Al Ain, United Arab Emirates Travel Blogs

Al-Ain and some more observations on Dubai
Sep 24, 2006

He Said: Being an economics teacher, when I travel I tend to see countries through that frame. The United Arab Emirates has really piqued my interest on how their huge boom has evolved. I have so many questions about what enabled this tiny nation to ...

Could you not push me down the sand dune?
Nov 20, 2007 (80 photos)

I decided to give you guys a little reprieve from my blog.  Apparently one of the entries came to you guys a couple of times.  Truly accept my apologies for that.  The server here is pretty slow, so I never know if it has done what I've ...

Al Ain Camping
Apr 25, 2005 (11 photos)

... went camping. Our attempt: camping in the desert. What actually happened: camping on a giant rock. Quite a difference huh? We drove towards Al Ain with the idea in our minds that "Al Ain is in the middle of nowhere, so, well, there must be desert out ...

Oasis! (Not the Band)
Jun 21, 2007

... immediately in the entrance. Afterwards, I got a taxi driver to take me up to Jabal Hafeet (Hafeet Mountain). A couple miles from Al Ain, this random and MASSIVE mountain arises out of nowhere and you get some AMAZING views from it. I could see flowing ...

Market day in Al Ain
Dec 10, 2007 (5 photos)

... coffee pot roundabout in Al Ain. Al Ain has approximately a million roundabouts, and many of them are themed. For some reason. Anyways, Al Ain is a mid-sized city located in the mountains adjacent to Oman, and it's a little more Omani than the rest of ...

Day trip to the mountain
Apr 27, 2007 (7 photos)

... away).  He insisted on renting an SUV, although we didn't do much off road driving.  Mostly we drove through Al Ain's endless system of roundabouts.  There were several other instances of adventure: First, we began like at seven in the ...

It was long, hot and torturous, but worth it.
Jun 19, 2007 (14 photos)

... with no shade on top--so you better appreciate the fact that I walked over it, stopped, and took this picture: "Al-Ain" means "the Spring", and surely enough there is groundwater there, enough to grow a sizeable oasis.  I was ...

Desert Safari Quadbike Crashes & Camels
Apr 11, 2008 (63 photos)

... water. The area was a nice change from the endless construction, hustle and traffic of Dubai. We performed at Al Ain's technical university where students from the various Gulf states competed against each other and compared their technical expertise. Our ...

Al Ain
Mar 31, 2009 (15 photos)

 

Leaving Al Ain
Feb 14, 2007

Well, it's time to leave AA. I'm off on Sat morn to watch the Dubai WTA (tennis). Al Ain has been home for the last 5.5 years. And I'll be sad to go, but all good things..... It's strange to see your life packed away and compartmentalized into boxes, but ...

Getting Ready
Jan 11, 2007

Hi, first entry on travelpod. Still in Al Ain, but my thoughts are on the trip ahead. I finish work on the 8th Feb, and then plan on spending some time up in the  "big smoke", Dubai, where I'll watch the Women's Tennis from 19-25 Feb. Then, it's time ...

Al Ain markets and nightclubs
Jan 21, 2007 (9 photos)

Sinaya? UAE, T&J pub/Trader Vics/weird nightclubs in Al Ain

Back Home
Aug 5, 2006 (1 photos)

It's been a week since I returned and I wanted a little time to reflect before submitting my final entry. Plus when I returned my internet had been shut off so I had to go pay my bill and wait for it to be turned on again. Well it was a long trip --- 4 ...

Where are all the camels?
Sep 3, 2009

... off my deck chair. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening asleep in one of my girlfriend's bed.  Mostly everyone in Al Ain speaks English. There are a few people that speak no English, or only know a few words, but most people are fluent. ...

Job At Sea!
May 21, 2007

... world. For example, on the maiden voyage, the LRC Director is from Guatemala and I am being billed as from the United Arab Emirates. I am not Emirati but I will come to the position from two-years experience working in a multicultural setting in the UAE. ...

