Muscat/Dubai pics finally posted

I finally finished going through and uploading pictures from our recent big trip. I now present to you Muscat and Dubai!

If you're going to go, go all out

The younger bro of the cousin who got married in Oman emailed me the week of Jan 5 to ask if M, my bro, and I would be willing to participate in the first night's festivities by doing a dance. It sounded fun, so of course we agreed! As details were revealed later that week, it would be to this song (until 3 min 15 sec), it would be performed by me, M, bro, aforementioned younger bro of groom (who lives in England), and an 11-yr old cousin (who is in India), and it would be done in front of ~500 people. Indian weddings typically include performances by friends and family, usually dances to Bollywood movie songs, and in this instance the first night was full of such performances, about 15 in total!

In spite of the fact that we were all spread out, that I was the only who had ever done a dance of this kind before, and many last minute changes, we managed to put on a good show! The best part was that our cousin, the groom, was very pleased that we did this for him. We were the only performance from his family's side, and as he put it, "it's so easy to say no when someone asks you to do something like that" and he was very glad that we said yes. As someone who wishes she said no more often, this is one instance in which I am glad we didn't. Here is the video - it's not the best quality, and that's Dad you hear in the background, but it is proof!

Coming home

It's never been easy for me to come home from a trip, and I'm not sure if it's due to my love of travel (I'd rather be anywhere but home base?) or if it's the "letdown after the high" feeling. It's particularly hard when I've gotten to see family that I otherwise don't see very often, ie when will I see them again? And there's also mild culture shock in readjusting. Yesterday was weird because I was worried about my parents who were stuck for 24 hours in the Qatar airport on their way to India. We have been fortunate enough not to have any such mishaps during our travels, and I guess we were long overdue for a problem. They have since made it safely to India. M also helped by surprising me with a bouquet of orange rosebuds (he ran into the store for milk on our way home, and came back with milk and flowers!!). I better use the weekend to unpack, catch up on some missed TV shows (24 and Gossip Girl), clean up email, and ready myself for Mon morning at work.

Dubai Day 5

We spent our final morning here packing our bags and checking out by noon. We then went to the mall across the street from our hotel (we had basically put it off because it was so close). The malls here, at least the ones we've been to, put SouthPark to shame! Of course, they also put my budget to shame, but it's fun to window shop! After lunch, we took a taxi to Palm Jumeirah, one of the man-made island chains where the Atlantis resort is located. We saw yet another part of town with a ton of buildings under construction. My previous estimate of that being 10-20x that of CLT was put to shame, because it's more like a 100 times! It must be the ultimate luxury to buy a villa/bungelow on a man-made island. We came back, killed more time at the mall, then went back to the hotel to pick up our bags and take the shuttle to the airport. M, bro and I are currently waiting for our flight, while my parents are off to India for 2 weeks. Another 14 hour flight awaits us shortly, as we get closer to reality...

Dubai Day 4

I haven't yet mentioned just how much walking we do in any given day here. There is no way to measure it of course, but we're all exhausted by the time we get back to the hotel. We also take taxis, buses, and water taxis, but this is a walking city, and the taxi driver won't come if he deems the distance to be too close (even if to you it's not)! Anyway...
We went to "downtown" Dubai today to check out all the crazy high rises. They definitely get some of the best architectural talent. There's also a LOT of construction: think CLT times 20. Makes me wonder where they're getting all this capital in this global economic crisis. Then, we went to the Mall of the Emirates, the 2nd largest mall in the world after the one in the US. There was a wide variety of shops, from Forever 21 to Gucci, to everything in between, and many European stores, and a whole section of stores catering to Arab clients. Until this trip, I always thought of the black veils Muslim women wear as rather basic and drab. Now my eyes have been opened to the variety in those garments, including decoration, style, etc. I've also realized the sheer wealth in this region, with Muslim women walking into shops, whether at this Mall or at the Gold Souk, and simply pointing to things they're taking home (since they're not able to try things on in public or parade in front of mirrors the way we non-Muslim women tend to do). We also saw Ski Dubai, the world's 3rd largest indoor ski facility, in the mall. It still blows my mind that one can go to the beach here and then go skiing within the same day! We spent the evening wandering through Meena Bazaar and Gold Souk again, finishing up some Indian clothes and jewelry shopping.

Dubai Day 3

We went to the waterfront part, Jumeirah, and started out at the big mosque there. We also got to see the Burj Al Arab, the sailboat-shaped hotel that has become synonymous with Dubai. We had heard that you could pay to have tea there in order to see the inside, but turns out the place was too crowded even when charging 200 Dhs. (approx. $50+) per person, so they put an end to it. Then we want to a modern, Venice-like souk, which was rather overpriced and lacked all of the color and charm of the local, traditional souks. The building itself however was gorgeous! After lunch, we went to the beach and spent a few hours getting some sun, enjoying the white sands and turquoise waters of the Persian Gulf. I failed to mention in a previous blog that I did check out, albeit very briefly, the beach and ocean in Muscat, which was the Arabian Sea. It was quite different (darker sand and water was clear at the beach and turned bluer as it got deeper) which is neat considering the two bodies of water are right next to each other. Getting back to the hotel after the beach turned into quite the ordeal. We tried to hail a taxi for over an hour to no avail! We finally hopped on a bus that wasn't even headed exactly where we needed to go in order to just get closer to our destination. We then walked about 20 min. to get to our hotel. Have I mentioned we're walking a LOT here? I'm getting way more than those 10,000 steps they recommend. We changed and then went to dinner nearby.

