Fujairah, United Arab Emirates

After leaving Dubai, we sailed overnight to Fujairah City, Fujairah’s capital in the United Arab Emirates where we spent just one day in port. Fujairah is the 7^th largest city in the UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). As of a few years ago, it’s population was 256,256.

Had we been able, we would have preferred to have spent an extra day in Dubai (we didn't even scratch the surface there) and skipped Fjuairah altogether. But that was not the itinerary. Honestly, we were so worn out after the sleep we lost in Dubai, we would have been happy to just stay on the ship in Fujairah. But there were still a few things on our list that we hadn’t picked up and besides, we always reason that we didn't come halfway across the world to see these places, and not to get off the ship or see anything beyond the cruise port.

So we dressed and dragged ourselves to the shuttle. Like several other countries we’ve visited including Dubai, a face-to-face inspection is required to enter the country. We had to have a special card to show when both exiting and re-entering the port.

 

City Center Mall

 

The shuttle was dropping off at the City Center Mall. It was a nice enough mall by anyone’s standards, but lackluster after the mall we had visited the previous day in Dubai. This mall would have been entirely “doable” if one had plenty of interest and energy. We had neither, so we only looked for what we needed. It did, however, have a large Carrefour, sort of what might be the equivalent of a Super Walmart in the states. They carried many products that we were familiar with and of course some we don’t see every day. It also had some very high end jewelry stores but overall, not as much luxury shopping as the Dubai mall.

All of the "outside" photos below are taken from the bus window. We saw some huge homes but we also saw some that looked as if they had (literally) been bombed out or fallen apart, almost all of which had air conditioning units hanging out of the windows. I honestly think it would be very difficult for anyone to live in a desert without AC!

high rises springing up in the desert

roadside billboard

 

We picked up a few things that we needed and then scurried back to the shuttle for our ride back to the port. All of the outdoor photos were snapped through the bus window. While riding to and from the mall, Ronnie commented that Fujairah is a city rising up out of the desert.

  

gold jewelry in store window

women's clothing

perfume stand (yes, men wear it too)

fresh camel milk

Lays come in many flavors!

We were in an electronics store where I was looking for a portable (battery-operated) phone charger for my purse. This young woman waited on me and I asked her if I could photograph her hand.

obliging salesgirl

mall store, Muslim fashions

more women's fashions

a growing city

a local's license plate

Sheikh Zayed Mosque

private home

more homes

...and another

billboard advertising

Look! McDonalds and KFC! (menus are adapted to locale)

storage facility of some kind (?) near cruise terminal

only AFTER I took this did I learn it is illegal to take photos of gov't buildings

Dubai IS all that! pt 4

After a few hours nap and shower, we were up and headed to the world famous Dubai Mall, still in search of the Garmin cable for Ronnie's (specific model) watch. We took a shuttle bus to the outside of the port, then switched over to a different mall shuttle.The bus itself was brand new (like everything else around) and the seats were a high quality leather. A bus with leather seats? Really? I post these 2 photos just to contrast the difference between the bus we rode in South Africa with the one here in Dubai. It's amazing what oil can do for a country!

 

our ride in Madagascar

our ride in Dubai

In addition to having more than 1,200 shops, the Dubai Mall houses the Dubai Aquarium, the world’s largest indoor aquarium with an acrylic panel that is 108 feet wide and 27 feet high, plus it is 29.5 inches thick.

Dubai has many malls. Another one we heard about (but did not visit) is the Mall of the Emirates. That mall is home to Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort complete with cafe, children’s play area, snowboarding and even offers ski lessons. Ski Dubai is considered the world’s second largest snow park with 5 runs of varying difficulty, height and gradient. It also houses a snow park for activities such as tobogganing and tubing. Needless to say, Dubai does things BIG!

The good news is that we were able to find the correct charger for Ronnie's watch so it was well worth the trip there. There is absolutely no way I could have walked or even seen that entire mall. We were both exhausted, but on a mission and thankfully it was successful. By lunch time we were starving and managed to locate the food court (HUGE, with every kind of food imaginable) and got a bit of a Mexican food "fix" there. 

As always in Muslim countries, there are calls to prayer several times a day over loud speakers and there are prayer rooms inside the malls as well. Also, the music that is played in the larger stores is very different from what we would hear in malls or other public places in America.

