United Arab Emirates: General

Many people have heard of Dubai but few people have heard of the other six Emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates or U.A.E. During my time living in Dubai I was able to visit the other Emirates and would highly recommend this to anyone visting the country.

Many people are worried about the current middle east situation, I personally don't think this country will be effected. During the gulf war tourists were still visting on cheap deals and having no problems at all, but you should always try to keep up with foreign office advice when travelling to this area of the world. I personally am watching the deals and if they come down I am off for a holiday.

Travelling to the UAE is very easy for a British passport holder as no visas are required for stays under 30 days (last I checked).

If you want to see a little more of the UAE, there are two ways to do this

Hire a car.
Take a tour.

I prefer a cobination of the two and will try to highlight may favourites.

CAR HIRE

Well the good news is that the roads are just like North America very straight and usually of two or more lanes on each side of the road. People with a British Drivers License will have no problem taking car hire and this is usually with very competive rates. You would not comprehend how cheap it is to fill up a tank, about 7 pounds for my Toyotal Tercel. Oh! and if you get a speeding ticket it will just be a fine of about DHS200 providing your not going double the limit (no points on your british licence) but the cameras can see what brand of chewing gum you are using so there is no getting away with it.

The bad news is that you have never seen driving like it, taxi drivers seem to have a radar that goes between the green light on the traffic lights and their horns. I thought in the first couple of weeks that I drove in Dubai that I was never going to get used to the horns but then I became one of them. You soon learn the only way to get anywhere is to flash, use your horn and cut everyone up. It works, people stop laying on their horn and start getting out of your way.

Heres the next catch you may be on a 4 lane highway in the fast lane when you see a 4x4 approching from behind, flashing their lights. You think there is no where for me to go so they will just have to slow down. Then you realise they are not slowing down and you begin to figet because there is still no where to go and by now your rear view mirror is full of a great big 4x4 and you start praying. The car starts to vibrate and you remember your instrctors advise to hold your line and you keep praying. At this point the 4x4 squeezes between you and the central reservation and keeps going without loosing any speed because Allah will protect them. Don't worry after the first few times you will be used to it and more than happy to scare passengers that have never been through this before.

It is illegal to make hand jestures in the UAE when in a car, so even if you think you can get away with it don't because you may find your sticking your fingures up at the royal family and anyway everyones related so unless you want trouble you just wont bother.

One thing you will also have to get used to is windows being blacked in on cars. As Arabic women must have their privacy the windows are blacked in so they can take there vales off.

If you are a female traveller I personnaly would not leave the main cities in a car on my own, don't get me wronge I went everywhere in my car but on more than one occation when I was driving over 30 minutes outside of Dubai I would have a car follow and flash me for a good while. This was usually a car full of young locals who thought it was fun but beleive me some of the men have watched too many western films and seen too many white Russion ladies of the night and can get the wronge idea about a women travelling on her own.

If you travel outside of Dubai, police do spot checks so have ID.

TOURS

There are many companys that provide tours in the UAE all of which can be booked through your hotel reception but if you are on a package tour you may have a rep and they will be able to advise you on the best choice. My favourite company is Arabian Adventures, they have top staff and transport. This makes sence as they are part of Emirates Airlines. I also liked Denate Dubai, a company which organises tours on their australian boat but by the time you get to Dubai I am sure they will have teamed up with Arabian Adventures. Check out the web site.

WHAT TO DO

As I have mentioned seven Emirates make up the UAE, most people think that the middle east will only ever be desert and in deed much of it is but you also have volcanic rock areas, mountains and oasis and I think they are all worth a look. Try to control your picture taking, unless you have a really good camera. I went through roll after roll of breath taking views that just came out plain boring on film because my camera did'nt do the views justice.

You really do have some good choices when visiting the UAE, for a first trip I would recommend staying in one of the fab Dubai hotels on a package and taking tours out to different places. As a secound visit or for a long visit I would suggest some time at the beginning and end of your holiday in Dubai and then some time staying in some other hotels around the UAE. If you go in the summer when it it is really hot, you will find some great hotel deals that can be booked locally. Indeed some people would book a package to Dubai and then take off to another UAE hotel for the night, the deals were that good and it meant they didnt have to repack everything.

