Jordan - Dec 2012

This past weekend the UAE turned 41 years old…very young country! To mark National day each year, a 2 day public holiday is provided which made for a 4 day weekend. The festivities are unbelievable. It would actually be interesting to take part at some point, but we couldn’t turn down the opportunity to travel. Our trip with our travelling “mates” took us to Jordan. Jordan is a three hour flight from Abu Dhabi. When we arrived we rented vehicles and went straight into the desert to a place called Wadi Rum. It was three hours from the airport, so a long day for the kids.

We met our guide at the village situated right at the entry to Wadi Rum and took an open ride in the back of a very old truck about 15 minutes into the desert to our camp. Our camp was situated inside a circular rock enclosure, with one entry. It was very unique. There were about 6 tents of varying sizes for guests, and a main gathering tent to eat at. There was also two toilets with running water and a sink for the camp, which was a seller for Carmen. We arrived right before sunset and the guides took us to a viewing point to watch the sun go down. We were tight on time so we told the kids to hurry as we wanted to “catch” the sunset. We never gave much thought to our words, but as soon as we got out of the jeep, Trace bolted down the sand dune and just started running. He reminded me off a dog running away. At first we all were laughing and the guides were joking that we will have to drive to pick him up. I tried calling him back, but he couldn’t hear me so then I started to worry as he had gone so far, I could hardly see him. He finally turned around and started making his way back to us, and I soon could hear him crying so went running to meet him. When I got to him, he said with such innocence that he was trying to catch the sun. He thought he had caught it and it was beautiful! My heart just melted.

That night we enjoyed a wonderful meal. The chicken and potatoes were BBQ in a make shift hole in the ground that took around three hours to cook. It was soooo good. The Jordanians also make the best tea. I guess it has sugar and sage in it. Wow, we couldn’t get enough….and neither of us are tea drinkers. The nights in the desert get cold in December…not much above zero, so it also helped keep us warm. The blankets in the tents were nice and thick, but it still was cold on the head. The kids did pretty good, but Rafielle did wake a couple of times saying she was cold because she had lost her blankets.

We spent the entire next day touring the sights of Wadi Rum. It was amazing. There are pictures of us climbing the Rock Bridge of Um Fruth and some sand dunes. Again, mommy was quite nervous. It somehow ended up that the girls went first and thankfully Karen helped Carmen guide Rafielle. However, Carmen wouldn’t let Trace go up. She was just too scared. He was upset at first, but quickly got over it as Logan didn’t want to go and we promised he could climb at the next site. We made many stops along the way, including a canyon walk and a place called Lawrence Springs where you could see a couple of small watering holes. We had lunch and just relaxed as the kids went up and down some sand dunes, laughing, jumping, and diving into the never-ending red sand. What fun! By the time we got back to camp is was just before supper and we all we quite tired. The kids went down very easily, while the adults had a couple of glasses (plasticJ) of wine by the fire.

We left the camp early the next morning so as to see Petra. Apparently, it is one of the “new” seven wonders of the world. It was about a 1.5hour drive and unfortunately as the day wore on, Carmen and Karen both became sicker and sicker. We ended up getting to Petra, walking about 30 minutes to the Treasury, which was pretty amazing, but deciding to turn around and leave. The kids were all out of sorts, and with the two ladies sick, no one had the energy for the 2 plus hours it would take to tour the other parts of Petra. It seemed like a bit of a waste, but will have to come back another time. It just wasn’t going to happen. We had a quick lunch before taking the Kings road to the dead sea. It was a 3 hour drive, which was quite scenic. The views were stunning, but the travel did take its toll. Everyone was happy to arrive at the dead sea and get to a hotel to have a nice long, warm shower. We stayed at a Movenpic hotel with a lot of security. Our cars were checked before we arrived and our bags had to go through metal detectors. Just another reminder of the part of the world we were located. We also noticed a military truck with machine guns was stationed just outside the airport when we arrived.

The entrance to the dead sea was closed when we arrived. I found that funny so we had to wait until the next morning to check it out. We woke up early enough to enter the dead sea for the sunrise. It was very strange to just float. At first you wanted to fight it, but when you just relaxed, it was amazing how your feet just flew up. The adults enjoyed it more than the kids. Rafielle and Trace balled when they got in. The lasted all of about one minute. They had some cuts and all the salt burned them. They cried all the way back to the hotel room and into the shower. Poor little ones. It was just as well, as Carmen and Karen looked very unwell, so we had our breakfast and headed for the airport. It really was too bad they fell ill, yet we all did manage to have another great adventure!

