Sohar Beach Hotel

... car and the open road were also a nice change for me. I was on my own timetable doing whatever I wanted and going where I saw fit. This was exactly the kind of afternoon I needed and Fujairah really was a cool discovery. I am not sure how many states make up the United Arab Emirates but I have been to Dubai, Sharjah, and Fujairah now. Abu Dhabi is the capital and one day I will add that to the list as well one day.

Sharjah is my transit point as I head ...

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 right on the UAE-Oman border. Didn't get to cross it, much to my annoyance..Oh ...

Insha'Allah. I had read of this saying before coming here. But today, I discovered how real it really is. In English the phrase translates to 'God willing’ or simply, ‘hopefully’. Insha’Allah is used by people of all religions and is essentially used to indicate hope for a future event to occur. For example, if I were to say "See you tomorrow," the reply would be “ ...

So I've landed and survived the first few days. The teaching accomodations needed a bit of fixing up so they put all of us new teachers up in a hotel for now. It's beautiful! We had to sneak over to the lobby of the neighbouring hotel to get free internet though. Hee hee, teachers are so resourceful!

Jet lag hasn't hit me too hard yet. I did get a great case of heat exhaustion yesterday though. I went to the hotel pool after our school training with the other teachers (pool ...

... towering above. At this time of year there's very little surface water in the wadi, but the water height marker bears witness to the dramatic flash floods that can occur when there is rain further up in the mountains. At various spots along the way, the canyon opens out slightly and tiny small-holdings appear along the margins, growing whatever they can on the only flat terrain for miles around. These 'farms' are really no more than over-blown vegetable patches, but it's ...

The flights weren't too bad - well i say that the first flight to Dubai was ok, plenty of room to lounge and work. Watched the remake of Day the Earth Stood Still, theres two hours i will never get back ...

... associated with each other. There are about 9 islands that comprise the Damaniyat preserve. Except for a ranger station, there are no facilities on the islands. The total land area of the islands is less than 80 hectares and they consist of pocket white sand beaches (ground up coral as opposed to rock) and rocky, relatively flat uplands. Vegetation is very sparse, except in some low lying and overwash areas. Temperatures range from the ...

... 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!

Une journée de tourisme organisé en perspective. Initialement c'était un tour en 4x4 dans le désert de sable que nous voulions faire mais le tour opérator nous a sournoisement revendu une excursion dans le désert de rocaille d'Oman à la place, soit disant parce que l'autre n'était pas programmé en cette saison. Bref, on a accepté en ...

Au programme du jour, une escapade à Al Ain, ville construite autour de l'oasis du même nom. Direction l'émirat d'Abu Dhabi. Nous arrivons à Al Ain après 1h30 de route à travers le désert. Premier détail surprenant, la couleur du sable. Celle-ci passe en effet du blond/blanc au rouge au fur et à mesure qu'on s'éloigne de la côte. Les abords de l'autoroute sont ...