English Teacher in Oman
Fun-filled weekend in Dubai, UAE
26-27 February 2009
During the 2008-2009 academic season, I taught English to Omani students at a college in Ibri. Friends and colleagues of mine took a weekend trip down to Dubai in the UAE, about 300 km from Ibri. Five of us drove down with my rented Nissan Tiida and slept 2 nights in a very neat Youth hostel in Dubai. We explored Dubai....mainly the malls and Dubai creek and went on an unforgettable Desert Safari, which lasted about 6 hours.
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| Jumeirah beach & Burj Al Arab hotel |
About Dubai
Dubai is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and it is located on the south-east coast of the Persian Gulf. It is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the country. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the country's legislature. The city of Dubai is located on the emirate's northern coastline and heads the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area.
It emerged as a global city and business hub of the Middle East, and is also a major transport hub for passengers and cargo. By the 1960’s, Dubai's economy was based on revenues from trade and, to a smaller extent, oil exploration concessions, but oil was not discovered until 1966. Oil revenue first started to flow in 1969. Dubai's oil revenue helped accelerate the early development of the city, but its reserves are limited and production levels are low: today, less than 5% of the emirate's revenue comes from oil (Wikipedia).
Our accommodation
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| View from our room - Youth hostel in Dubai |
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| Youth hostel in Dubai |
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| Youth hostel in Dubai |
Dubai road scenery
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| Dubai bus |
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| Dubai scenery - Dubai taxi ride |
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| Dubai scenery - Dubai taxi ride |
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| Air-conditioned bus stop....only in Dubai - Dubai taxi ride |
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| Dubai apartment block - Dubai taxi ride |
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| Dubai scenery - Dubai taxi ride |
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| Dubai architecture - Dubai taxi ride |
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| Dubai architecture - Dubai taxi ride |
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| Dubai architecture - Dubai taxi ride |
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| Dubai architecture - Dubai taxi ride |
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| Signboard |
Malls
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| Inside a Dubai mall, one of many.....shopping is what Dubai is famous for |
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| A painting I saw in one of the malls |
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Holding Cute soft toy bulldogs at a toy store in a Dubai mall
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Ski Dubai is an indoor ski resort with 22,500 square meters of the indoor ski area.
It is a part of the Mall of the Emirates, one of the largest shopping malls
in the world, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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| Ansu in a Dubai mall |
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| Ansu holding Cute soft toy bulldogs at a toy store in a Dubai mall |
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Huge Video image of Muḥammad bin Rāshid al Maktūm
(constitutional monarch of Dubai) in a Dubai mall
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Jumeirah beach & Burj Al Arab hotel
Jumeira Beach is a white sand beach that is located and named after the Jumeirah district of Dubai. It is on the coast of the Persian Gulf and stretches along the coast south of the city's historic district to the junction with The Palm Jumeirah. The beach and its frontage feature large hotels, resorts, and housing developments, such as the Burj Al Arab (Arab Tower) hotel, Wild Wadi Water Park, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, and the old-style Madinat Jumeirah, a hotel and shopping complex (Wikipedia).
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My wife and I on Jumeirah beach
with the Burj Al Arab hotel in the background |
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| Jumeirah Beach |
Desert Safari Dubai
The Desert Safari is a famous and 'must do' tour in Dubai in which you have an unforgettable real desert safari adventure or better known as 'Dune bashing'. At the end of the Dune-bashing experience is a traditional Arabic Bedouin campsite, where you can enjoy Camel Riding, Henna painting, a BBQ dinner, and entertainment in the form of Arabic belly dancing and traditional Tanoura Dancing shows. Curios can be bought and one can hold a falcon. My wife and I posing in the desert before the onset of our desert safari adventure.
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| Our guide picking us up |
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| Ansu in our Dune bashing vehicle |
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A peacock at Zabeel Palace Dubai - Peacocks roam freely outside Zabeel Palace,
home of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai |
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A peacock at Zabeel Palace Dubai
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| Our guide deflating the wheels for the upcoming dune bashing |
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| Desert scenery |
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| Feet in the sand |
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| Ansu and I in the desert near Dubai |
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Before the dune bashing started. ... afterward I nearly threw up.
I in my wisdom I was trying to take videos of the experience.....but the
motion of going up and down the slopes of the dunes made me extremely car sick |
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| Dune bashing |
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| After the dune bashing session, we stopped here to watch the sunset |
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| After the dune bashing session, we stopped here to watch the sunset |
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| Ansu |
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| Fran and Ansu |
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At the end of our Dune Bashing experience, we stopped to
watch one of the most beautiful sunsets in the middle of the desert |
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| Desert sunset |
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| After the dune bashing session, we stopped here to watch the sunset |
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| After the dune bashing session, we stopped here to watch the sunset |
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| After the dune bashing session, we stopped here to watch the sunset |
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| Sunset camel riding at the Bedouin camp |
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| Sunset camel riding at the Bedouin camp |
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| At the Bedouin camp for the final activity |
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| Ansu at the Traditional Bedouin campsite |
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| Who me? |
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| Camel Riding at the Traditional Bedouin campsite |
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Camel Riding at the Traditional Bedouin campsite.
Behind me Francisca, a South African Colleague of mine and her Italian husband, Geordie. |
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| Holding a Falcon, at the end of a desert safari - at the campsite |
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| Traditional snacks being made at the Bedouin campsite |
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| Tapestry of Sheikh Mohammed at the Bedouin camp |
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| Cushions around a huge campfire |
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| Some of the food |
Deira harbour - Dubai Creek
Iranian cargo boats in Deira Harbor - Tens of small and modest Iranian cargo ships, known as 'kashtis' in Persian, travel every week to Iran from the UAE carrying foodstuffs and household items.
Dubai’s Deira Creek is lined with tens of kashtis on any day of the week and workers mill about as they wait to receive deliveries of goods and load them on board.
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| An Iranian cargo ship or Kashti |
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| Iranian sailors on their 'Kashti' |
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| Deira harbour |
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| Goods on a kashti |
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| Loaded Kashti - Deira harbor |
Dubai Creek is located in the centre of Dubai. The Dubai creek separates the Dubai airport area and Deira area from the Bur Dubai (also known as Dubai city). We took one of these from the where the Iranian ships lie on anchor across the creek to the Gold Souq.
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| 'Abra's (water taxi's) and a Kashti (Iranian cargo ship) on Dubai Creek |
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| 'Abra's (water taxi's) - Dubai creek |
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| Abra or water taxi on the crossing |
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| Abra's on the crossing |
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| Abra's on the crossing |
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| Abra with passengers |
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| Creek side buildings |
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| One of the stations |
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| Waiting to board |
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| Route map |
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| Bur Dubai station notice |
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| At one of the stations |
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| Boarding |
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| Disembarking |
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| Near Bur Dubai station & Dubai Textile Souk |
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| At Bur Dubai station, near Dubai Textile Souk |
The Dubai Textile Souk, also known as the Old Textile Souk, is a traditional market of textile products located in Dubai's historic Bur Dubai neighbourhood. Opposite to the textile souk on the other side of the Dubai Creek lies the Dubai Spice Souk and Dubai Gold Souk in Deira, accessible via the creek by special abra boats.
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| Dubai Textile Souk |
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| At the Dubai Textile Souk |
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| Dubai Textile Souk |
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| Dubai Textile Souk |
