On this day, our bus took us to visit 4 of the United Arab Emirates. As we left the city of Dubai, we drove through desert country where the sand dunes were sparsely covered with low vegetation. Camels and goats were to be seen grazing everywhere.
At our first stop, we visited a very modern well displayed maritime museum. Before oil made the people here rich, their way of life was fishing and pearl diving and this was portrayed very well in this museum.
Our next stop was at the compound of one of the former rulers, (now a museum) which portrays their way of life in the olden days. It is built like a fort with thick walls. The courtyard is open to the sky. On the ground floor, small rooms are built all around in the walls to house the staff and to store the necessities. Upstairs were the sultan’s quarters – one room only for him, but lots of other rooms – probably for his many wives and children:
The next stop took us to a camel race track. The camels they have here are quite small and apparently quite fast. Camel racing is a very popular sport. The citizens are not supposed to bet, but we heard that they find ways to get around that. It was during the noon hour that we arrived there and because of the heat of the day, we didn’t actually see any racing, but we did get to see some of the camels.
The last location on our agenda, was a ghost town in the middle of nowhere. In my opinion, this was just a tourist trap – somewhere to take the gullible tourist. Supposedly, the town was found destroyed and almost all of the population disappeared and those who were left behind were all dead. There is no explanation of what happened, or even when, but the local folk will not come here after dark because of the supposed strange noises and the invisible things that grab at you. The site is now used by a film company when they make spooky films, but they only work during the day ! ! !
The drive through the desert going from one area to the next was very interesting. It is hard to imagine the beautiful modern cities of this country springing out of this desert and all within the last 25 years. Isn’t it amazing what a bit of oil can do for a country.
MESSAGE FROM THE CAPTAIN March 31, 2011
Travelling through Egypt is now considered safe. Although it is too late to change our itinerary back to what it was in the past, the ship has travelled so fast through pirate territory, that we are ahead of schedule and can afford to make a stop at Safaga in Egypt and this means that we will be able to take the tour to Karnak, Luxor and the Valley of the Kings on April 2. Hopefully I will have recuperated sufficiently to go, because this was one of the places I really wanted to go to.
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