End of my trip to the United Arab Emirates

UAE travel Uniset is the end of my journey in the UAE, Dubai in the lead but Sharjah, Fujairah and a small side trip to Oman, a land that I will probably explore quickly. I spent a short week, six days in the UAE by being based in a Dubai hotel. Enough to explore the city of Dubai and its attractions but also to go for a ride outside the city, on the road through the peninsula from west to east across the other Emirates.

What did I find? In fact I never chose to spend a week's holiday in Dubai if I had not wanted above all to the sun, relaxing, sea I was exhausted after the release of the second issue of my magazine online Travel, I needed to disconnect completely, like a change of scenery and therefore completely change the culture, and especially do not find too much wealth in place to avoid running around like a bulimic's journey I am. In this, Dubai is perfect, as the Club Med: if you want, whenever you want!

In Dubai it is necessary to indulge in what she sells: its climate, even if the temperature exceeds early June briskly during the day the 42 ° on the west coast (i recommend you to stay on the beach to enjoy a light wind which makes the dry air more acceptable), and the advantages of his city in the foreground with his incredible folly of trade and in the background architecture that has taken the world's largest states which speaks more ...

So I yielded to the undeniable beauty of the silhouette of the Burj Al Arab, this luxury hotel (photo below) where you will not enter if you are not resident (expect a fee for each 4-digit night). It is a fascination with this building any visitor planted close to the Persian Gulf to recall fishing boats beads Dubai. And then I turned my eyes to the records of Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest tower in the world. By day, it does not appeal to me: a kind of long needle stuck in the middle of other buildings. But at night ... intriguing, mysterious, and so elegant. The art of lighting the highlights, but perhaps my photographic eye drawn lines, curves ... I went up at night until the 124th floor of the tower to reach the highest observatory which part of the world outside. Under the stars, it's still magical.

I went to the monorail Atlantis. Disappointment ... I much prefer the Bahamas, the artificial island of Palm Island which has already said so much as always and a large area under construction. It lacks charm.

I searched the soukh spices, which I think is misnamed: it's more a general soukh soukh a spice that we find a few vendors on site and not a real market. Ditto for the soukh of gold: a row of shops multiple exposing gold jewelry of course, but also a lot of creations (or copies) in diamonds, emeralds, topaz, ruby. No doubt, in terms of soukh I much prefer it (but tastefully restored) in Doha, Qatar, during my trip last year.

But Dubai is a nice base, and I would say to choice, if you want a holiday resort: hotels quality are many restaurants here and the struggle to provide the best food in all cuisines. If I avoided the French restaurants, I preferred the East (I resist evil in the mezze, the small variety of inputs that are similar to tapas in Spain with different dishes of course). Know that if you choose the low season (hot season) prices based on the sun, do like me and prefer the first half of June then you have to be particularly resistant to heat or love only browse cooling and air conditioning in Dubai they can be very strong!

And since this is a base, then rent a car and driver (or a taxi for the day) and made a grand tour in the neighboring emirates. I get back to you soon but one day you can cross the emirates of Sharjah, Fujairah, and even a small portion of Oman (which can be visited without prior approval but take your passport with you that day). I had announced "the most beautiful beaches of the Indian Ocean." I confirm this is false. The best beaches are located in the Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius, Indonesia, India and probably on the west coast of Australia (I do not know yet), on the coast of Kenya, Mozambique ... In short, the most beautiful beaches of the Indian Ocean are not in the UAE, but they are long and almost deserted, it's true. Oh and I noticed the presence of some dive centers and seeing pictures of underwater I think there probably is room for further exploration for the adventurous or for those who love space nearly untouched ... I will.

In the UAE you will find some traces of the past such forts are being careful restoration (above photo of Fort Fujairah) but also beautiful mosques and a few fishing villages. Therefore through the emirates across the mountains of Masalfi to discover a little of the soul of these nomads are increasingly sedentary by offering homes with all modern conveniences including running water and bathroom . How can blame them? ...

Finally (for now), do not try to Dubai or the journey of the total culture shock between your usual horizon and that of Lawrence of Arabia. But undoubtedly, be it through the tunnel of the aquarium of the Dubai Mall (the largest mall in the world with 1,200 stores, its giant skating rink and an aquarium ...) or seeking something to satisfy your appetite, you find your happiness in Dubai and probably also that of your children as the activities are numerous.

As for me I go back to sort 500 photos taken on site (I was on holiday I tell you!) And I am preparing my next writing articles while tweaking the details of my next BIG trip in August (there will be another one in the meantime, but let me have time to recover from the 20 ° difference between Paris and Dubai!).