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H C Chai

Visiting the Middle East

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Hi all! Need some advice here...

 

I have just over 40,000 miles in my Emirate's Skywards account and half of them are expiring by the end of the month. As I work in the UK, 40,000 will only take me as far as Dubai and/or an EK destination in the middle east. I understand that some of you have visited or are currently working in the Middle East, I wonder which of the following destinations would you recommend? I am planning to spend a long weekend, most likely in April-May 2010 (no leave this year). I would love to go to Sanaa in Yemen, it seems to be a very interesting city to visit. The only thing that worries me is the threat of terrorism.

 

Dubai

Bahrain

Dammam

Doha

Kuwait

Muscat

Riyadh

Sanaa

 

Many Thanks in advance :)

 

 

 

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...

Dubai

Bahrain

Dammam

Doha

Kuwait

Muscat

Riyadh

Sanaa

...

 

What I can recommend is to cross out Kuwait, Dammam & Bahrain. :D

 

Sanaa sounds good actually, for history and culture (the old city). Should be safe - troublesome bit is the far north of Yemen, at the Saudi border.

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Surprisingly, I don't see BEY, DAM or THR...

 

A colleague prefers BEY (was never there), and I was (actually) thrilled to be in DAM (and ALP)...

 

THR seems to be a nice place as well...

 

From your list, I would definitely choose DXB over all the others mentioned (even DOH) :pardon:

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Depends on what you like doing? I've been to Dubai and Muscat and IMO:

 

For shopping and nightlife - go Dubai.

 

If you're a culture vulture - go to Muscat. There are also some nice beaches in Muscat, and you could even surf sand dunes in a 4WD ("Wadi Bashing"). May I also recommend the Shangri La if you end up in Muscat - it's a bit off centre but everything's so far apart in Muscat anyway. The Shang has an awesome beach and some stunning views.

 

I have Doha on my next DONE4 - to check out the new W Hotel there. :D

Edited by Keith T

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Take out bahrain, kuwait and doha...definitely not worth it..( no offense anyone)

 

for 1st timer...i would recommend dubai...you can visit all the malls... the souqs.....go sand dune ..and watch the belly dancer strut their stuff during the sun set while bbq-ing..sandboarding...skiing (indoor)....camel riding...though now its really2 hot..

 

just wondering, why no Beirut or Damascus in the list?

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Surprisingly, I don't see BEY, DAM or THR...

...

 

Now that you mention Beirut, Pieter, yes, Beirut is one worthy destination at the top of the list. Always in the news, especially with recently-concluded elections, and it's generally a safe place regardless of the factionism. Apart from the attractions of Beirut proper, can do a day-trip to the Bekaa Valley for the awesome Roman ruins in Baalbek. the Jesuits winery, and some other fun stuff. :D

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Dubai

Bahrain

Dammam

Doha

Kuwait

Muscat

Riyadh

Sanaa

How come there is no Cairo ? I belive it is the most interesting city in the Middle-east B)

 

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I would love to go to Sanaa in Yemen, it seems to be a very interesting city to visit. The only thing that worries me is the threat of terrorism.

 

Dubai

Bahrain

Dammam

Doha

Kuwait

Muscat

Riyadh

Sanaa

Hi HC, what an interesting choice, Middle East! The period of your travelling, i.e. April - May 2010 should be fine, as it will still be the cold season although towards the end of it. You don't want to come here during the summer (like as of now) as it is blistering hot over here.

 

If I may share my opinion,

 

Choose Dubai, Bahrain, Doha or Kuwait if you want to spend your time in a city/cosmopolitan area. All those are modern Middle Eastern cities. Dr. Naim's suggestion about a combo of Dammam, Bahrain and Qatar is a good one, because the 3 cities (from 3 different countries) are located in close proximity. But I think there's nothing to do in Dammam, unless you would like to try your luck going for an interview with Saudi Aramco. Dammam is a petroleum city, pretty much like our Kerteh or Miri. Getting a Saudi visa would be another story too. There are a lot of MW members in these cities, who can offer you some helps/tips. Fairul is in Doha, Fashni is in Bahrain, Imran K is a 'prince' from Dubai himself and there are several pilots too I believe.

 

Sanaa and Muscat are somewhat not quite exposed to many. I believe Muscat should be an ok place to visit (The Amazing Race Asia 3 had several episodes filmed in Muscat, probably you could youtube it). Sanaa and the whole of Yemen is considered quite undeveloped. There are a lot of historical sites in Yemen (as per Jejak Rasul episodes coverage that I could recalled) and it is the root of the Arab race, but in my opinion, Yemen is considered a poor country among all GCC countries, and Yemenis are commonly found seeking out fortunes in other richer GCC countries, the majority of which as immigrants (pretty much like the Indonesians in our region).

 

Riyadh is the capital city and the largest city in Saudi Arabia, with a few modern attractions to visit and a few historical sites to accompany with, but it is just an ok destination to me, modern but a bit conservative as compared to Jeddah for instance. Saudi Arabia don't have magnificent ancient ruins, mindboggling modern wonders or even uber shopping experiences to offer to travellers. Anyhow, I can show you around Riyadh or Dammam if our schedules match. Again, to obtain the visa into KSA might be a bit troublesome.

