[voyageur]

Travelling is something I really love to do, at least in India. But in the past 5-6 years my stay in India has narrowed down to some months and not more. I really love travelling in India, may it be the rains or the sunny weather. I just seem to love it for no reason.

Past 5 years have seen me move from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain to UAE. I would say that the GCC is not the best of places for trips. It's hot and people (me) prefer to spend their life inside AC and even if you come across some one who has lived 25 years of their life in Gulf, I am sure you will still find the answer that his routine has involved going to work and coming back home.

I have been living here in UAE for the past 10 months.

Number of places visited - 0
Number of trips planned - 0
Number of going outs - 0 (pretty much)

My life also pretty much revolved around 'Go to work and Come back home principle.'

Out of all the gulf countries, I wouldn't hesitate to say UAE can be termed the best. Thanks to Dubai. A city that never sleeps. Day or Night, you can find cars, bikes and taxi's plying across. Being one of the finest cities in the world, it does have it's share of places which are worth going.

I decided to roam around UAE and my camera would follow. My buddy here would be my Golf and we would try and see some places which are worth mentioning.

This small thread will have all the places that I have, am and will visit during the time of my stay in UAE. (others in UAE may also use this thread like their own to post their experience, if they wish to.)




A forfeited visit to the mountains of Jebel Hafeet in Al-Ain :

A retrospect.

After giving my car to service and after receiving it back, it still had couple of problems. ( Mentioned here)

I decided the trip very late. As late as 11:00 pm of the previous night. At midnight I was walking towards the ATM to get some money for the so called trip.

By the time I crash landed, it was almost 1:00 am in the morning. I wake up at 9:00 am and still decide to do the trip. My mobile has less charge. Battery draining out quickly. I have a car charger. Still in half mind, I decide to go.

The route to Jebel Hafeet from my place. 223 kms one way One side of Jebel Hafeet is Oman and other side is UAE. Pretty much like Himalayas, India and Nepal





Below are the heartwarming images of Jebel Hafeet. Courtesy to Google and anyone associated with the images.






I leave my house at 11:00 am. The sun is hitting hard. I get some bread and juice in case if I am unable to find a decent restaurant. I start towards Al-Ain.

I was doing a solo trip. The radio was playing boring songs, boring RJ's (I guess for some reason they feel that they are really cool) making it even more boring. I was like ' Stop eating my head and play the god damn song'

The Emirates Road (Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road) was in top condition. That was the only thing that kept me going.

After driving along for 25-30 kms I took the exit flyover to Al-Ain and kept driving again. Couple of stops to keep the car stress free, I reach Al-Ain by 3:00 pm. Much late as I was taking it easy on the car. I just find a sandwich shop near by. Fill myself up. After 15 min again I set out for the mountains.

My mobile hangs up now as the battery is low and the car charger I am afraid ain't working. I take the wrong route and keep driving till I reach a children's park. I park my car there and I go inside the park.

I am sweating and the heat is draining me out, also my car. While I am in the park I ask direction to a taxi driver, who in turn discourages me from going to the mountains. According to him there is nothing worth seeing there. He also shows me the way back.

When I start my car, I can see that to my right is the mountains and to the left is the way back. I accept defeat, put the left indicator and take the way back home.

Another 2.5 hours and I am back home.

I ponder what went wrong!!! Some things that I felt,

1. Solo trips can be tiring as it's just you and your ride, so the planning phase must be given greater importance with proper stops.

2. Gadgets like mobile phone, phone charger, GPS navigator and other important things are necessary. Never go for a trip without making sure that these gadgets are packed and functional.

3. One day trip should be planned in such a way that they are short. 446 kms in some hours took real toll on me, neither could I enjoy nor was the trip successful.

4. Best thing is to have someone along the trip so that even if you are lost there is some one at the GPS suggesting you the how to re-route. It's tiring to stop every time and ask for directions, if you don't find proper sign boards.

5. For long trips, its better to plan a stay.

So the mountains of Hafeet, still remains in to-do list and I have become more wise.

[voyageur]

Hamriyah Village

Hamriyah is a port in sharjah. The place is really close to Ajman and Umm-Al-Qwain.

Hamriyah is collective area comprising of a small village, industrial area and a port. More than 200 industries and it's a freezone area controlled by a separate freezone authority belonging to Sharjah. Ships and Oil rigs are build, refurbished here. There are many more industries other than these. Last but not the least I work here. That's how I know about this place. From my work place, I can see the shores and small settlement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamriyah_Port

All I am interested is the opposite lands, the small shore with settlements.