Dubai Day 2

We went to Meena Bazaar in the morning, which is the Textile/Clothing market mainly comprised of Indian shop owners and also Indian clothes and accessories. I had a fun time buying a couple of Indian outfits, some jewelry and a pair of shoes. They're not kidding when they say this city is shopping heaven because there really is a LOT of shopping here of all kinds, and although we've seen/done a few things by now, somehow they have involved a lot of (window) shopping!
In the afternoon, we were picked up at the hotel to go on a desert safari. It included an exciting 45 min SUV ride through the sand dunes (that's what I call off-roading!), getting to see the sunset in the desert, a camel ride, belly dancing, and dinner under the stars. 4 of my cousins from India, who we got to see at the wedding in Oman, are also in Dubai for a few days and joined us for this and we all had a fun time. It's amazing how desert-like this place is only about 35 miles out of the city, and then you realize that it was likely all desert until they began to develop the place.
By the way, learned today that gas here is about AED (dirhams) 6.25/gal, which is about $1.71/gal.

Dubai Day 1

Left our hotel apartment at 1045a...(we desperately needed to catch up on sleep after a very hectic wedding week). Went to Deira, which is part of old/historic Dubai, and spent hours in the Gold and Spice Souks (markets). We bought a few things, including a little bit of gold, some spices and fragrances, etc We took the bus there, which was an adventure since we didn't know where to get off! We also wandered around the markets and city where the locals live, and saw the Heritage House (a typical Arab house from the old days) and then took a water taxi over Dubai Creek back to our neighborhood. Must've walked at least 5+ miles and we're exhausted!

Road trip II

On Sat morning, after all the wedding festivities were over, we took the bus back to Dubai. It took about 5-6 hrs in all, but felt so different than our middle-of-the-night-jaunt. This time we were part of 2 buses and about 25+ people in total who were headed to the city. Also, getting into Dubai/UAE is much easier than getting into Oman, just by the nature of their immigration policies/customs and their attitude towards US citizens, among others. We also got to see a bit of the countryside, which is rather mountainous and not just all sand as we expected. Because we left the hotel arrangements up to my Dad, who for some reason was unexpectedly cavalier about the whole thing, we did not know where we were staying, although he had finally managed to book the place through a family friend. Blackberry Internet+Intl texting+Intl calls = $? Luck in figuring out where you're staying for 5 nights = priceless! We're in a 2 BR apt w 2 Baths, and an extra bed for my bro, w kitchen, etc. and it's fairly nice, especially considering we plan to spend very little time here...

Wedding Festivities

The Sangeet (song/dance), Wedding and Reception evenings went by in a blur of activity, changing sarees or outfits, and lack of sleep. They all were fun, and the whole group of us Shahs (from Ahmedabad, India and US) were able to spend time together. The highlight for me was getting to spend time with my cousin, the groom, not only before the wedding but also sitting in the car with him for his arrival as his cousin "sister" (see pics for details). We also managed to sneak in a tour of Muscat City the day of the reception (since it was in the evening). We saw Al Bustan (a beautiful palace hotel), the Sultan's palace, the Grand Mosque in Oman, a mall and a supermarket. I had so much fun and talked so much with my family that I think I've lost my voice, and am still paying for it 2 days later... Either that or I'm getting sick because my throat hurts like hell!

Gas price in Oman

I'm always curious about this, especially since it's often a topic of conversation... It's 0.12 R.O. (Omani Rial) per liter here, which equals about $1.17/gal, or about 16 Indian Rupees/liter. We pay what these days, close to $2/gal? So it's about 50% less here compared to us, and 66% less than India (per my cousins from there who are also here).

Wedding Festivities Day 1

The Mehndi (henna) ceremony was yesterday, and it was held at the house of one of the bride's relatives. This relative is the only non-Muslim Sheikh appointed by the Sultan of Oman. More impressive than his house or wealth were his hospitality and friendliness to us all. We then had an afternoon break, and an Arabian-themed dinner party in the evening. It was so nice to spend time with my family from India and hang out with cousins. The dinner included Arabian food, music, hookah pipes, and a belly dancer!