Had we not been so tired, it would have been fun to see the entire mall but in reality there was just no way. In a nutshell, everything in Dubai including the mall is "over the top."

Below are just random photos I took as we walked around the mall looking for a Garmin watch charger. Hope you enjoy them.

 

mall entrance where bus dropped us off

inside mall entrance

Tiffany & Co.

many high end stores

which way?

lots of jewelry stores!

perfume and incense are really big here

mall houses 1,200 stores

Dubai Aquarium

aquarium from 3 levels up

I don't believe we've met

looking down on front of aquarium

90% of the Emirati population are Sunni Islam

athletic store

 

I read online that Islam is the official religion here, with over 90% of the Emirati population are Sunni Islam. The vast majority of the remainder 5-10% are Shia Muslims, who are concentrated in Dubai and Sharjah. Christians and other religions are allowed to have their places of worship in Dubai. However, they cannot convert a Muslim into their religion, but they can convert to Islam if they want.

 

 

Dubai IS all that! pt 3

What a fun day! As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we didn't get back from the desert event until late but we had to get up early the next morning for the hot air balloon ride that we had booked. We set our alarm for 3 a.m., got up and dressed and walked through the cruise port terminal where we waited outside to be picked up. The bus was about 30 minutes later than expected, so we were pooped before we even left. We're still recovering from all the fun, but it was totally worth it!!

We drove for maybe close to an hour out into the desert. I'm not sure how many from the ship went, but I would say perhaps 15 or 20 persons. We rode in several different vehicles. Each time, both coming and going, we rode with people we didn't know, so it was a good way to meet more ship people.

By the time we arrived, the balloons were set up and very close to lifting. We climbed into the balloon we were directed to - it's gondola held 20 people plus the pilot! Our pilot was very experienced and it was obvious how much he loves ballooning. 

 

getting closer to launch

 

getting balloons ready to launch before sun comes up

 

pilot giving us instructions

falconer and bird are going up with us!

After boarding, our pilot gave us very clear instructions on how to crouch down and press against the back of the gondola upon landing, even giving us a quick practice session. Somehow we were lucky to have a falconer and his bird with us. The bird made quite a bit of racket but his trainer assured me he was not scared or upset. During our flight, the falcon took several flights from the balloon, coming back to his reward of fresh meat each time.

Below: just as we were lifting off, we saw some camels that were saddled beneath us. We continued to rise and within the first 10-15 minutes, the sun rose over the desert. It was such an awesome sight!! 

 

camels saddled and ready to ride

up, up and away!

view of balloon beneath us

sunrise over the desert

 

The desert below was so beautiful! We saw a few animals (some saw giraffes but I did not) and lots of animal tracks and patterns in the sand. We floated over a camel farm as well. There were only about 5 balloons total and most of the time we were far apart. We floated above the desert for about an hour total before being brought back down with a soft and uneventful landing. 

 

houses below

floating peacefully over desert

beautiful desert landscape at sunrise

the falcon made several flights, returning for fresh meat each time

all quiet except when pilot fires fuel jets

Ronnie and his Texas flag that travels with him

just the 2 of us (+18 others) ha!

 

neighboring balloon

 

Pardon me for over posting photos - it's hard to narrow them down! But if you've never been up in a hot air balloon before, hopefully it will give you a better feel for the view from "up yonder."

see the animals running below?

beautiful wind patterns

falcons eyes are hooded

sand drifts make beautiful designs

see the animal tracks?

lots of tracks here!

taking turns holding falcon

heavily tracked area

YES to a safe landing!

 

support crew breaking down balloon

 

After our flight, we were taken to another place where an outdoor buffet breakfast was set up and waiting on us. To our surprise, there were also a couple of camels with saddles and a couple of horses for anyone who wanted to take a ride around the area. I got on one (with the help of a chair!) for a photo op, but having ridden a camel a few years back, I didn't care to go for a spin. The worst part (after getting up there) is when the camel stands up or lies back down. You really do have to hang on at those angles!

 

we enjoyed a breakfast buffet before heading back to the port

 

It was a fun and peaceful ride and worth getting only 3 hours sleep for. After being driven back to the ship, we showered and took naps and then headed to the Mall of Dubai - the largest mall in the world. I'll share those photos in my next post.