Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
From previous - Dubai
SHARJAH
6-Nov-2015, Friday
At about 9 am, I checked out the hotel, hailed a taxi, went to Bus Station and boarded a bus for Sharjah. The bus hit E-11, the longest road in Emirates, stretching from Ras al-Khaimah to Abu Dhabi. More or less, it runs parallel to the coastline along the Persian Gulf. It passed by Sahara Center which is said to be the largest family entertainment center in the Middle East.
The distance between Dubai and Sharjah is about 40 km and soon we reached suburban area of Sharjah. But I observed heavy traffic coming from the other side. I enquired about this from a fellow passenger and he said, “This is normal. It is cheap to live in Sharjah but jobs are in Dubai. Right now people are going to Dubai in private cars and vans.” He further said that he was hailing from Kerala which forms a majority among Indian Immigrants in UAE.
The bus stopped at “Al Jubail Bus Station” in Sharjah. I engaged a taxi and told the driver to take me to Hotel Citymax. For 12 Dhs, the taxi dropped me there. The hotel was nice. In the room, I found sachets of coffee, tea and water bottles. It came with free breakfast and WiFi for a room rent of Dhs 225 or about $62.
At about 5 pm, Shoaib Latif ranged me and said that he was waiting near the hotel. I came down and joined him. It was very pleasant to meet a past student from Bahria. He has a successful career being Director Sales and Marketing at Shane Foods fzc. We proceeded towards Safeer Mall for a taste of Indian Food. Though the mall was hardly 3 km away as the crow flies, we took long way a for a U-turn to reach it.
Indian Palace Restaurant was favorite of Shoaib. Besides being well decorated, it has immense seating capacity. The ambiance is excellent with traditional Indian wood carvings and other works. Basically, it is a North Indian joint and we had traditional dishes like chicken biryani, mutton curry and daal fry.
After eating our fill we headed to Buhaira Corniche. It is pronounced as “kȯr-ˈnēsh”) and means ‘a road built along a coast and especially along the face of a cliff’. In present days, provision for an artificial lake is made while designing A city. Later water is channeled from sea to fill the lake and a road is constructed around it. Afterwards, the area is developed for high-rise buildings symbolizing ‘a cliff’.
Buhaira Corniche is well spread. It has a mosque of Turkish Ottoman design. Waterfront has vast area suitable for families. Besides, a Roman style of amphitheater has been built for various games.
Next we went to a museum located close by. Known as Al Hisn Sharjah Fort, it a real masterpiece of old Arab architecture. It is two storied. Its ground floor has a custody room, the entrance, towers and library. On the upper level, swords and daggers are shown. Other rooms are Ruler's living room, room for Shaikhs and nobles, Project room, Rest house and a VIP room.
Before leaving for home, we went to Juice World offering 150 types of juices, faludas, fruit salads and bouquet. This spot was buzzing with activities. There was hardly any vacant seat even it was around midnight. I sipped avocado with honey milkshakes which was very delicious. The place is very popular as juice is not only fresh it is relatively cheap also at 8 Dhs per glass. This looks amazing in a city where water is expensive than gasoline. Another thing which makes it unique is circular or spiral arrangements of intertwined fresh fruit.
7-Nov-2015, Saturday
I got up at about 8:00 had a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel. Shoaib promised to come at about office hours at about 5.00 pm. So I was on my own until then. I would go to Blue Souq which I knew was near the main bus station, It was hardly 2 km away but gone were the days when I could walk for 5 km without any hesitation. So I hired a taxi which went a long way to take a U-turn. .
Blue Souq turned to be interesting. In all, it had hundred of shops at two floors. Gold shops and expensive designers boutiques were on the the ground floor while the first floor was piled up with carpets and curios from as far afield as Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Tibet. Haggling, squabbling and wrangling was in full swing. The souq were really vibrating.
