The state of Al Ain is probably the greenest place I had seen till now in my entire UAE trip. It was a group picnic where people from my father’s office were also to join us. We started the day early and assembled at 8 AM at the office which was chosen as the most convenient starting point of the onwards journey. It was a complete day outing where we planned to cover 3 places.

Al Ain is located about 130 km from Dubai and our place of interest, Jebel Hafeet was another 35 km ahead on a hill top. People were slowly reaching the office. The snacks and goodies were distributed to all before starting the journey. With some initial discussions and group formations, we finally managed to leave at 9:30 AM. After an hour of driving we halted for the snacks break. With a bit of lost ways and wrong turns we finally reached the hilltop in another hour by about 11:30 AM.

The landscape of road and the turns it formed to reach the hilltop is quite amazing. It is a single naturally created mountain with flat areas around it. There is no commercial plaza but just a small snack shop to cater for tea coffee and some cookies. The mountain top has been flattened to create a huge plain surface for enjoyment and strolling around. I explored all the different directions from the top capturing many photos. All the cars which came in were parked at the edges of the mountain leaving the middle area free for walk. There was a young Arab who seemed to flash his Ferrari and was racing around the place. The sound created by the machine was music to ears and the actual vehicle is a dream machine. The trademark red color was just amazing and I tried to take some photos but was not quite successful.

One of the photos which I took during the walk around was published in Gulf News newspaper which was an exciting moment for me. After our venturing and exploration was complete we descended to a Park which was the second destination of the picnic.

At the park lunch was arranged from a nearby hotel. We spread out multiple huge mats to accommodate the 25 people that were present. The mats were arranged in the shade of date palm trees which seemed to be modified to bear no fruits but grow bigger near the ground. Once we were done with eating, the stage was set for some fun activity. We played the game of Tambola aka Housie which was being played by many people for the first time and they were really having a great time. I would say that this is one game which can easily be played by a group of any size and will keep them engrossed throughout. The whole anxiety of winning a prize was great.

All of us had a good time and we played 2 rounds which lasted for about an hour. We then traveled to the last destination of day, a theme park called Funcity in the same state of Al Ain.

The rides seem to be scary from a distance and we were content watching them from there.  Rides ranged from 360 degrees turns, water rides, 4D film show and many others. I restricted myself to the simple ones and then just relaxed sitting in the grass. By now it was time for dinner and we had again ordered it from the same restaurant which provided us with lunch. The 4D movie experience was the first time for me and I enjoyed it. It is a 15 minutes short movie where the screen shows the 3D affect and the remaining 1D is provided by the movement of seats.

After the final meal of the day we started heading back and reached home by 10:30 pm. The total driving for the day was close to 400km but the fatigue was little.

The Christmas of 2008 and the new year of 2009 was a memorable one as it was celebrated in the magnificent city of Dubai.

UAE is a federation of 7 emirate states and Dubai is one such and famed emirate. The complete list of 7 emirates is namely, Ras al-Khaimah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Fujairah,Ajman,Umm al-Quwain.

The capital of UAE is Abu Dhabi. The governance is defined with the king of Abu Dhabi as the President of UAE. The ruler and king of Dubai is the Vice President and Prime Minister. Beyond that I have little knowledge about the governance except the fact that it is quite strict and enforcement is very well done.

Dare not cross the law or you are done for life!

My trip materialized as my father was on a project in Dubai for about 9 months. The trip timing was also perfect from the weather perspective as the temperature was in the range of around 25-30 degree centigrade. I have heard that the temperature in months of June, July crosses 50 C making the outside weather a furnace.

The land is a dream place for many as people from all over the world come and work here. The city has grown phenomenally over the past decade. It has produced some engineering marvels like Palm Jumeirah and many more in the pipeline which has changed the map of world.

I was on a vacation to this dreamland for 3 weeks and trust me I had a great time. It is an excellent place for tourists and just have fun. My stay of 3 weeks also included witnessing 1 week of the lavish Dubai Shopping Festival.

All the places which I went while my stay in Sharjah were a day’s trip. From the visits, I did not find any necessity to stay overnight at any place. My recommendation would be to plan all the places as a day trip only. You can plan to leave early mornings and get back by night.

In the next few series of posts I will walk you through the different places I went which should help you in planning your journey.

Before I close, the currency of UAE is AED, Arab Emirate Dirham. Also popularly known as Dirham with a high side rough conversion figure of 3 AED = 1 USD.

Dubai is a city which has risen from desert to spectacular buildings pushing architectural engineering to its limits. The map of world is being redesigned with man made islands like "The Palm" and the much more lavish and bigger projects like "The World" and "Palm-Jebel Ali".

I was on my maiden visit to United Arab Emirates, mainly Sharjah and Dubai for the Christmas 2008 and New Year 2009.

The country is beautiful and a tourists’ delight to explore the city life and also get to indulge in one of the best hotels offered globally. The country is quite liberal embracing people from all religions with open arms and allowing them to make this country their home.

I will post separate posts in the future about the trips and various places I visited in the long 3 weeks vacation I had there. In the meantime I managed to click some photos and send a few to Gulf News newspaper. This is the largest circulating newspaper in the region.

Below is the photos which I took on our way to Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain, a table top region popular for panoramic views and picnic spot for locals.

The photo is part of a gallery and the complete gallery can be viewed here. My photo in the gallery can be found at the 6/20 location.