Ski Dubai and other Arabian adventures
Here are a few photos (out of 1,800) of my travels in Arabia.
First up is Ski Dubai. It is an indoor ski resort. For $50 I got two hours of skiing, boots, poles, pants and jacket (no gloves or hats--I thought I was tough but it was pretty cold) . A woman from the Philippines help me get my clothing, an Egyptian man helped with equipment and lift attendants were from India and Bulgaria. I rode up on the lift with someone from Ireland, England and Alabama.
The rental skis and the groomed corduroy snow. The possy would have enjoyed the ski conditions. It was 40 degrees centigrade (104 F) outside with high humidity
The view from the top.
Mid mountain. The skiing was actually better than expected. I even got some air on this dog leg curve and bump.
From the bottom.
Local Emiratee parents watching their kids in the tubing and tobogganing part of the resort.
The upper part of the "mountain"
A Lebanese restaurant at the base of the resort. My colleague and I treated a former Jordanian student (Sulaf) of mine who now lives in Dubai to a wonderful late lunch.
The huge and lavish Mall of the Emirates that includes Ski Dubai
Burg Dubai. A seven star hotel on a man-made island. We had a seven course afternoon tea in the large atrium of the hotel. This time Sulaf treated (ouch to her pocketbook, but there was no way to turn down Arab hospitality).
Main street Dubai. All of the buildings are less than 10 years old and it goes on and on along the Gulf coast.
The almost completed royal mosque of Abu Dhabi. The Emir wants it to rival the Taj Hahal.
Inside the mosque.
Camels and dunes on the edge of the empty quarter in southern United Arab Emirates
the dunes of Arabia
Southern Oman near Salalah. One of several possible sites for the land bountiful.
Kor Rori--another possible site of Bountiful. I am standing on the edge of the archaeological remains of a tel (hill) of one of the main cites of the famed frankincense trade. The inlet would have been a great place to build a boat and the cliff in the distance would have been a possible place for throwing righteous brothers into the sea.
A frankincense tree with two amber droplets of frankincense oozing out (which I harvested)
The Thursday camel market in Sinaw Oman
The Sultan Qaboos mosque in Muscat Oman
Four wheeling up an over the Rock Mountains of Oman
Petra Jordan.
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Interesting photos - I hope we get to see more of them in the future. Corduroy looks like corduroy no matter where you find it but I am sure you are one of a very samll and select group of Utahns who have skied in Dubai.
ReplyDeleteI am very jealous that you got to ski Dubai!!!!
ReplyDeleteI am now putting this towards the top of my To-Do's in life!
Fife,
ReplyDeleteOnce again I find great joy in living through your world travels. Now I see what Dubai can do with money, I feel a lot better about paying almost $5/gallon for gas. It's also nice to know that a man of your advanced age can still 'get air'.
Fife
Someone needs to tell the Emir to quit pumping petrol-dollars into a "Taj Mahal 2008" and start looking into building some TALL indoor ski domes. I see "Winter Olympics 2030 - Dubai Style" in the future.
ReplyDeleteExcellent report. And a very fetching ski jacket/pant combo.
LUCKY!!! Not only is it comforting to know how the gas money is being spent but also my tithing for all the "research." At least this is worth while research. Keep it up...
ReplyDeleteWho knew the skiing in Dubai would be better than Illinois? Great pictures overall including the last one with the Indiana Jones look to it.
ReplyDeleteFife II,
ReplyDeleteJust returned home from a week of travel and took a closer look. Do we have to wait until the family letter to get the full report? I could have used a post on just Petra alone with more photos and history. Frankincense comes from a tree? who knew? Could you tell if the men at the camel market were wearing Armani under their traditional robes? Fascinating stuff.
Fife I