took us to the place where the king's grandfather lived until 1961 and we were amazed that as a king in recent years..he had a sand floor home with no electricity and a big clay jug in another room to keep the water cool and an outdoor platform made of palm to sleep on in the summer when it's 120 F. They went from rags to riches that quickly. Now the king's homes are not to be believed! They're actually marble palaces with gold everywhere. A grandson in Dubai even turned his father's palace into the highest priced hotel in the country!
Last port was Dubai again. We hit the malls (OMG!!!) and took the hop-on, hop-off bus all over the city for 2 days. The place is like Las Vegas. It has skyscrapers x10, the world's only 7 star hotel (one of my students was staying there, I later found out) world's tallest building, (observation tower closed due to electrical problems), and just about the biggest, flashiest place you've ever seen! It's overload, but we did find one old part so we could see what it used to be like before all the new buildings, none of which is more than 10 years old! We flew out at 2am, and arrived at Amsterdam at 7am Sunday, February 28th. In all, it was a great trip, and I happily updated my TravBuddy map with 3 new countries, which put me at 30% of the world that I've seen...long way to go!