My Graced Journey: Fujairah & Dubai in 4 days

Thursday, 21 June 2012

Fujairah & Dubai in 4 days

English Teacher in Oman

Short trip to our neigbour, the UAE

June 2012

We visited one of Eva's friends in Fujairah, which is one one of the 7 Emirates in the UAE, just across the border from where we worked in Oman as English teachers during the 2011/2012 academic season. We drove with Eva's car from the Millennium hotel in A'Musannah, where we resided to Sohar about one hour away, and then onto the UAE-Oman border. We stayed for three days at her friend's place, exploring Fujairah and visiting Dubai on our last.

Beach scenery - Fujairah

About Fujairah

Fujairah is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. It is the only one of the seven that has a coastline solely on the Gulf of Oman and none on the Persian Gulf. The emirate of Fujairah covers approximately 1,166 km2, or about 1.5% of the area of the UAE, and is the fifth-largest emirate in the UAE. Its population is around 152,000 inhabitants (in 2009). It is the only emirate that is almost completely mountainous; all the other emirates, such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi are located on the west coast, and are largely covered by deserts (Wikipedia).

Driving from Oman to Fujairah - road scenery

Scenery - A'Musannah to Sohar road, Oman

Sohar roundabout

Entering Fujairah

Fujairah

Fujairah - The residence we stayed at

Exploring Fujairah

Fujairah

Sweet stand in a mall - Fujairah

Fujairah

Fujairah beach

Posing on Fujairah beach

Ansu & Eva - Fujairah beach

Land cruisers on a hill.
On a deserted hill, near the beach stood a line of used land cruisers of different colors

Fujairah

Bicycle at the souq - Fujairah

Goats at the souq - Fujairah

Fujeirah souq

Fujairah corniche

Sunset - Fujairah

Corniche - Fujairah

Fujairah sunset

Palm triplets during sunset, taken from the corniche

Fujairah corniche horsemen

Sunset - Mountains outside Fujairah

Mountains outside Fujairah on the Desert highway - Fujairah to Dubai

KFC - Fujairah

Fujairah

Water fountain feature on a roundabout....where the birds can quench their thirst

Fujeirah at night

Restaurant in the evening

Fujairah tailor shop at night

Restaurant in the evening

Night time sign of a laundromat

Waterless car-wash?

Road trip to Dubai - Stuck in the desert

Five adults and two children squashed into an SUV and began the two hour drive to Dubai. We wound through the mountainous region of Fujairah until we reached the straight flat road through the desert. At one point, I as the front seat passenger saw that the radiator meter showed that the car was overheating. It was very hot outside and we were still some distance away from Dubai.

We had to stop the car. Upon inspection, we found that the radiator was empty. I had to run alongside the road begging truck drivers to stop and give us water to refill until we could reach a service station. I had to repeat the exercise a couple of times in the blazing desert heat. Eventually, a Pakistani truck driver stopped and gave me some water. In the end, we had to leave the car there and take a taxi into Dubai. Later we had to take a taxi back to Fujairah as well.

Desert highway - Fujairah to Dubai

Worker picking up rubbish - Desert highway, Fujairah to Dubai

Desert highway - Fujairah to Dubai

Stuck with a broken radiator

Desert highway - Fujairah to Dubai

Stuck with a broken radiator

We stopped here to buy water ....for us and the car

Dubai

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).