Sunday, February 9, 2014

A nation without a past is a nation without a present or a future

Stated by His Highness, the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founder & Former President of the United Arab Emirates. Unless you have lived in the Gulf region/Arabian Peninsula like my family for five decades now, or you have been to any part of the region in the past ten-twenty years, its phenomenon how much UAE have changed, Sharjah and Dubai in particular. Sharjah is the more conservative and in my opinion calmer, more historical spot to enjoy an authentic version of the country, besides Abu Dhabi. On the other hand, despite its reputation as the 'Venice of the Middle East, or Vegas of the ME,' Dubai is a tourist paradise, if you are willing to spend a bit of money to tour some of its top architectural divine and night life, or lucky enough to have your family and friends who live there to give you the local tour. Not to mention its amazing malls and gold/silver market for the shopaholic among us and of course some of the best restaurants and local cuisines for food connoisseur's.

Here is Part I of the pictures I took while travelling the Gulf region, Sharjah and Ajman fish market in particular. I took over 1000s pictures since I haven't been back to these 2 cities since I was 8 years old, close to 20 years now. I will post the rest including mostly Dubai and Ras al-Khaimah in a week's time (yes, I'll try not to neglect my blog for another month).

Ajman Fishing Market