Royal Beach Fujairah

... we played prayers before every flight in the US. The captain even told us Inshallah (God Willing) we would arrive in Sharjah in just over three hours. Before landing he even told us, "Inshallah we will land in twenty minutes." God willing? The enroute and landing phases are just not something I want to take a chance with!!!<br><br>One fine example of those white robed gentlemen was sitting next to me and when he was done eating he tossed it all by my feet. I ...

Ajman to Sharjah by minibus, it leaves right in front of the Ajman museum and goes to the Sharjah bus station, very practical for my bus change to the emirate of Fujarah that lies on the east coast of the UAE, so the highway goes across the desert, and ...

... a few couchsurfers for an outing to the Indian coast. I had already been to Khorfakkan, but I was ok to go back there with divers, and I actually had three excellent dives! Quite a lot of fish, beautiful coral, big big murays, a turtle, in a word: enchanting! Before heading back to Dubai we drove south of Fujairah to Al Hail, village and further down the trail a fort. It was dominating a small oasis where dates were already beeing dried on the ground. The fort had been ...

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 ...

... twice what he has in twelve months. Bugger that for a joke. I would have had a bit of a laugh about it with him but he didn't seem too impressed, and he was holding a semi-automatic weapon at the time. I chose to point out at that stage all the other benefits that his military would provide him that our stingy government would never dream of. I think I cheered him up a bit. Anyway, that was the breadth of my experiences in Fujairah. The next hurdle to jump was the Straits of ...

... And French engineers... The dive was not awesome, but I really enjoyed it! We went down on a wreck, the water was very murky and the visibility only 5 meters. At 20 meters deep without much light, there was not much life either. But enough to get lost in contemplation, and we even saw some big sea horses (hippocampes). Back to the resort for lunch, as I said that weekend was terribly hot, and at noon it was impossible to leave your feet in the sand, even walking on it ...

... here. The market was not huge, but there were as usual fruit and vegetable shops, local and imported, all of them fresh. The butcher's lane, the fish shop, and all the tailors. I spent some time there, wandering around and choosing some fruits for my dinner. Another part of the market was across a speedy road, under a high rise. These places they usually call "Iranian market". There you can find tin stuff, from normal size ...

Well, you may be wonder what I've been up to these past couple of days. Mainly just dealt with class and hung around campus. Tuesday night all of the Americans decided to go to this desert lazer, fire, water, and firework show called Jumana. It seemed pretty cool, but I opted out because of the $30 ticket. As it turns out, there driver got lost and then ended up getting there 30min late and decided to not go to the show. One of the people called the Jumana show and complained (I don't really ...

... experience this is what tourists buy! After rejecting all the dodgy and seedy looking cafe's we went with relief to the new, clean petrol station and also to their toilet! The drive then down to Dibba was great, very pictureque through the mountains and down to the sea. We saw a 'beware of camels' sign then straight after it a 'beware of humps in the road' sign!! very funny but drove on too quick to take a photo. Arrived at Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach resort before ...

... check out a photo at a stop we made shortly after (photo 3). We basically stood around there in the shade for about 10 minutes. It was like being in a sauna. But the thing that kept us out there was they wanted to wait for these 2 chicks down the path to walk over... which they were doing very slowly. Positive anticipation turns to disappointment as they're not that good looking up close. Ponjit disappears - we imagine he's doin' a 'runner' especially after the lunch we had ...