This is my Project Managers car stopped at the edge and yes I have driven it around more than once.




All above pics are taken in mobile cam.

The first time I go there I didn't have a camera, but the view was exquisite. 100's of yachts in the sea and the setting sun was a pleasure to watch.

After a month I go again to find an empty sea. Where are the yachts!!! Not even one of them.

Alas I stay there till night falls and click a couple of pics. I don't know if there is a yacht club or something there. Something that I will enquire shortly.

The pics that I took were after sunset and some at pitch dark where I couldn't even see the subject. The golf as usual makes up as my subject in most of the pics.





Very dark, I couldn't see anything. Just set the camera on the pod and left if for a long exposure.





Again another long long exposure.

[voyageur]

Burj Khalifa

830 meter high skyscraper. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest skyscraper in the world. More than 160 floors, the observation deck is on the 124th floor and we have a bar on the 123rd floor. It belongs to Emaar properties, owned by the Sheikh himself iirc.

All about The Burj Khalifa here

As a part of Discover Dubai project launched by me to use my cam better, I paid a visit to the Burj sometime last week. I went along with my colleagues (3 bachelors and another colleague with his wife and kid) and it was a fun night.

We took the metro to reach the destination and our car to reach the metro station in Dubai. The complete journey in car was ruled out due to the possible traffic in Dubai and we were nearly late to the venue. I will just quote down the fun incidents that happened during the trip as the number of photos are not much.

We booked the ticket online and this is pretty much the easiest way. Booking can also be done there but that would be more costly. Booking and other info can be found here.

We booked for 9:00 pm so that the we could experience the lights and also check out the musical fountain. We had two cars on the go, one is my friends Honda Civic AT and My car.

We were supposed to leave by 7:00 pm sharp. But as usual we are late again. We leave at 7:35 ish. A blast through the busy Emirates, we make it to the Etisalat Metro station by 8:10 pm. Etisalat is the first metro station located at the border of Dubai. We get into the metro by 8:20 pm and hope that we can make it by 8:50 pm at least.

We had to interchange to Metro red line from green line to get to Burj Khalifa and we do reach by 8:55 pm.



During the train ride, my friend asked ,

From the metro station there is a direct walkway to Dubai Mall and an Entrance to Burj. Isn't that where we need to reach?

I reckon that we need to reach the base of Burj, to show the online booking paper and get the tickets. I reply without knowing head or tail of it.

In that case, We shouldn't take the walkway. We will get out of the metro and walk to the entrance of Burj.

Right.

We reach the station, we walk through the exit of the metro station towards the base of Burj Khalifa. We can see Porshe n Mercs flying into the Burj. As we reach near the gate. The guy in-charge rushes to receive us.

Hello Sir

He must have been thinking who are these villagers on foot but he doesn't forget to smile and be polite.

My friend who booked the ticket starts,

Hello

We are here to see the Burj.

He smiles, Oh, you are here to see the Burj. I see

We all in a single tone, Yes

Before my friend could start saying, he points towards the tower and says,

See there Sir, That is Burj Khalifa.

We all look back to see the Burj standing tall and nice. It was a real blooper moment for all of us.

My friend, I mean we have the ticket to see the Burj.

He says that, Oh, I see. You should have taken the Dubai mall walkway and the ticket is given there at the entrance.

We run towards the Dubai mall entrance laughing at the incident. We reach there after some hassle. We reach for the counter, change our tickets and move towards the lift.

The lift was a real marvel. 124 floors in 1 min 4 sec or a bit more (approx). Would any one believe that? You really have to experience it to believe it.

We reach the top. It was medium crowded and we were moving around taking pics and looking down towards the musical fountain. The pics were really not up to the mark as it was hand held. I have a couple of good pics which I will save for the last as usual.

There is a lot of mention about the Engineers involved in the process and all the credits along with many other details in and around. It's a really astonishing place. We moved around, used the telescope to see the live views, Day time views, History etc.

We start back at midnight and slowly lazing around we reach back home at 3:00 am in the morning. A great evening spent at one of the greatest place humans have ever built.

Now for the pics,

Views from The Burj, a great treat for landscape photographers.















Those illuminated yellow lights are highways. Great roads for the drivers in us. I can guarantee that the length of the highway would never satisfy us.

