Lou Loua Beach (City View) Sharjah

Usually, one would go to bed early after having packed his luggage considering that one has planned a 24 hour trip to Africa the next day.

Well, I started my African experience in a slightly different way – I went out until 3 in the morning, just having 3-4 beers and surprisingly woke up the next morning with one of the worst hangovers of my entire life and my luggage still unpacked.

I managed ...

... it was just marvellous, Dubai is a very modern and glamorous city you would hardly see that it is just constructed on sand. It is a complete artificial city that grows up mostly thanks to petrodollars and the numerous foreign investments that follow attractive by that lucrative spot. I liked it pretty well, although as in many southern countries you got this sharp demarcation line between the very rich people that you can see in Jameirah or near the ...

... metropolis surrounded by a sea of sand. It appears western in so many ways - the architecture, the growing infrastructure, the commerce, the brands and chains, the lifestyle - yet it is indeed in a Muslim city in a Middle Eastern country. So, what's up with that? From what I can tell, much of the Dubai way of life comes from its very diverse population. Only a small portion of the people living here are local ...

Sitting by the pool, typing on a laptop... very cliché In the morning I got up at 9 and started feeling guilty for having slept over 12 hours instead of doing ;ore interesting things. But then it dawned on me that I had not had a quiet day, nor a decent night, for weeks!!! So I decided it was ok, I was not yet slipping into lazy habbits, and I went for my buffet breakfeast. I am quite eager to have a place of my own, although the hotel has its own charms ...

... It must be a consulting engineers dream place. Engineering technology is being stretched. We went over a floating bridge yesterday that rises and falls with the tide. We are going to have a look at the gold and silver souks[markets] today and the electronics street in the old part of Dubai.Tomorrow off to Istanbul and back to the airport which is like nothing we have ever seen. It is huge! Now some photos???

... around and watch her dance then randoms got pulled from the crowd to join in. First Scott who busted some really good moves. He was a definate favourite of the locals. Then I got forced to join in and everyone knows I hate crowd involvement. The whole thing got filmed and I'm still praying that Stu doesn't put it on Utube! The safari was a definate highlight... We had a look around 'old dubai' at the gold and spice souks on Saturday which was very different to new dubai. Got ...

... chance to visit another country with a bunch of friends...come to think of it, I didn't make any friends. That means I have no one to help me out if I should ever decide to come back! Unlike the other girls, I never made a boyfriend either (no surprise!), which would have been a really neat intercultural experience, in my opinion. Screw being dark-haired and undesirable! I didn't join any fun programs ...

... they were getting quieter and no Westerners or women were around & I felt a little uncomfortable so we went back the way we came.

















Caught an Abra back to the Bur Dubai side of the river to find the bus station to catch a bus to Jumereih Beach. We eventually found it after ...

... plenty of Arabs in white robes and red checked cloths on their heads and women in black with their faces covered.







We arrived in Dubai at 9.30pm local time (12.30am Thai time). Dubai has a massive beautiful airport but it took us an hour to ...

... again, past the Houbara Bustard to three nice glass fronted displays containing Arabian Caracal, Arabian Sand Cat and Indian Grey Mongoose. Finally leaving the bird house we enter the nocturnal area. This, like all else here is done brilliantly. All the animals are active, the lighting subtle. It works. In the large exhibits in this area you will find such treasures as Gordon's Wild Cat, Ratel, Ruppels Sand Fox and Blanfords Fox before moving onto slightly smaller displays ...