TOURING UAE - Travel Light, LLC

Qasba Canal, Sharjah

Our day started early, and our first stop was Sharjah, recognized by UNESCO as the Cultural Capital of the Arab World. It is the third-largest city in the UAE, located on the Arabian Peninsula and bordering both the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.

Sharjah is a 30-minute drive from Dubai but is far more traditional and lacks Dubai’s glitz.

Al Noor Mosque

Melissa and I needed to get scarves, as our tour included mosques, so we stopped at a shopping mall along the way. The image on the right is of mosaic work on the outside of the mall.

Our next stop was the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization (images below). Sharjah Museum of Islam Civilization

The image on the lower left shows the mosque entrance inside the museum. This is very common in the Arab world I have visited. It is also common when flying with an Arab carrier for prayer times to be displayed on your screen.

Mosaic work

Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization

In and around the Ali Humaid Fish Trading

Ali Humaid Fish Trading

Our next stop was in the city of Ras Al Khaimah at the National Museum National Museum of Ras Al Khaimah . The museum. Al Hisn Fort houses a museum with a long history. A fort on this site has existed since the 16th century, but the current building was constructed in the 19th century, after the British invaded and destroyed the fort in 1819.

The Fort was home to the emirate’s ruling family until 1964 and now houses archaeological finds discovered since 1968 in the Ras Al Khimah emirate.

Side note: Each of the seven emirates, which comprise the UAE, is governed by its own ruler.

National Museum of Raj Al Khaimah

AL BIDYAH MOSQUE

This is the oldest mosque still standing in the UAE UNESCO Al Bidyah Mosque. The construction date is unknown because the building contains no wood suitable for carbon dating. But the Fujairah Archaeological Center and the University of Sydney collaborated to establish the date and concluded that it was built in 1448 AD.

The mosque has a niche in the wall called the mihrab, which indicates the direction of Mecca, as shown in the center image. Also on the walls are cubes for holding the Quran, a picture on the left.

We arrived shortly before evening prayers.

AL BIDYAH FUJAIRAH

Khorfakkan Falls is an artificially made waterfall in Khor Fakkan. It was a fun stop; we walked through the restaurant behind the waterfalls. No time for dinner, but someplace to return to. The image at left is of the sign for the falls, spelled out in flowers.

Khurfakkan Falls

Fujairah Fort

The image at left is of Fujairah Fort Fujairah Fort. As you can tell, we arrived very late in the day, too late for any tours. It is among the oldest and most prominent in the UAE, dating back to the 16th century, and was used by the Wahhabists from 1808 until 1810. After the locals drove out the Wahhabists, the Fort was used as a prison until 1900. The British Navy toppled three of the towers in 1925, and it remained abandoned until the 1990s.

The Fujairah Administration of Antiquity and Heritage restored the Fort from 1997 to 2000 using the materials from the original fort.

TRAVEL AGENTS, SITES AND SERVICES

Anna at Bin Majid Tourism arranged our trips to Qatar and Oman. See link above for her contact information.