Rolla in Punjabi means a “lot of noise”. Rolla Square in Sharjah is popular locations for middle and poor class, mostly immigrants, to stroll during the holidays. There is a market with the same name i.e. Rolla Market which offers everything from bike to hi-tech gadgets, suitcase to mattresses and from garments to electrical accessories. On Friday, thousands of Asian Bachelors stroll along the streets to meet friends and catch up on latest situation back home.
At about 4:00 pm, I returned to the Hotel and took rest. True to his words, Shoaib called at half past four and asked me to join him for a drive around the Corniche and later some good restaurant for dinner.
At about 8:30, we headed for Jeble Lebanon, a Lebanese eatery. Starting with fresh vegetables, hummus and garlic paste, we finished it with grilled chicken, kebob and arayes (pita stuffed with meat). Fresh fruit was served before we could touch our ordered dessert, semolina pudding with apricot.
Shoaib has been very nice. Not only he entertained me well, he settled my hotel bill of 525 Dhs ($ 145 equi).
ABU DHABI
9-Nov-2015 Monday
I have an ex-colleague, Fauzan Mazhar, living in Abu Dhabi.
He works for Bank Al Masraf. and I asked him to look for a budget hotel. He suggested two names – Flamingo & Cristal both near Madinat Zayed
Shopping Centre. On reaching Abu Dhabi, I showed a cabbie a slip with these
names. He got it instantly and signaled me to get in. Rarely these drivers come
out of the taxi and help passengers with luggage. They just pull a leaver and a
‘diggy’ opens up. Both the hotels were very expensive at $125-130 and looked
like residential plaza. I choose worst of the two, Flamingo, and moved in.
After a two hour rest, I strolled in the area. First was
Madinat Zayed Shopping Center which looked like an old mansion turned into
shopping mall. It is publicized as “Dream for Shopaholics”. I didn’t see
anything special except a gold souk. It glitters with gold which is available
in 18 to 24 carats. One can buy gold ingots for investment or molding into a
desired design. Besides, there are shops of jewelry, diamond, pearl and silver.
Also, there are big name like Cartier, Tiffany, Graff and Buccellati. This
makes it a biggest showcase in UAE.
I am always curious to find out how much it would cost to
stay one night in a hotel. Room Rent of Emirates Palace was Rs.70,000 per night. To make hay while the sun shines, the city
has imposed a tax of 6% jacking up the room rent to about Rs.74,200. It was more a palace than a hotel with 114 domes as high as
80 m and near 400 rooms and suites. One can get lost in the hotel. Atleast, it was difficult for Fauzan to find
out the floor where he had parked his car.
It was past midnight.
We returned to city and had a delicious dinner at some place with a Chinese
name, Dai Pai Dong.
10-Nov-215 Tuesday
After about an hour of stroll, I turned to Hamadan Bin Sultan Street. There, I heard someone whispering Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque 10 Dhs. This seems Godsend and I followed him to a waiting van. Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque was 19 km away. The van left me near the main entrance gate.
As one moves near, one feels a pious air around. It has a big court yard with floral design measuring 17,000 sq. mtrs said to be largest example of marble mosaic in the world. Further ahead is pool along the arcade reflecting spectacular columns.
SHARJAH
6-Nov-2015, Friday
At about 9 am, I checked out the hotel, hailed a taxi, went to Bus Station and boarded a bus for Sharjah. The bus hit E-11, the longest road in Emirates, stretching from Ras al-Khaimah to Abu Dhabi. More or less, it runs parallel to the coastline along the Persian Gulf. It passed by Sahara Center which is said to be the largest family entertainment center in the Middle East.
The distance between Dubai and Sharjah is about 40 km and soon we reached suburban area of Sharjah. But I observed heavy traffic coming from the other side. I enquired about this from a fellow passenger and he said, “This is normal. It is cheap to live in Sharjah but jobs are in Dubai. Right now people are going to Dubai in private cars and vans.” He further said that he was hailing from Kerala which forms a majority among Indian Immigrants in UAE.
