Atlantis Park deux

Another shot of the aquarium.
Shot of the river. The river split into different areas. One area called the Rapids, was incredible. You got anywhere you needed to go fast! Also, when you think of slides, most people think that you should use gravity to help you go down... well.. they have slide that shoots you UPWARDS to to the top of all the other slides. It was insane. Super scary. But when we got to the top, we just got to go back down a different slide! Awesome!
Stingray!
Shot of a part of Atlantis. It is a sight to see! I forgot to mention Atlantis is on the famous Palm. We have to go to the other waterpark called Wild Wadi! That is our next adventure!

Atlantis Waterpark!

The structure of the waterpark was so impressive. They had a huge river where all their slides ran into. You could even take the river to get to the slides! You could even go up an "escalator" type machine where you sit on your tube and it takes you up! haha Incredible!

The inside joke was I was wearing my old Ellis lifeguard shirt which says "INSTRUCTOR", and lifeguards were coming up to me asking me how my day was doing. They asked me " Are you auditing us right now?" haha
A play area for children! Notice the loungers have built in shade!
Two of the slides went into an aquarium! Look close and you will see people on a tube going through. It was incredible. There were fish, stingrays, sharks, the works. They were above you, below you, and it felt like you were swimming with them!
Look at the mouth of the structure. It is a 80 foot tall slide! And Yes, I did it! We all did. I still don't know why they dont call them "wedgie maker" but its real name was "LEAP OF FAITH"

The gang! We have ALP aka "the turkish delight", Chad aka "Superman" , Me , Iris aka "Tiny" and James aka "the Shark" A great day to spend with great people!

Ramadan

Hello hello everyone! For those of you who do not know it is Ramadan from August 20th to September 18th. This means, no food or drink in public from sunrise to sundown. Yikes. Well, to explain it, the malls are completely empty throughout the day, and at night, Dubai comes alive! It is really hard not to drink water (I find this is the worst). Luckily, I am inside and when I leave the house here, I take water with me and just drink it in the washroom, or hide it. Its been an interesting experience to say the least!

At around 6:30 to 7:00 at sundown, there is a celebration called Iftar, where the Arabs eat eat eat and eat! They set up tents in the malls, and there are tonnes of people on the streets, celebrating that they made it another day! I will have to participate in an Iftar to get the full experience. I will let you know how it goes!

Allie

Dolphin watching

This is a video of the dolphins! Enjoy !

Oman: On the water!

This is for the Ruler of Oman. But he doesnt stay here, his guests do!
Chad and Mohammad. Chad is sporting his new head gear! Mohammad insisted that he did not take it off, and that we were family now.
This is the view from the city of Muscat of the first picture. The Ruler of Oman's house.
They call this the "Black Head" . The stone is black, and it looks like a head! Fitting Name!
This is a very cool part of history! British ships would come in, and write their name on the rock wall. As you boat by, there are tonnes and tonnes of names carved in the rock, or written. Very cool.

Oman: Traditional Dinner Experience

Chad and I went for a Dolphin tour on the Gulf. It was amazing. Dolphins surrounded us!
Me on the boat. I was feeling a bit sea sick because of the waves, but they soon settled and I felt fine.
View from the Marina!
Our tour guide Mohammad, took us to his farm to see his goats. He has a date farm. Dates make you strong and help make children in the Omani culture! When Omani's get married they have children right away, they have about 10-14 children. So Chad and I were asked if we had children about 10 times. haha
A traditional Omani lunch. Fresh dates from the palm trees, and rice and a meet. They have rice EVERY DAY. They also eat with their hands only. You should never use your left hand. The left hand is considered dirty. You also have to eat A LOT. The family will keep feeding you. When you are stuffed you say "HALAS". Which means "FINISH".

Chad and I had a great experience in Oman. Mohammad liked his "Canadians" so much that he invited us back to his home the next day for lunch. When we got there, Chad and I were separated. I went into the room they call the meeting room with all women and Chad went with the men. Only one of the women spoke English, so I got to learn a few Arabic words. After, I got a tour of their land, and they brought out this beige powder which you add water too to make a sunblock. So I wore that on my face, and it felt like sand! haha Chad learned and took part in traditional Omani dances, they also gave him a head wrap to wear. (See other blog)

During the dinner, the little girls asked me if there was traditional dress in Canada. I told them that they were looking at it (t-shirt and jeans). They also asked me what snow is like, and how I survive in the cold. haha I told them that you just get used to it! As we were eating, they offered me coffee. When you are served coffee and you are finished, you hand the coffee cup to the server and shake it. The shaking means you are HALAS (finished) otherwise the server will fill up your cup again. After dinner, I thanked the family, and we said our goodbyes. So, I experienced the traditional Arabic culture! It was unforgetable. They treated Chad and I like we were a king and Queen. Mohammad's family said I was like princess Diana to them. ahah They were amazing.