Road trip from Dubai to Muscat

After getting visa stamps and clearing customs/immigration, we found the person waiting for us with a sign (that was a first, and we felt kinda cool!). We loaded up the van with our luggage and were on our way. The first thing we saw after exiting the airport was an Ikea, Ace Hardware, and a BK drive thru at a gas station! The only unique thing about them (from the outside) was that they had Arabic signs in addition to English. The roads here are very similar to the US and the driver was easily able to go 75-80 miles/hr. We stopped at the border 3x, once to get a UAE exit stamp, then to clear customs in Oman, and again to get an entry visa/stamp in Oman. Stopping on borders at 11:30p to get visas/stamps and taking a van overnight seemed like a good idea until you're standing in a govt bldg where you don't speak the language and you wonder what's taking so long, ie is something wrong? Thankfully the driver spoke Arabic (in addition to Hindi and some
Gujarati; he was Pakistani), so we were in good hands. We arrived at our hotel at 2 am and went to sleep.

The flight

This flight was long but didn't feel nearly as bad as the one to India (are we getting used to this?!). We each watched a movie, and I fell asleep while M watched a couple of TV shows and then slept. Although we didn't sleep without disruption or discomfort, when we woke up we had a little more than 3 hrs left! We both watched another movie, and played a few games, and then we landed. The interesting thing to note on the flight was that everything was in English and Arabic. It was a first for me to be faced with a language of which I know nothing! I quickly picked up on the word for thank you, and I think it will serve me well. Also, of the screens that show you altitude, time to destination, flight path, etc, one of them pointed you to the direction of Mecca, so that Muslims know in which direction to pray. I didn't observe anyone praying, but thought it was a neat touch, and a reminder of where we were headed.

The storm before the calm?

It must be one of those rules in life that things get crazy right before a vacation/trip, and I tend to get myself into too much anyway even in a regular week. It's not that I don't know how to say "no," it's that I usually don't want to! Sat: did a bunch of things around the house; at night, we went out with friends and were out quite late (or early ;) depending on your perspective). Sun: slept in, and then ran errands frantically in order to get things done, and then practiced (more on that in a future post). Work is always busy before you have to leave because we all want to leave things just right, and my week is no different. Mon evening: went to the Levine Museum of the New South to put up my wedding sari on a mannequin, as part of an upcoming exhibit (more on that in a future post). Tues eve: had dinner with a friend whom I see once every few months. Wed eve: UNC v. Dook game, and I watched it with my roommate from fresh-soph years who now lives in CLT. Thurs: was s'posed to be Book Club but I just had to bail on that (haven't read the book and just not up for it). Fri eve: reception at the Levine Museum for their new exhibit, and I def don't want to miss that. Somewhere in all of this, I've had to start packing, making phone calls to get things done related to overseas travel (i.e. flagging credit cards for usage there, calling VZ to see about charges related to usage there, etc.), etc. But, as a good friend put it today, "at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel! You get to go on vacation!!"

Wedding in Oman

We received our invitation this week to the cousin's wedding we are attending in Muscat, Oman. There's something about holding a wedding invitation in your hands, especially to one I am attending, that gets me so excited! It's about being with family or friends, dressing up, seeing the ceremony joining two people, etc. In this particular case, getting the details of the festivities also gives me a better idea of how the first week of our trip will proceed. You can check out their website for details... 5 weeks to go!

It's official - we're going to Dubai!

Given the economy and the current state of the banking industry, I wasn't sure we should make this trip. But then I realized I would regret not going more than going, which made the decision easier. So, we bought our tickets to Dubai! It is about a 13 hour direct flight from Atlanta, and my parents and bro are going too. As it stands now, we all fly out together in mid-Feb. Then, M returns 1 week later, my bro and I return 5 days after that, while my parents head to India for 2 weeks and return in mid-March. It seems like this is many months from now, but with the holidays around the corner and making the days fly by, it's really not. I love the anticipation of a trip!

Muscat it is!

Got word recently from Uncle in England that my cousin's wedding will be in Feb 2009 in Muscat, Oman! That's just far enough away to look forward to it and save a bunch of money (because it won't be cheap). Bro is starting to look into flights, and they're only slightly less than a trip to India. Then again, you are almost there + fuel prices have gone up dramatically since the India visit. Looked up the exchange rate, and it is 0.38 Rial = $1... not sure whether to freak out about that or not, seeing as I don't know the Rial's purchasing power. However, Oman is an oil-rich country, and the $ is weak, so this is likely not in our favor. And, we'll probably have to get visas, not only to Oman, but also to United Arab Emirates (UAE) since we want to visit Dubai. One thing at a time, I guess...

Next trip!

On our flight home from St Maarten, I was a bit bummed to realize that we are probably not going anywhere "new/exciting/exotic" for a while, at least during the next 6, if not 12, months. But, that worry was laid to rest very quickly!

I have family in England whom I am very fond of, and my older cousin there just got engaged! He came to our wedding, and I have always said that I would show up for his, wherever it was. The girl lives in London, as he does, but her family is in Muscat, Oman! Having never been to England or Oman, I'm excited about the prospects of a wedding in either place. Not sure when it will be either, but I'm guessing late this year/early next year. I think I can sit tight for that long... ;)