The bus stopped at “Al Jubail Bus Station” in Sharjah. I engaged a taxi and told the driver to take me to Hotel Citymax. For 12 Dhs, the taxi dropped me there. The hotel was nice. In the room, I found sachets of coffee, tea and water bottles. It came with free breakfast and WiFi for a room rent of Dhs 225 or about $62.
At about 5 pm, Shoaib Latif ranged me and said that he was waiting near the hotel. I came down and joined him. It was very pleasant to meet a past student from Bahria. He has a successful career being Director Sales and Marketing at Shane Foods fzc. We proceeded towards Safeer Mall for a taste of Indian Food. Though the mall was hardly 3 km away as the crow flies, we took long way a for a U-turn to reach it.
Indian Palace Restaurant was favorite of Shoaib. Besides being well decorated, it has immense seating capacity. The ambiance is excellent with traditional Indian wood carvings and other works. Basically, it is a North Indian joint and we had traditional dishes like chicken biryani, mutton curry and daal fry.
After eating our fill we headed to Buhaira Corniche. It is pronounced as “kȯr-ˈnēsh”) and means ‘a road built along a coast and especially along the face of a cliff’. In present days, provision for an artificial lake is made while designing A city. Later water is channeled from sea to fill the lake and a road is constructed around it. Afterwards, the area is developed for high-rise buildings symbolizing ‘a cliff’.
 |
| Buhaira Corniche Shahjah |
Next we went to a museum located close by. Known as Al Hisn Sharjah Fort, it a real masterpiece of old Arab architecture. It is two storied. Its ground floor has a custody room, the entrance, towers and library. On the upper level, swords and daggers are shown. Other rooms are Ruler's living room, room for Shaikhs and nobles, Project room, Rest house and a VIP room.
 |
| with a soldier of Sultan Force |
Before leaving for home, we went to Juice World offering 150 types of juices, faludas, fruit salads and bouquet. This spot was buzzing with activities. There was hardly any vacant seat even it was around midnight. I sipped avocado with honey milkshakes which was very delicious. The place is very popular as juice is not only fresh it is relatively cheap also at 8 Dhs per glass. This looks amazing in a city where water is expensive than gasoline. Another thing which makes it unique is circular or spiral arrangements of intertwined fresh fruit.
 |
| at Juice World Sharjah fruit arrangements |
7-Nov-2015, Saturday
I got up at about 8:00 had a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel. Shoaib promised to come at about office hours at about 5.00 pm. So I was on my own until then. I would go to Blue Souq which I knew was near the main bus station, It was hardly 2 km away but gone were the days when I could walk for 5 km without any hesitation. So I hired a taxi which went a long way to take a U-turn. .
Blue Souq turned to be interesting. In all, it had hundred of shops at two floors. Gold shops and expensive designers boutiques were on the the ground floor while the first floor was piled up with carpets and curios from as far afield as Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Tibet. Haggling, squabbling and wrangling was in full swing. The souq were really vibrating.
 |
| Blue Souq, Sharjah |
At about 4:00 pm, I returned to the Hotel and took rest. True to his words, Shoaib called at half past four and asked me to join him for a drive around the Corniche and later some good restaurant for dinner.At about 8:30, we headed for Jeble Lebanon, a Lebanese eatery. Starting with fresh vegetables, hummus and garlic paste, we finished it with grilled chicken, kebob and arayes (pita stuffed with meat). Fresh fruit was served before we could touch our ordered dessert, semolina pudding with apricot.
 |
| With Shoaib |
AL AIN
8-Nov-15 Sunday
At about 10 am, I boarded a bus for Al Ain. The bus moved towards Dubai but did not enter the city. There was a bypass by way of Emirate Road which linked it to Dubai-Al Ain highway. The bus passed by Ranches for breeding and training of camels. There are billboards warning the drivers to be careful as camels have right of the way.
Next was Murqquab, a little town but having a superb desert resort and spa with gazelles and Arabian antelopes strolling around.
