princesss
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2007
- Messages
- 8,035
Well, I finally have pictures from my trip to Duabi and Oman and I thought I'd share a few! I went for Christmas to visit my family, and had a blast. I can't wait to go back!
Sand dunes in Dubai - these were about an hour outside of the city
My brother and I went dune bashing - 4 wheeling through the sand dunes - and one of the cars got stuck!
We watched the sun set over the desert
I had fun fiddling with the settings on my camera!
We had a beduoin style dinner and watched a belly dancer.
The hookah area - we smoked after dinner instead of having desert. Mmmm....apple sheesha! (Shisha?)
Dubai had some really amazing architecture. There were skyscrapers everywhere, and they all looked SO different! Some looked like perfume bottles, some looked like palm trees...it looks like it was an architect's playground!
And I can't mention architecture in Dubai without the Burj Khalifa! We went to the top (well, as far up as they'll let you go) and looked out over the city. It's an incredible view at night:
We went to dinner for my brother's birthday, and we had a great view of the Burj Al-Arab.
We went to Khasab, Oman for a quick beach holiday. This was taken by the side of the road on the way to the hotel.
Happy Omani goats grazing by the hotel. Omani goats are used for milk and cheese. The sad Iranian goat (not pictured) are turned into mutton curry and other delicious foods. The Iranians bring the goats over by speedboat in the morning, and trade for electronics, candy, soda, and other items.
We toured Khasab Castle, which is a few hundred years old, and had a ton of interesting information about the area and the history of Islam in Oman. Fascinating stuff!
The next morning we went on a dhow cruise. From what I could tell, dhows are the traditional barges, which have been mostly replaced by speedboats, except for the ones taken by obnoxious tourists that want an "authentic experience" Two different species of dolphins came and played alongside our dhow
Not the best detail shot, but that's a dhow. Unfortunately I don't have an underwater camera, so I don't have any shots from our snorkeling adventures.
When we got back to Dubai, we went shopping in the souks, and had to take a water taxi across the creek from the gold/spice souks to the textile souk. I love the combination of new buildings and older water taxis.
The Dubai Mall was like no mall I've ever seen before! They have a two story aquarium in the middle of it (I'm sorry, aquarium and underwater zoo - I didn't realize there was a difference). They also have the most amazing jewelry section I've ever seen. There was a 20 carat pear that I'm still plotting how to get my paws on (not pictured, sorry! The security guard scared me). There was a gorgeous cushion in the window at Graff that was so beautiful that I was amused but not surprised to see a nose and lip prints on the glass in front of it where somebody either got too close to the glass trying to look at it, or kissed the glass because it was just. that. gorgeous.
And just for fun - look at the friends I made!
Sand dunes in Dubai - these were about an hour outside of the city
My brother and I went dune bashing - 4 wheeling through the sand dunes - and one of the cars got stuck!
We watched the sun set over the desert
I had fun fiddling with the settings on my camera!
We had a beduoin style dinner and watched a belly dancer.
The hookah area - we smoked after dinner instead of having desert. Mmmm....apple sheesha! (Shisha?)
Dubai had some really amazing architecture. There were skyscrapers everywhere, and they all looked SO different! Some looked like perfume bottles, some looked like palm trees...it looks like it was an architect's playground!
And I can't mention architecture in Dubai without the Burj Khalifa! We went to the top (well, as far up as they'll let you go) and looked out over the city. It's an incredible view at night:
We went to dinner for my brother's birthday, and we had a great view of the Burj Al-Arab.
We went to Khasab, Oman for a quick beach holiday. This was taken by the side of the road on the way to the hotel.
Happy Omani goats grazing by the hotel. Omani goats are used for milk and cheese. The sad Iranian goat (not pictured) are turned into mutton curry and other delicious foods. The Iranians bring the goats over by speedboat in the morning, and trade for electronics, candy, soda, and other items.
We toured Khasab Castle, which is a few hundred years old, and had a ton of interesting information about the area and the history of Islam in Oman. Fascinating stuff!
The next morning we went on a dhow cruise. From what I could tell, dhows are the traditional barges, which have been mostly replaced by speedboats, except for the ones taken by obnoxious tourists that want an "authentic experience" Two different species of dolphins came and played alongside our dhow
Not the best detail shot, but that's a dhow. Unfortunately I don't have an underwater camera, so I don't have any shots from our snorkeling adventures.
When we got back to Dubai, we went shopping in the souks, and had to take a water taxi across the creek from the gold/spice souks to the textile souk. I love the combination of new buildings and older water taxis.
The Dubai Mall was like no mall I've ever seen before! They have a two story aquarium in the middle of it (I'm sorry, aquarium and underwater zoo - I didn't realize there was a difference). They also have the most amazing jewelry section I've ever seen. There was a 20 carat pear that I'm still plotting how to get my paws on (not pictured, sorry! The security guard scared me). There was a gorgeous cushion in the window at Graff that was so beautiful that I was amused but not surprised to see a nose and lip prints on the glass in front of it where somebody either got too close to the glass trying to look at it, or kissed the glass because it was just. that. gorgeous.
And just for fun - look at the friends I made!