[voyageur]

The best for last,

The skyscraper from the side. Looks divine in shining silver at nightfall. I wonder how Tom Cruise could do the feat of running around in MI4 (iirc) around the Burj. The height is real scary.



I really don't know how I got this shot. The street lamp illuminating the Burj which is very far. My favorite of the lot.



Credits to my friend. My cam ran out of battery. He used his Sammy S4 to shoot this after we came down. See the clouds touching the observation deck. We were there 10 mins before. Badly missed touching the clouds.



That's it with the Burj. Next time, some other place depending on the wallet.

Thanks for reading. Cheers.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing!

[dhanushmenon]

Lovely snaps voyageur.
Initially as you started the travelogue, I thought that you are gonna take us over to some mountain ranges bordering two states like the "Himalayas, Nepal and India".
Looks like you lost steam over the effort in that 223 Kms one way trip.

Gather more steam boy, You need to visit that place next time. There are many waiting here to read more from you.
The teaser snaps of that place was quite an appetiser (sorry I can't correctly remember that name. You will agree that its quite a mouthful for us Indians )

Lovely snaps of Burj Khalifa too and marvelous write up, diced with apt humour in between.

One point on your snaps: I feel that your indoor snaps are much better than your outdoor shots. I still remember that pool table shot which you shared when you freshly bought your camera.

Cheers.
Keep it coming

[naveen.raju]

Nice writeup. But I wish it had more snaps, especially Jebel Hafeet. Good to see that you are enjoying your daily drive too. I hope you have more pics coming along.

[Speed.Demon]

Aah, lovely snaps mate, and they do bring back some fond memories! I used to roam around Dubai a lot too, though I used to ogle at supercars more, rather than the sights of the city.

Those cityscape shots are fantastic! There's really something quite fantastic seeing the sprawling expanse of any great city,especially at night - it's like looking at a lot of stars in the vastness of space.

[voyageur]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

Lovely snaps voyageur.
Initially as you started the travelogue, I thought that you are gonna take us over to some mountain ranges bordering two states like the "Himalayas, Nepal and India".
Looks like you lost steam over the effort in that 223 Kms one way trip.

Gather more steam boy, You need to visit that place next time. There are many waiting here to read more from you.
The teaser snaps of that place was quite an appetiser (sorry I can't correctly remember that name. You will agree that its quite a mouthful for us Indians )

Lovely snaps of Burj Khalifa too and marvelous write up, diced with apt humour in between.

One point on your snaps: I feel that your indoor snaps are much better than your outdoor shots. I still remember that pool table shot which you shared when you freshly bought your camera.

Cheers.
Keep it coming

Hey Dhanush,

Thank you for your kind words. It really is a great thing because we look at you as one of the best TL writers around.

The mountain ranges has got mixed reviews from people, mostly non petrol heads say it ain't worth visiting. But some say it's really nice. Anyways I will visit the place and will share the details here.

The Burj looks beautiful and is a great treat for good photographers like you. I am sure if given a chance you will shoot better than me.

On my indoor photography, I really think I have many miles to go in both indoor and outdoor photography mate.

Thanks again brother.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Nice writeup. But I wish it had more snaps, especially Jebel Hafeet. Good to see that you are enjoying your daily drive too. I hope you have more pics coming along.

Hello Naveen,

I couldn't hit Jebel Hafeet. I just reached somewhere as close as 20 kms and I returned back.

It's a really fun to drive car.

I will post some more pics of the places soon.

Thanks again mate.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Speed.Demon

Aah, lovely snaps mate, and they do bring back some fond memories! I used to roam around Dubai a lot too, though I used to ogle at supercars more, rather than the sights of the city.

Those cityscape shots are fantastic! There's really something quite fantastic seeing the sprawling expanse of any great city,especially at night - it's like looking at a lot of stars in the vastness of space.

Hey Vineeth,

Glad you liked my pics. I saw tons of supercars in the basement parking of Dubai mall. I didn't want to switch on my camera as no one pays attention to those. It's a daily sight I guess.

You should also visit Burj when you come to UAE next. If it's any soon we can go together.

Thanks again mate.

Cheers.

[arunr]

Had been to Jebel Hafeet last weekend in a colleagues Dodge Charger RT. Oh yes the road to the top is definitely one of the best private drive ways in the world (as there is only a restaurant and the Ruler's villa on the top)
Did you not visit the Al Ain Zoo, it is well worth it what with pengins and all. Also do allocate sufficient time as it is quite spaced out.
Planning to visit Fujairah soon. Heard the drive through the Hajar mountains is worth it.