Finally, the bus entered Al-Ain which was lush green. In fact, it is known as Garden City. Leaving the bus, I searched my pockets and came up with a slip. I had no booking but names of some budget hotels in Burahimi. I showed the slip to an officer at bus station who just laughed. It turned out that the said city is in the neighboring country Oman. I was stunned and felt lost. Help was on hand. I approached a familiar face, a fellow Pakistani, a Pathan. Not only he guided me to a nearby hotel, he helped me by carrying my luggage. In few minutes, I was in the lobby of Top Hotel Apartment. The minimum room rent was double of my expectation i.e. 300 Dhs ($ 82). No place for those with weathered wallets.
A Nepali Bell Boy picked up my bags and led me to a condo room on the third floor by an elevator. While I did not tip him, I sent him happy by recalling how much of his country I had seen. Names like Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan Park sparkled his eyes.
The room allotted to me was quite spacious and its kitchenette fully equipped. I made tea, fished out some biscuits from my emergency reserve, turned on the TV, lied down on the bed, munched biscuits and sipped tea. What else one can wish for?
At about 5 pm, I came out of the hotel and had round of the area. There are no tall buildings, apparently due to a four-floor-maximum zoning regulation. Not much traffic on roads, only four lane, two for each direction separated by flower-beds and palm trees. It looked like Islamabad.
Across the road is an elegant building but a frightening place, Al Muraba Police station. I did not dare to go to that direction as a shurta (police constable) was guarding the Markaz e Shurta (Police station) under the Qayid Al Shurta (SHO). I better refrain from disclosing such sensitive terms as it may land me into trouble.
I moved towards a road with a lovely name, Othman Bin Affan which merged with Zayed Bin Sultan Road. It was quite a lively place humming with activities. There are small shops of khiat (tailor) halaq (barber) maqhaa (café) and souq (market). Al Ain has the highest number of Emiratis giving an authentic feel.
By constant moving, I got tired and sat on a bench before ‘LuLu’. It is a name of the hypermarket chain and retail venture with 120 outlets in Gulf countries. Incidentally, Sarwat who earlier helped me to find the hotel was also there. I told them my problem. I have big design for traveling but not much money. I want to go to Jebel Hafeet and a jeep would cost Rs.6,000. The alternate is bus upto midpoint and hitch-hike thereafter. Both are unsuitable for me. “What are you asking for?” said Sarwat. “If I could join a group and share the cost”, I said. As if it was a bomb blast, all started speaking at the same time. Looks like a commotion, some mumbling and muttering but others harsh and brusque. Eventually, calm prevailed, a dead silence ensued. Sarwat broke the ice and said, “We have friend who is taking a family, there at night. We would persuade him to take you along.” I responded with a big “thank you.” He gave me a sort of order “Be at there at 9.00 pm”
At the appointed hour, I reached the LuLu market. A few minutes later, a 4WD Prado stopped by and the driver gave me a node to get in. I settled on the front seat. The driver introduced me to a couple and a kid sitting at the back seats. Fortunately, they were from Para Chinar, a picturistic town in KP, Pakistan and we had a light talk mainly about Imran Khan and his future.
Initially, it was a paved road passing through an oasis with extensive date palm plantations on the both sides. After about 26 km, the jeep took a sharp turn and passed by Mubazzarah village. It appeared a popular resort as a lot of vehicles were parked around. After the village, there is an ascent but no problem. The road is three-lane, two climbing up and one descending. It is well lit and has concrete fencing all along. Its black color is in complete contrast to the barren, rocky & craggy mountains it cuts through. While it is super smooth, it has many bends, slopes, twists and turns. It is well signposted to warn of the hairpin curves ahead.
Once we reached the top, we were spellbound by the majestic view of Al Ain City and some Omani villages. A mountain with a height of 1,250 m, is rare in Arabian Sahara of Rab Ali Khali. So we enjoyed every moment of our stay looking down to well-lit areas studded with exploding lights, neon signs and digital billboards spreading out a long way.
