Jim’s Birthday Cruise, Part Deux

UAE – Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman

Our third stop was Sir Bani Yas Island which I visited a few years ago. It’s basically a private island belonging to the UAE with beaches and a wildlife park. I had planned to get off with Simon and lie on the beach, but the weather changed from beautiful morning sunshine to high wind and foggy haze. It was really a low level sandstorm and the ship got a coating. Simon was the only one to get off for a sandblasting.

Wednesday was Jim’s last day in his 50’s and we arrived early in Abu Dhabi. We thought about getting off. Then we thought about it some more. After a little bit more thinking about it, we decided to stay onboard. The ship was relatively empty, and we were staying overnight.

We all had a swim in the pool and also took part in more trivia events. We’d done rather well winning about 6 during the week. In the evening we played cards listening to karaoke. A mixed bunch of mostly talentless singers which, we all agreed, were the best type. Two corpulent girls singing in Spanish were the most excruciating. Jose was good value. He must have sung about five songs and there were moments when he was actually singing in time to the music.

Thursday Jim turned 60 and we had an adventure booked for the four of us. It was meant to be sand-boarding and a short camel ride. But I guess we had to get to the desert in order to do those activities. An hour out of Abu Dhabi, we stopped at a camel farm (who knew camel farms existed), and fed the camels. Our driver adjusted the tyres and then we were off.

A convoy of Toyota Land Cruisers abandoned anything that looked like a road and headed over the sand dunes. It was a rollercoaster. Jim was in the front and had the best view. Simon and I were squeezed into the last row of seats and it was an experience. I’m happy never to do it again.

The sand-boarding was disappointing. There must have been between 75-100 people from all the vehicles, lining up to lay on their fronts and slide down two consecutive hills. They only had about six boards so it took a while. Three of us did it while Simon took photographs. It was somewhat fun, but I was hoping for more than one turn and “standing”, with expert tuition on hand. And the walk back up the hill was a killer. Hill walking on sand must be one of the most exhausting forms of exercise/ torture.

Next up was the camel ride. My last camel ride was 7 miles in Morocco last April. My arse took days to recover. I liked that this was a “short” camel ride. Short?? It was a small circle no more than 250 metres. Quite funny really. Anyway, Jim had never been on a camel so he and I did the ride.

The off-reading was a bonus as far as I was concerned. Not an entirely pleasant bonus, but a bonus nonetheless.

We headed back to the ship, dropping me offin town to walk the last few miles. It had been a fun morning with some highlights and lowlights. The important thing was that Jim enjoyed it although I think he would have enjoyed anything that didn’t involve Vanya.

In the evening we hit the casino and Jim had remarkable luck at roulette. Starting with $100, at one point he was up a thousand. Simon was also a winner as me and Bully played blackjack.

On Friday morning we arrived in Dubai for our last day. Bully stayed on board and the three of us went on the Big Bus. I’ve sworn never to do a Big Bus again and I failed. They look like such a good idea. The reality is you can’t see everything and you need to spend the whole day getting on and off the bus to get value for money.

We ended up having two bus rides to get to the marina and couldn’t find the bus stops after that. We taxied instead.

The souks in Dubai Creek was our last stop and we ran the gauntlet down the gold souk, and the spice souk.

As the sun was setting we decided to play shuffleboard. Jim and Simon defeated Bully and me, although we were all rather crap. Then we proved how useless our basketball skills were too. Jim and Simon won again. They were slightly less useless.

Saturday we walked off the ship and headed to the airport. I went on to Sharjah and they were heading back with BA. Bully was upgraded to first and Jim was upgraded to premium. Simon stayed in economy.Jim certainly has had a lucky week.

I headed off to the Sheraton in Sharjah for a couple of nights, driven by an impatient Bangladeshi. We got there in no time. I hadn’t realised that Sharjah, one emirate north of Dubai was alcohol free. I didn’t mind having a few days off though.

My evening stroll along the Corniche in Ajman, the next emirate, was rather lovely, although Ajman is no Dubai. And neither is Sharjah.

The hotel was full of families from Russia, or formerly Russian states. Kids everywhere. I had a simple few days on the beach, away from the crowds.

A run down on the seven emirates for those interested.

The largest is Abu Dhabi which is almost seven times bigger than the rest combined. Ajman is the smallest. Abu Dhabi is also the richest with 90% of all oil production. Ajman is the poorest. Dubai gets the most tourists. All seven have a their own Sheikh. Dubai has the biggest population at 4.2 million (of a total of ten million), and Umm Al Quwain has the fewest at a mere 60,000.

Next stop Turkmenistan.