Next trip is off to Canada….the kids have a countdown chart and its 10 days and counting.. 

Chasing the sunset :)

Waiting for supper in the tent

Smores anyone?

lunch in the desert - delicious

Lawrence of Arabia's home

Indiana Jones

Floating in the dead sea - paradise

Formula One - Abu Dhabi

Approximately 6 years ago Abu Dhabi built a Formula 1 race track and since 2009 has hosted an annual race as part of the Formula 1 circuit.  The track was obviously built with the mindset of hosting the big Formula 1 race, but it seems to be used throughout the year hosting other types of races and to allow tourists to take a try at the track with different types of fast cars.  They even open up the track once a week for cyclists and runners to train on.  Carmen and I used this opportunity when training for the triathlon. 

Carmen nor I are race fans but since the race is literally is in our backyard we figured we should give it a try.  The race is on a Sunday but the overall race festivities spans over 3 days.  One of the big things about the race is the concerts held in the evenings.  Typically the race is able to draw big headline singers which helps justify the price of the race tickets….so we tell ourselves.

Anyway, we decided to purchase the two day ticket which included the qualifying races on Saturday and the actual race on Sunday (Friday is more for the real race junkies).  Although most of the Formula 1 activity in the later afternoon, there are also V8 races (similar to stock cars) during the day with lots of activity outside the stadium.   For Saturday races, Carmen was able to get a free ticket from her school so on Saturday morning, Trace, Rafi and myself went to check it out.  Neither of the kids were too excited about the racing but there was enough activities (i.e. face painting, Wii games, Bungee trampoline, mini golf, and snackies) to keep them entertained. 

The race itself was very interesting but amazingly loud.  I ended up purchasing ear headsets for Carmen and I to minimize the sound and even with these the sound was loud.  Without them would have been deafening.  Fortunately there was a lot at stake in this race for the overall standings and without sounding harsh, there were a couple of crashes that made the finish quite exciting. 

The three headline singers were Kylie Minogue, Nickelback and Eminem.  Since we only had the two day pass we didn’t get tickets for Kylie.  For being a conservative Muslim country I found it ironic that two of music headliners were singers known for their profanity and sexual connotations.  The concerts were fab!

All in all a great one time experience….but it one of those been there done that.   We probably won’t do it again unless we get some visitors that are keen to go…hint hint J



Nickelback concert



View from our seats

Carmen's Birthday

Carmen’s Birthday was on a week day but we still maximized the day:

Morning – Trace and Rafi woke up with me to help prepare Mommy’s favorite breakfast (porridge, fresh fruit, coffee and juice) and surprised her with breakfast in bed.  When she got downstairs she had a couple of cards with a massage voucher for after the triathlon.

School – Carmen’s school has decorated her classroom door with Birthday wishes

Afterschool – Carmen and the kids drove to the Corniche to meet me on the beach for an early supper on the beach and some playing around in the sand…..supper included a Cinnabon treats.  Can you tell if Rafi is enjoying hers.

Late evening – the night finished with Carmen and I going to a fancy restaurant on the 63^rd floor of a new hotel in Abu Dhabi.  Fortunately we had a two for one voucher.  The supper was delicious and the view was spectacular.

A day only worthy of my special wife…I love you!

Honestly, I'm not kicking my son :)

Only the best for my birthday girl

Muscat, Oman Oct 2012 Eid

Since we’ve arrived to Abu Dhabi, almost anyone we spoke to has raved about visiting Oman. 

So for Eid Al Adha, a Muslim holiday in October (a nice 4 day weekend), we decided to fly to Muscat, Oman with another family, which are becoming our travelling “mates”.  Michael is from Australia, Karen from South Africa and their children Logan and Imara.  Logan, 3 years, shares the same birthday as the twins. Imara is just a year old and is such a trooper. Kids get along great as do the adultsJ Michael was a good person to travel with as he is in the ship building business and frequently is in Muscat for work. 

