Morts Musings

Another of my short pieces looking at travel destination. This time I take a look at the UAE (United Arab Emirates), a place I was lucky enough to visit some years ago. While it might not count as a budget holiday, there are some surprisingly cheap air fares available. For example, Etihad, the national carrier, is currently offering fares of less than £300 from Heathrow to Abu Dhabi.

The UAE is a small country which, prior to 1971, was known as the Trucial States, a reference to treaties which existed between the British and the region’s rulers. The UAE is comprised of seven emirates which still operate as absolute monarchies, although it also has a central federal government.

The two best known emirates are probably Abu Dhabi, the nation’s capital & largest of the emirates, geographically speaking, and, Dubai, the most populace of the emirates. Although both operate under Islamic law, both have, over the years, built a reputation as being amongst the most “western friendly” of the Gulf States; An attitude which, combined with the fact that the UAE has the world’s sixth largest oil reserves, has been of great benefit both to the people of these states, and for the western companies who have worked in co-operation with them.
As a result the UAE today is, economically speaking, one of the world’s most developed nations, and this wealth is clearly evident from some of the feats of engineering which can be seen all over the UAE, such as the Palm Islands, or indoor ski slopes, in Dubai, or the newly constructed Yas Marina Racing Circuit which has been built to host the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Both cities also have large international airports, and Etihad operates flights to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as well as numerous other destinations.

Travellers to the country are strongly advised to familiarise themselves with local laws and customs, a sensible preparation when visiting any foreign culture. For example, during one of Islam’s major festivals, Ramadan, it is not permitted to eat, drink, or smoke during daylight hours, & although foreign visitors tend to be given some leeway, in terms of observing this, eating, drinking or smoking in public during the day will land you in serious hot water! The FCO site is a pretty good place to start looking if you want to find out more of the “dos” and “don’ts”.
Another major consideration, when planning a trip to the UAE, is the time of year. Although air conditioning is almost ubiquitous, both in buildings and vehicles, the summer months are still likely to feel uncomfortably hot to those from cooler climes.

If you’re looking for a holiday which will allow you to experience a completely different culture, as well as spectacles, both ancient and modern, you could do a lot worse than look at the UAE as a potential holiday destination.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Friday, September 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.