Oman: The SINKHOLE

So, our tourguide tells us that he is going to bring us to this sinkhole. So I asked him what it was and how it got there. The story goes, that a star came down and made this hole in the ground. The water is salty, and blue-green. Its stunning. The tour guide said if we did not like it, he could take us somewhere else to swim. I said "this will do" hahah
People jumping off the sinkhole. Chad and I jumped off too. We both scratched our knees trying to get up with the rope they have set up. Again, we noticed all british, european people were here.
This is how you get down to the sinkhole.
Chad and I and the beautiful view. And YES, you can wear bikinis in OMAN and DUBAI and most places in the UAE. Sharjah, Saudi Rabia, and more traditional places bikinis are not acceptable for the most part. If the beachs are private, you also cannot wear revealing clothing. This is a huge public tourist attraction, therefore it is just fine!
I'm all smiles about the sinkhole! You couldn't take the smile off my face! What a great place.

Oman: Wadi Shabb up close!

Banana Tree! There were also mango trees. Omani bananas are smaller. The taste amazing. They are the perfect size in my opinion!
Another picture of the Wadi. Notice the fire on the lft hand side of the picture. A lot of families ventured into the Wadi to BBQ. You NEED a four wheel drive. We noticed a lot of British people in this area! It was very interesting.
We drove around the Wadi Shabb, into a village a street that was one way. The houses do not have numbers in this area, just sections. Similar, in the Dubai, you always have to leave yourself enough time to get where you want to go because there are no offical addresses here. They give you "sections" and you have to look within these sections to find what you want.
Chad and I and the Waddi Shabb!
This is officially what they call Wadi Shabb. It is stunning. You can hike alongside the palm trees on the right of the picture for 40 minutes to get to some caves inside. So many people come here to barbecue for the day.

Oman : Part 1 : The Wadi Shabb

The first day we went on the "Wadi Shabb tour" This is one of the pictures of the Gulf Coast on the way to the Wadi Shabb.
Chad and the beautiful Gulf!
The gulf again, I just loved the colour of the water

Me and the mountains! We drove uphill (4WD) through mountains for about 20 minutes. I told our tour guide, our mountains have snow on the top! He didn't believe me. hha It was too "unreal" ahah

More pictures

Hilton has a resort here. It was 200 AED to get in, which is about 70 Canadian Dollars to use the their private beach.
Another Resort called the "COVE". A 5 star, very beautiful and very expensive.
House by the beach, who decided to paint!

Ras Al Khaimah : Another Emirate final post!

Another Beautiful mosque right in the core city.
Some housing.
Boats on the beach.
Some camels by the beach. I am yet to ride one! Soon enough.


Chad and I travel to Oman next week. We have a dolphin sighting trip planned, as well as a mountain and cave adventure planned with a tour guide. I will post pictures as soon as I get back!

Miss you all

Allie

Ras Al Khaimah : Another Emirate Continued

A mountain goat!! Goats are everywhere, as well as cows, camels and ostriches.
Notice the representatives of Canada here? haha
Hotel Lobby. Quite nice. Everything was Marbel as well.
The view of the outdoor pool from our room balcony. This pool was for men and women. Inside there were two separate pools for the genders.
Me enjoying the free breakfast and coffee in the morning!!! Carrie: notice the Gucci Ring you bought. haha lovely!

Ras Al Khaimah : Another Emirate!

This is the only natural springs in the UAE! We were not allowed to take pics! But I snuck one! There are stones on the bottom. I'd say it was about 40 degrees Celsius. There were separate springs for Men and Women.
This is the hotel we stayed at! It was literally in the mountains. Very cool.
Chad and I had to pull over and take a picture. Camels are becoming so "Cliche" to me now! haha
Just thought I would take a pic of this! This is how the get shade in their parking lots.
Me at the mall! It was called the Manar Mall. Everything was Marbel. The entire mall.