We returned by past midnight. I was dropped before my hotel. When I asked “how much I pay?” I heard a voice from the backseat “da khoday pa amaan” & jeep was gone.
8-Nov-15 Sunday
At about 10 am, I boarded a bus for Al Ain. The bus moved towards Dubai but did not enter the city. There was a bypass by way of Emirate Road which linked it to Dubai-Al Ain highway. The bus passed by Ranches for breeding and training of camels. There are billboards warning the drivers to be careful as camels have right of the way.
Next was Murqquab, a little town but having a superb desert resort and spa with gazelles and Arabian antelopes strolling around.
Finally, the bus entered Al-Ain which was lush green. In fact, it is known as Garden City. Leaving the bus, I searched my pockets and came up with a slip. I had no booking but names of some budget hotels in Burahimi. I showed the slip to an officer at bus station who just laughed. It turned out that the said city is in the neighboring country Oman. I was stunned and felt lost. Help was on hand. I approached a familiar face, a fellow Pakistani, a Pathan. Not only he guided me to a nearby hotel, he helped me by carrying my luggage. In few minutes, I was in the lobby of Top Hotel Apartment. The minimum room rent was double of my expectation i.e. 300 Dhs ($ 82). No place for those with weathered wallets.
 |
| Top Hotel Apartment - a surveillance camera on the front road. |
The room allotted to me was quite spacious and its kitchenette fully equipped. I made tea, fished out some biscuits from my emergency reserve, turned on the TV, lied down on the bed, munched biscuits and sipped tea. What else one can wish for?
At about 5 pm, I came out of the hotel and had round of the area. There are no tall buildings, apparently due to a four-floor-maximum zoning regulation. Not much traffic on roads, only four lane, two for each direction separated by flower-beds and palm trees. It looked like Islamabad.
Across the road is an elegant building but a frightening place, Al Muraba Police station. I did not dare to go to that direction as a shurta (police constable) was guarding the Markaz e Shurta (Police station) under the Qayid Al Shurta (SHO). I better refrain from disclosing such sensitive terms as it may land me into trouble.
I moved towards a road with a lovely name, Othman Bin Affan which merged with Zayed Bin Sultan Road. It was quite a lively place humming with activities. There are small shops of khiat (tailor) halaq (barber) maqhaa (café) and souq (market). Al Ain has the highest number of Emiratis giving an authentic feel.
By constant moving, I got tired and sat on a bench before ‘LuLu’. It is a name of the hypermarket chain and retail venture with 120 outlets in Gulf countries. Incidentally, Sarwat who earlier helped me to find the hotel was also there. I told them my problem. I have big design for traveling but not much money. I want to go to Jebel Hafeet and a jeep would cost Rs.6,000. The alternate is bus upto midpoint and hitch-hike thereafter. Both are unsuitable for me. “What are you asking for?” said Sarwat. “If I could join a group and share the cost”, I said. As if it was a bomb blast, all started speaking at the same time. Looks like a commotion, some mumbling and muttering but others harsh and brusque. Eventually, calm prevailed, a dead silence ensued. Sarwat broke the ice and said, “We have friend who is taking a family, there at night. We would persuade him to take you along.” I responded with a big “thank you.” He gave me a sort of order “Be at there at 9.00 pm”
 |
| LuLu Hyper Market |
At the appointed hour, I reached the LuLu market. A few minutes later, a 4WD Prado stopped by and the driver gave me a node to get in. I settled on the front seat. The driver introduced me to a couple and a kid sitting at the back seats. Fortunately, they were from Para Chinar, a picturistic town in KP, Pakistan and we had a light talk mainly about Imran Khan and his future.