A little information about Muscat and Oman, courtesy of Wiki:

Muscat is the capital of Oman. The metropolitan area spans approximately 1,500 km² (580 sq mi) and includes six provinces called wilayats. Since the ascension of Qaboos bin Said as Sultan of Oman in 1970, Muscat has experienced rapid infrastructural development that has led to the growth of a vibrant economy and a multi-ethnic society. The rocky Western Al Hajar Mountains dominate the landscape of Muscat. The city lies on the Arabian Sea along the Gulf of Oman and is in the proximity of the strategic Straits of Hormuz. Low-lying white buildings typify most of Muscat's urban landscape, while the port-district of Muttrah, with its corniche and harbour, form the north-eastern periphery of the city. Muscat's economy is dominated by trade, petroleum and porting.

Muscat's economy, like that of Oman, is dominated by trade. The more traditional exports of the city included dates, mother of pearl, and fish. Many of the souks of Muttrah sell these items and traditional Omani artifacts. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has been central to Muscat's economy since at least 1962 and is the country's second largest employer, after the government.

The currency is called Omani Riyals and its conversion is approximately 1 riyal to 2.4 Canadian dollars.  Overall, we found Oman to be slightly more expensive than UAE.

It was only a one hour flight but due to the busy weekend, the airport was pretty crazy which resulted in the kids having to hang around for over an hour....thank goodness for IPad!  

Although Oman is known for its mountainous areas and is great for desert camping, we decided that our first time in Oman would be a little less adventurous and we’d stay in a hotel.  We stayed in Crown Plaza, a nice hotel that is perched on a hill that has a beautiful view of the ocean and beach.  Also like most hotels in the gulf, it came with all the amenities that one would need including 4 different restaurant options.  The kids enjoyed the pool and we were a short walk down a flight of stairs to the beach. It was an absolutely wonderful holiday because we were able to plan our activities around rest times needed for the children….who am I kidding, for all of us!

You can’t go to Muscat without visiting the Muttrah area, including the corniche and the old souk.  We toured the Souk in Muttrah. It was quite big and interesting. Carmen of course came away with a souvenior and the kids got some trinkets as well (including Trace’s new local attire).  It is nice having some keepsakes of our travels.  While at the souk we saw some goats being walked away. We understand that goats are sacrificed as part of the Eid celebrations, so we weren’t sure if these goats were going to be part of the ritual. We wanted to follow and check it out, but decided against it….probably would have been too much for the kids to see….

We spent one day at the Shangri La hotel. It is a beautiful resort up in the mountains just outside of Muscat. We had lunch there and then snuck into the resort amenities. J  The kids had fun at a spray park and then were able to take a sunset camel ride on the beach. Trace was not convinced, but it happened so quickly that he couldn’t argue and ended up really enjoying it. Logan, however, could not be convinced! Rafielle is the more adventurous one, so didn’t need any convincing and we could hear her laughing as they trotted off.

The highlight of the trip was a dolphin viewing excursion. About 5 km off the coast of Muscat was an area known for schools of dolphins.  Hundreds of dolphins were jumping and playing about. Our guide figured about 400 dolphins were in the area and the population can be doubled at other times of the year. These dolphins were much smaller than a typical dolphin. They are called spinners as they are often jumping and spinning out of the water. The boat ride also took us along the Mucat coastline. It was very pretty and I can remember thinking that life is good, however, by the end of the trip, life was just too hot!!!! Everyone needed off the boat before we started getting sick! Yes, even Carmen was too hot!!!!

Another highlight was a hike up Riyam Park.  Karen and Michael are adventous people and had researched this “easy” 2km trek. It was literally on the outskirts of the city so we agreed to go. Well, it was a lot more than a little trek and mommy had a few near heartattacks with the kids scaling rock faces and shimming down boulders. It took about 2 hours to go the 2km, just to give you an idea of the terrain, but it was awesome and the kids did great…all of them, including baby Imara in a backpack. The kids sang songs and I think they had to be so engaged in their climbing that they didn’t have time to complain about being tired or bored. It was beautiful as we completed the hike at sunset and walked through town as the call to prayer began. The kids ended the trek with an ice-cream treat, which they were thrilled with and the adults, well, we must have been in the right mood because our night didn’t end with the trek, it had only just begun! It ended in the hotel pub much later. We have a funny picture of the baby monitor on the bar, of course, unable to pick up reception, but making us look like responsible parents! We did check on the kids sporadically…honest!!!! Sleep was pretty much guaranteed for them after the day they had!

It really was a great trip and nice city. We do want to go back to Oman again, but next time we’ll try the camping and do some more hiking in an area called Nizwa….especially now that we know the kids can manage the trekking!

Patiently waiting in Muscat airport

Awesome dolphin watching

Parenting 101

Look at Rafi, she's being brave!