Medical Fitness
Jun 8, 2007

... a chance to get started on it. Part of my apprehension centered around the fact that there are few private practice doctors in Al Ain; most are affliliated with clinics or hospitals. Since I've been here, I have used one in a newish hospital here. She ...

Escapade à Al Ain
Oct 19, 2008 (6 photos)

... au rouge au fur et à mesure qu'on s'éloigne de la côte. Les abords de l'autoroute sont verdoyants à force d'irrigation. Al Ain est une ville très clairsemée : les pavillons sont tous individuels et les lotissements sont séparés par des étendues désertiques, sortes ...

Trip to Al Ain
Jan 21, 2008 (43 photos)

Pictures of our day trip to Al Ain

Insha'Allah
Sep 7, 2009 (3 photos)

... the end of the month.  As is the way here.  It may take some getting used to. I'm including some picture of the Al Ain Oasis.  It's beautiful!  Al Ain has 7 Oases, but this one is the largest.  I only snapped a few pictures because ...

UAE
Jan 1, 2006

This was the first place I lived overseas. The Tawam hospital-one of my first memmories. If you or anyone you know lived in the UAE during the early 80s and is familiar with a song by the Establishment about Life in the Gulf, please drop me a line. I ...

Al Ain with my expat, tour guide friend Jason
Jan 17, 2007 (14 photos)

Jason and I got going sort of late in the morning on account of our hitting those bottles of duty free booze once I got into Al Ain the night before. We struck out for the first few things we tried doing: the camel market (it was relocated on the other ...

Al Ain
Sep 5, 2005

... , hundreds of thousands of trees planted, dunes flattened, villages where there was nothing. Nothing to get a bearing off. Al Ain so different too, underpasses and overpasses on the main street. Some of the character remaining and trees, mosques and ...

United Arab Emirates
Dec 20, 2005

... were parked around, but not many. Just as we were leaving, around 9 PM, more cars started to arrive. 21-Dec-05 UAE - Al Ain through Oman to Fujairah Breakfast at the hotel was sad, but it's not surprising given that there are so few guests. We drove ...

TBY Out On Manouvres Once More
Dec 14, 2007

... Beijing and within moments of touch down were crammed into the Demblon 4WD to meet up with the Hewett convoy on the road to Al Ain, a desert oasis city of some 450,000 people about 2 hrs drive from Dubai on the Omani border, by the Hajar mountains.  ...

The Desert
Feb 15, 2007 (2 photos)

... visiting Dubai I drove 2 hours through the desert to the city of Al Ain, which is in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. While in Al Ain I visited Mount Hafeet, which is the highest mountain in the UAE, and went to the sand dunes in the desert. The sand dunes are a ...

Medical Forms - Continuing
Jun 19, 2007

I went back to the hospital yesterday morning to have the results of the labs recorded and tie up loose ends. Wishful thinking! Nothing had been done on the blood work because they were "waiting for permission from the insurance company." I had not ...

Medical Forms - Continuing
Jun 19, 2007

I went back to the hospital yesterday morning to have the results of the labs recorded and tie up loose ends. Wishful thinking! Nothing had been done on the blood work because they were "waiting for permission from the insurance company." I had not ...

To the border and back
Sep 11, 2009

Finally, a touristy day! Drove down to Al Ain and circled the town a few times.. nothing immensely interesting. Got quite confused though :( We then drove up to the Jebel Hafeet mountain and the nearby Oasis which I can't spell to save my life, which is ...

New Start Date
May 25, 2007

In an email received today from TSS, I learned that staff of the Learning Resource Center (LRC), i.e., library, and the Academic Support Center - headed by someone else from UAEU! - are needed onboard TSS before the rest of the onboard staff. Are we ...

So far.......
Feb 22, 2007 (8 photos)

The last couple of days in Al Ain have been action packed. Staying with Jude and Guy on the Sheik's sheep farm, we have managed to scale a mountain, been 4 wheel driving in the desert, sand boarding desert dunes, and shaking the hands of 2000 local arabs. ...