Initially, it was a paved road passing through an oasis with extensive date palm plantations on the both sides. After about 26 km, the jeep took a sharp turn and passed by Mubazzarah village. It appeared a popular resort as a lot of vehicles were parked around. After the village, there is an ascent but no problem. The road is three-lane, two climbing up and one descending. It is well lit and has concrete fencing all along. Its black color is in complete contrast to the barren, rocky & craggy mountains it cuts through. While it is super smooth, it has many bends, slopes, twists and turns. It is well signposted to warn of the hairpin curves ahead.
 |
| Road to Jebel Hateef - courtesy Google Images |
Once we reached the top, we were spellbound by the majestic view of Al Ain City and some Omani villages. A mountain with a height of 1,250 m, is rare in Arabian Sahara of Rab Ali Khali. So we enjoyed every moment of our stay looking down to well-lit areas studded with exploding lights, neon signs and digital billboards spreading out a long way.
We returned by past midnight. I was dropped before my hotel. When I asked “how much I pay?” I heard a voice from the backseat “da khoday pa amaan” & jeep was gone.
ABU DHABI
9-Nov-2015 Monday
I boarded a bus for Abu Dhabi, about 147 km away. Soon the
bus moved and after some time passed by Al Wafiya Centre for camels, cows,
horses, sheep and lambs.
The road was spacious with greenery on the
both sides. Sometime the road gets elevated to allow underpasses. On such occasions, one can have a glimpse of
desert - massive sand dunes with khaki and orange colors as far as the eye can
see.
 |
| Sand dunes as far as the eyes can see |
 |
| Flamingo Hotel Apartment, Abu Dhabi |
 |
| Gold Souq in Abu Dhabi |
At about 7:30, Fauzan invited me for a long drive. We fuddled through the streets of Abu Dhabi
and then headed for Hotel Emirates Palace, pride of the city. As per Fauzan, its cost
is over three billion dollars. It has loads of gold and marble plating. It
looked like straight from Las Vegas minus the slot machines. But there is a
machine which can dispense gold bars, gold coins and gold souvenirs. Called
GoldATM, it updates its prices to market value every 10 minutes through an
Internet connection.
 |
| Emirates Palace - photo credit Google Image |
 |
| My ex-colleague, Fauzan Mazhar before Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi |
 |
| Gold ATM at Emirates Palace |
Next day, I went out to the nearby 4th Street.
In fact this was a main road previously known as Al Sharqi Road. Abu Dhabi
is gradually renaming its road to numbered streets There a grand building which
turned out to be Abu Dhabi Central Post Office. Standing there, I saw a
familiar name, Long Life Hospital. This is household name in India. I reached
the place at a slow pace. This area is known for shopping with the usual
hustle and bustle all the time. Groups of local women were moving at ease in their abayas,
only their eyes peeking out. Most of them were talking on cell phones and at the
same time looking around for hand bags
from Givinchey, Marni, Jill Sander and Parda. They seem not worry about kids at
home as they were being looked after by their humbles 'aayas' mostly from Philippines.
Surly, they can check as to how aayas are behaving with their kids through their cellphones. Their households have a CCTV camera which sends live pictures to the Cellphone via internet.
After about an hour of stroll, I turned to Hamadan Bin Sultan Street. There, I heard someone whispering Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque 10 Dhs. This seems Godsend and I followed him to a waiting van. Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque was 19 km away. The van left me near the main entrance gate.
It is delightful to see the mosque from a far off point. White marbles were used in an epic design not seen since the Taj Mahal built 362 years ago. There is a strict security check at the entrance of mosque by use of “Walk Through Gates” coupled with body-search, known as physical pat-down.
 |
| Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque |
As one moves near, one feels a pious air around. It has a big court yard with floral design measuring 17,000 sq. mtrs said to be largest example of marble mosaic in the world. Further ahead is pool along the arcade reflecting spectacular columns.
Inside mosque is very beautiful with the world largest one-piece carpet, ceiling adorned with large chandeliers gilded by 24 carat gold. One wall is known as a Qibla wall with 99 names of God in Kufic calligraphy.
At about 2 pm, I checked out and took a bus to Madinat Zayed, 160 km away on the invitation of a gentleman I had never met before but only introduced through Face Book. It was a big risk. But for whom, me or him?
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