Ritz Plaza Hotel Fujairah

... people like me gave the used items to the flight attendants like anyone brought up right.<br><br>Air Arabia is not new to me but I had forgotten that they play a prayer before the flight over the PA. This prerecorded thing lasts about a minute and Allah speaks to the entire cabin. He sounds like he is in an echo chamber as he chants Allah Akbar but whatever he said got us from Damascus to Sharjah in one piece. I can only imagine the fit the ACLU would have ...

... very scenic rock formations to the city of Fujairah.I remained in the bus as it continued its way to the enclave of Khor Fakkan that is actually a Sharjah owned territory on the eastcoast. 6 emirates in one day, and happy to be back in Dubai for the night!

... with original materials, and the views over the mountains, in that dying day, were a serene beauty. We all wanted to stay there and wondere why we had not come here camping. A valley crossroad, an oasis, a bit of life, surrounded by dry, harsh, hot rocks. A place for humans to settle and take the moment in. Back in Dubai and the same tranquility experience, this time in a brand new classy, artsy hotel where the immense terrace was all ours by the polo field. Strange.

First Trip to UAE. First impression, hot &amp; humid, modern &amp; civilised, if I can say that. Got through immigration without problems thanks to the Marhaba Service, really not necessary, there was nothing going on at the Airport. Outside hundreds of drivers waiting to pick passengers up, couldn't find mine. Then finally I got a glimpse of his board with the hotel name. Nice ...

... was acting as one of our guards. His name was Carlos and he was from some place just north of Los Angeles. His unit were part of the harbour defence patrol boats. He was on his last thirty days of a year long tour in the middle east which had included some nasty places. He was very much looking forward to going home with all the money he had earned. We started talking about the relative allowances our services paid us and it turns out that in my six months up here I will ...

... old buildings trying to use the same materials as the originals. So, ok, organizing archeological work and trying to show what the past was like goes in the right direction. They just have to try give it a bit more sense! Beside the fort were some abandonned, destroyed houses, that are supposed to be part of something old and historically valuable as well. Well you can just drive by, or drive in if you fancy, with your big four wheel drive. That's conservation, isn ...

... speeding not too far (a few meters I mean), but that just becomes part of your environment... The Indian speeches can be fascinating or plain irritating, not sure if that depends on the talker or on the mood of the listener. But I guess I could say the same for any language. There we are, this is actually a nice evening. Things are different, things are new, yet just feel normal, I feel at my place, out of place. Just like anyone else.

That weekend was a two-day weekend... I get one each month! Normally I get only Fridays off, and once a month I get the Saturday too. How great... I wanted to go to AbuDhabi to visit old time friends there, but I decided trhat I could do that on a one day weekend. These two days I had to put to good use. I hesitated between the east coast, on the Indian ocean, and the northen tip of the peninsula, in Oman, by the Strait of Ormuz, where the ...

... then gave up as hadn't got a clue what was going on. We then drove through the desert, which seems like a romantic Arabian adventure, but in fact since the road is new double carriage way and full of lorries and cars wasn't quite. We went to the Friday market at Masafi which consisted of only carpets and fruit and we kept being badgered at every stall to buy bananas, not sure why, they were selling masses of other tropical delicious looking fruit!! Perhaps in ...

... footwear if you're walking in 50 degree heat outside. The sand was burning my feet as we walked. I did manage to take a photo (2) of some heavy machinery. Aren't I cool? Those in the know will probably recognise this photo as an attempt to replicate one of my favorite pictures.... but for the rest of you... it's just another silly shot :P We did eventually visit the beach with black sand... but it wasn't black, and it wasn't worth taking a picture of. However, you can ...