[jaguar.runs]

Nice write-up Anoop!

Your work location is a place I frequent during the weekend, for fishing. The breakwaters at both the ends of the Hamriyah beach is our favorite location.

There are plenty more to explore in UAE, especially if you are driving a Golf GTI . Some places I can think of is Jebel Jais in RAK (new road opened), Kalba - Fujeirah - Khor Fakkan - Dibba - Masafi route (can be a round trip) & few inner roads in the Hajjar mountains which will make you smile. Also do a trip to Mussandam, the road is breathtaking after the UAE border.

PM me if you need any help.

[voyageur]

Originally Posted by arunr

Had been to Jebel Hafeet last weekend in a colleagues Dodge Charger RT. Oh yes the road to the top is definitely one of the best private drive ways in the world (as there is only a restaurant and the Ruler's villa on the top)
Did you not visit the Al Ain Zoo, it is well worth it what with pengins and all. Also do allocate sufficient time as it is quite spaced out.
Planning to visit Fujairah soon. Heard the drive through the Hajar mountains is worth it.

Hello Arun,

The RT charger is a monster and you must have had fun in it. I really doubt if now is a good time to go to Jebel Hafeet again. The climate is getting hotter every day.

I thought there is one resort also at the top. I also wanted to see the hot artificial spring called Green Mubazara which is also near Jebel Hafeet afaik. I think arranging a stay and spending lavish time there is the best way.

I am also going on a trip later to Fujairah. Hope we don't meet up there by chance.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by jaguar.runs

Nice write-up Anoop!

Your work location is a place I frequent during the weekend, for fishing. The breakwaters at both the ends of the Hamriyah beach is our favorite location.

There are plenty more to explore in UAE, especially if you are driving a Golf GTI . Some places I can think of is Jebel Jais in RAK (new road opened), Kalba - Fujeirah - Khor Fakkan - Dibba - Masafi route (can be a round trip) & few inner roads in the Hajjar mountains which will make you smile. Also do a trip to Mussandam, the road is breathtaking after the UAE border.

PM me if you need any help.

Thank you for the kind words brother.

At your fishing location, there are yachts that I have seen couple of times there. Do you have any idea about those?

I should start visiting these places, but the weather is a big hindrance. I will try and squeeze in as many trips as I can and I will definitely PM you for the details on these routes.

I hope somebody takes initiative and arranges a meet and drive to some of these places I think there are many bhpians in UAE and that would be a great get together.

Cheers.

[jaguar.runs]

Originally Posted by voyageur

At your fishing location, there are yachts that I have seen couple of times there. Do you have any idea about those?

You must be referring to the sail boats. There is a place on the beach where you can rent these boats. They also rent kayaks. I believe they are somehow connected to the Hamriyah Cultural Club (located at the small R/A towards Hamriyah). I have seen local kids training in the sailboats, usually in the evening. The guys who take care of the boats live there only. Once I hired a kayak from them, it was a nice experience. Picture attached for ease of locating.

I hope somebody takes initiative and arranges a meet and drive to some of these places I think there are many bhpians in UAE and that would be a great get together.

There are lot of Bhpians in Dubai and there is Dubai meet thread which get's bumped once in a while.

[voyageur]

Originally Posted by jaguar.runs

You must be referring to the sail boats. There is a place on the beach where you can rent these boats. They also rent kayaks. I believe they are somehow connected to the Hamriyah Cultural Club (located at the small R/A towards Hamriyah). I have seen local kids training in the sailboats, usually in the evening. The guys who take care of the boats live there only. Once I hired a kayak from them, it was a nice experience. Picture attached for ease of locating.

Attachment 1225629



There are lot of Bhpians in Dubai and there is Dubai meet thread which get's bumped once in a while.

Yes, the same. I have been there and have noticed this place but I was along with a colleague who was least interested. Anyways thanks for the info

Dubai Bhpians are busy working I guess. At my place back in India, meets happen almost every weekend. Anyways will bump the thread up sometime asking everyone for a meet and drive.

Cheers.

[deetjohn]

Good one voyageur! Too bad you didn't take the GTI through those yummy mountain roads. With the gas prices over there, there is simply no excuse to not drive all weekend.

And nice pics! Thanks for sharing! Any plan of catching the GP this weekend at Bahrain?