Each Emirate has a capital which is named after itself, the overall capital of the UAE is Adu Dhabi, so lets start here. You can drive to Abu Dhabi in about an hour from Dubai and the road is straight the whole way there. Pick up a guide book and car hire for this trip because the tour is really borring. Abu Dhabi has some great hotels and still alows drinking in them, so it is worth spending a night or two here. I most enjoyed visiting the market where I could pick up anything from a traditional arabic dress (dont wear this in public unless you are arabic) to a dodgy watch. Also worth a visit is the harbour area which is really pretty.

I would say that Abu Dhabi is not the pretties Emirate, it was full of ugly buildings and didnt seem to have hotels with nice beaches such as Dubai but it did seem to be more cultural. You would often see people praying in the street and it has a smaller british ex pat community so you are more likely to meet some of the locals here and get to know what it is all about.

If you go outside of Abu Dhabi but stay in its Emirate you may wish to visit Al Ain, this is an Oasis town which is very pretty. Imagin nothing for miles and then a lush green oasis apears. I stayed at the Hotel Intercontinental which was nothing special but did have a nice atmospere and very friendly people. In this area you should also be able to visit the large camel farm, this is loads of fun and worth the visit.

Dubai is the secound largest Emirate, I wont mention much on Dubai itself as I have written a seperate opinion on that but what I will mention is some of the places you can stay in land. one is Al Maha, this place is amazing amazing 25 rooms that look like tents from the outside but are 5 star hotel rooms inside, with a plunge pool which over looks the desert. Very private, very original and worth every penny. It is a full board hotel and you are also offered two activities a day which could include falconry or a real camel trek. I love this place and you should check out its web site.

Another place to stay would be the Hatta Fort Hotel, this place is on the boarder of Oman (so you could twin centre if you can sort the visa) another small hotel which I love. The rooms are very nice, quiet and private and the food in the resturant is to die for. If you are a very active person you may want to take the walking/running route on the hills behind the hotel, or have a game or archary. I love the views of the mountain from this hotel. To spice up the trip here I prefer to take a transfer with arabian adventures, they will take you in a 4x4 through the desert and mountains, it is an amazing trip and you wont what to take the straight borring road again.

My next favourite emirate is Sharjah, for your first visit to this emirate get in touch with Denate Dubai, they organise a full day trip. You pick up the boat in Dubai have breakfast as you cruise along the UAE coast to Sharjah, there they organise a guide to show you the main museams and the blue souk. Then you have a buffet lunch in a 5 star hotel before reboarding and heading back, on the way back drinks are served - a very nice day. However, as a secound trip you should spend at least half a day in the Blue Souk, this is what I call an Arabic mall it is full of bargains from bags to makeup. I love shoping here!!!!!!

You could stay in one of the many hotels but it is a strict emirate so NO booze at all. Ladies should cover legs and arms.

Ajman is a place I visited to see its museam which was very interesting (if your into musems). You may see offers on the Ajman Kempinski Hotel, I personally do not like the way the management run this hotel and would not stay here, so for this emirate I would take a tour.

Umm al - Qawain seems to be a very sandy Emirate with not an amzing amount to see but I used to go to this Emirate to visit its water park. Its not as up to date as the one in Dubai but I loved it because if you go on a weekday its empty and its like having the place to yourself, and its got some rides that are not bad at all.

Ras-al-khaimah is about two hours drive from Dubai and there isnt much to see here but it is developing and is one to watch. I visited the Al Hamra Fort Hotel and it had building going on outside but I enjoyed it a lot, so much so I went back twice more, so when its finished it should be great.

Finally Fujairah. This Emirate is popular with divers as it has the best diving in the UAE. Many ex pats head for this area at the weekends just to relax and enjoy the beaches, I would highly recommend taking a look.

Well thats the UAE, my favourite place in the world. If you like the heat, I guarantee you will love it.