The Sultanate of Oman…that just sounds cool doesn’t it? If I was to be any type of world leader I would definitely be a Sultan. It sounds way more powerful than Prime Minister, President, Chancellor or even King. Another reason why Babe Ruth’s nickname “The Sultan of Swat” is still the coolest nickname ever. Anyway, […]
The Other Five Emirates
February 5, 2008 by 1 Comment
Everybody knows of Dubai and Abu Dhabi which are the main two Emirates (like states or provinces for my Canadian friends) that make up the United Arab Emirates but it sure would make a great Jeopardy question for 99.9% of people to name one of the other five. The other Emirates are Ajman, Fujairah, Ras […]
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
February 3, 2008 by 2 Comments
Dubai is quite a sight to behold. Coming into the city this morning from Abu Dhabi, I could see the tall buildings from 40 miles away in the flat desert. The place is like a huge construction zone. If you’ve been following my posts each day I have talked about how some places I’ve been […]
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
February 2, 2008 by 9 Comments
Abu Dhabi is what all cities wish they were; wealthy, clean and very safe. It is the capital of the UAE, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and in fact it boasts reserves of 9% of all oil on Earth making it the richest city on Earth. Abu Dhabi also has the worlds second largest mosque […]
Doha, Qatar
February 1, 2008 by 9 Comments
Doha is the type of place where if you revisit it in 10 years you wouldn’t even recognize it. They are building so much here it’s ridiculous. They are even bidding on the 2016 Olympics and have signs all over Doha for it. Today is Friday but in Qatar it’s like a Sunday so nothing […]
Bahrain and the New Gulf
January 30, 2008 by 3 Comments
Flying into Bahrain this morning I was really taken aback once again by just how big and developing this island country is just like Kuwait. From above you can see cranes as far as the eye can see and you can see them constructing very tall amazingly designed buildings and islands. Literally island communities for […]
Kuwait
January 30, 2008 by 1 Comment
I was pretty psyched to leave the terrible weather of Syria behind this morning to head to the 70 degree temperature of Kuwait. Flying into Kuwait was really cool because you are just flying over the Arabian Desert which looks like a huge muddy ocean. There are oil fields dotting the sand in Iraq and […]
Aleppo, Syria
January 29, 2008 by 5 Comments
After a long drive in the pouring rain Assam and I finally arrived in Aleppo in the north of Syria to check out the old and new city of Aleppo. The low cloud cover and torrential rains seriously limited the accessability to the city as the souq was basically flooded and extremely muddy. The little […]
Damascus, Syria
January 28, 2008 by 5 Comments
The name Damascus just sounds cool and it just has an aura of ancient and interesting in the sound of the word. That is exactly how I feel about Damascus, it has proven to be one of the most vibrant and interesting cities I have been to and I have to say that my $8 […]
Beirut, Lebanon
January 28, 2008 by 9 Comments
I arrived in Beirut last night after a weekend in London for my friends 30th birthday. As I stepped off the plane I could sense there was something strange going on. As I collected my bag and headed for the taxi stand, there was a clear military presence at the airport. I got into my […]
