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| We berthed at the container terminal at Port Rashid. What is different here is the Dubai skyline in the background. It was hazy (dusty? smoggy?) all day, so it was hard to get pictures of anything that wasn't very close. |
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| With Chinese lions and Indian elephants behind us, I had hoped to see a camel or two at our welcome ceremony. Apparently, camels are not traditional for welcoming. These men were singing and drumming. |
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| We did see plenty of camels along the road during eight hours of touring. Some are apparently wild. Those that are owned have brands or hobbles. |
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| We had a choice on tours. The "new Dubai" is skyscrapers
and shopping malls, huge development made possible with oil money.
The ruling family has decided to invest in things that will bring
income when the oil runs out, perhaps 25 years, of which tourist
shopping seems to be at the top of the list.
Since I don't have the shopping gene, we decided to tour the "old Dubai", desert and ordinary people living ordinary lives, by Arab standards of course. We hardly saw a woman out of doors the entire time we were driving. |
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| We stopped here to get our tires inflated. At first glance it looked like a highway through southern Arizona or California. |
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| This picture at the same stop reminds you that we weren't in Arizona. |
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| This is to contrast with the traffic picture taken in Cochin. There were 13 jeeps on our tour. Note the camels on the left. |
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| The ride down the sand dune was just to wake us up after an hour and a half driving. |
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| We had relatively cool weather with a nice breeze, so we were never too hot. During the summer it must be unbearable out here. |
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| The excursion booklet promised us that "The Wadi Hatta winds through the mountains revealing lush, green oases and refreshing pools of water." We were a little disappointed after that build-up. Of course, I was expecting Charlton Heston in a Bedouin tent. |
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| They are trying to preserve what history they have. This is one of several heritage villages. |
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| Lunch was great at a first class hotel resort, not in this
room, of course. This was just for taking pictures.
On to Alexandria, Egypt. |
Page last changed 25 June 07