 

Personally, none of the cities that you listed fall in the list of the places that I am fancy to visit. Cairo, Amman (Petra and the Dead Sea), Damascus and Beirut are higher in my list, but this is just a personal opinion. Keep us updated about your decision ok. And terrorism shouldn't be an issue. It never crossed my mind at all since I started working and living here about a year ago.

 

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Jeddah is just like any other big city - a few interesting sites and a lovely seafront corniche to walk along. that's about it.

Riyadh - apparently u need an invite to go there? maybe Azizul might be able to help u

Dubai - if u haven't been - u need to experience the hype!! its just one large construction site. bloody impressive though. relatively expensive compared to some of the other places.

Cairo - great place, great food, very cheap if u earn in pounds, lovely people, lots of attractions! cheap to stay in one of 4 or 5 star hotels. Semiramis intercontinental is superb.

 

Personally, i agree with some of the posts above - Cairo, Beirut (Lebanese girls are hot!!) , Damascus are high on my list. I'm not so sure about Amman though.

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Just got back from the Dubai. Sure, everything is impressive, but after one day I already covered everything already. Besides, the city is so.. how to put it, plastic.

 

 

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- Firstly, what passport are you using? Forget Saudi as the visa application process is not worth the hassle. For others, you may get a Visa on arrival for free or for a fee.

 

- I suggest a combo of Dubai (a stopover since you'll fly EK) and Damascus (and/or) Beirut. So, you will get a nice mix of history, culture, modern city and "build-it-and-they-will-come" mentality, old and new.

 

- Forget also Kuwait, Doha and Bahrain. You get more "modern things" in DXB and Damascus/Beirut has more of the culture/history aspects. Muscat is nice, but Damascus is much nicer, imo.

 

 

Just got back from the Dubai. Sure, everything is impressive, but after one day I already covered everything already. Besides, the city is so.. how to put it, plastic.

 

 

AGreed. Impressive, but fake, isn't it. Lacks depth.

 

Jeddah is just like any other big city - a few interesting sites and a lovely seafront corniche to walk along. that's about it.

Riyadh - apparently u need an invite to go there? maybe Azizul might be able to help u

 

You will need an invite of some sort to get into KSA, whether JED, RUH etc. There is no tourist visa for individuals. RUH's relatively barren, imo. Big city but nothing much. Come Wed. evening, before the weekend starts, everybody leaves for JED, DXB etc.

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Besides, the city is so.. how to put it, plastic.

Do you mean those thin, rectangular pieces with small patch of coppery surface on one side and space on the other for owner to authograph on ? :p

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If you have non-Malaysian passport, what about Jerusalem?

I believe a Malaysian passport holder can still enter Jerusalem or even Tel Aviv using a Malaysian passport via Amman. You just need to go to an embassy, which embassy i forgot. This was brought up a few years ago in "Golden Lounge".

 

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I have plans to visit DXB and DOH someday. DXB due to its renown landmarks and sounds quite safe. DOH because got a friend serving with QR as air stewardess. If going to the rest I may opt not to tell my mum about it. :p

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I have plans to visit DXB and DOH someday. DXB due to its renown landmarks and sounds quite safe. DOH because got a friend serving with QR as air stewardess. If going to the rest I may opt not to tell my mum about it. :p

 

Hmmm, visiting gf in DOH ;)

 

:drinks:

 

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Just got back from the Dubai. Sure, everything is impressive, but after one day I already covered everything already. Besides, the city is so.. how to put it, plastic.

 

See the real Dubai in old Deira - just like Kowloon. :)

 

 

...

Choose Dubai, Bahrain, Doha or Kuwait if you want to spend your time in a city/cosmopolitan area. All those are modern Middle Eastern cities. Dr. Naim's suggestion about a combo of Dammam, Bahrain and Qatar is a good one, because the 3 cities (from 3 different countries) are located in close proximity.

...

 

Actually I said 'cross out Kuwait, Dammam & Bahrain' meaning leave it out of the list. :)

 

- Firstly, what passport are you using? Forget Saudi as the visa application process is not worth the hassle. For others, you may get a Visa on arrival for free or for a fee.

...

You will need an invite of some sort to get into KSA, whether JED, RUH etc. There is no tourist visa for individuals. RUH's relatively barren, imo. Big city but nothing much. Come Wed. evening, before the weekend starts, everybody leaves for JED, DXB etc.

 

Yes, best avoided. Go to other countries lah - Saudi got ample religious tourists already. :D

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And Istanbul that's in the middle east last time i checked few seconds ago :rolleyes:

People always say that half of Turkey is in Europe and the other in Asia and IST is actually in the Europe site. I have however never heard anyone refer Turkey as part of Middle-east.

 

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Hi all

 

Thanks for all the advice... much appreciated!!

 

The reason I have not included Damascus, Amman, Cairo etc. in the list is because they are in a different redemption zone from Dubai, Muscat etc. - I do not have enough miles to go there. But yes I agree with most of you, if I were to choose a middle eastern country to visit - I'll pick Jordan!

 

Looks like I am down with either Muscat or Sanaa. Muscat sounds more relaxing and offers better choices of hotels. Guess I need to check Skywards availability to see which destination offers a schedule that suits me best. :)

 

Once again thanks a lot :)

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Do share with us your TR. Sorry for being stereotype but I always of the opinion that the middle east is not so safe especially when you do not speak local dialect.

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Do share with us your TR. Sorry for being stereotype but I always of the opinion that the middle east is not so safe especially when you do not speak local dialect.

I believe UAE is quite safe ;)

 

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