I went to Fujairah (the emirate, not the town) this weekend with my friend Julie. It was nice to be off base and to relax (and to use a shower that doesn't feel like a coffin!)
Here is a map of the UAE (I live north of Abu Dhabi and south of Dubai)
We ended up staying in Dibba (which is in the Fujairah Emirate) at the Hotel Jal (Now Radisson Blue, story to follow) which was great the first night and a nightmare the second night.
Just getting to the hotel was an adventure in and of itself. The hotel had changed names the DAY we were arriving, and they had blacked out all the signs that point you to it. We drove for an hour and a half to find the place, and finally had to call. Only to find out they had no signs/name change and we had passed the place no less than 4 times.
The upside is that the hotel was awesome, and right on the beach with 3-4 pools you could swim in.
Thursday night was mostly just hanging out and taking pictures of the place and eating dinner. We were exhausted from the 4 1/2 hour drive.
Friday we intended to go into Fujairah (the City) to hang out/shop/sight see. We ended up going to Julie's friend Sara's (pronounced Saarra) house. Which was really nice, and a lot of fun. Sara is a local, and her home was beautiful.
After visiting Sara we went back to the hotel and had a few drinks while sitting out near the water. Ultimate relaxation for me!
Then it was swim time and we met some Syrian ex-pats that were really curious about us. lol
When they tried to guess my age they said 14/15, and kept asking if I was lying about my age. haha. Then they proceeded to tell me how lucky I am and Masha Allah (God has willed it) This man obviously does NOT know my luck! lol
After dinner we realized our AC wasn't working (about 10:30 pm) by 11:30 we had to go to the front to ask to be moved to a different room, because it was WAY too hot to stay in that one. After a ton of trouble and finally getting moved, they comped us a meal and helped us get moved.
Sunday morning was more beach/tanning for me, and we left the hotel to go cross the border into Oman to renew my UAE visa. That was scarrrrry. UAE is much more welcoming to Americans, the Omani's were not really having it. But, 200 dirham and an hour later we were back in the UAE and on our way back to base!
More pictures will be on my Facebook page! Blogger isn't digging uploading pics right now :(
Love!
Brittany
No comments:
Post a Comment