August 22, 2008 15:15 GMT+4
Since I don’t have access to my blog while I’m onboard I thought I would make my entries into a word doc and then post them en masse when I get home. I wish I could post as the trip went on but due to security reasons DND has seen fit to deny access to sites like face book and blogs so this will have to do.
As you all know I left on the 17th of August to meet a ship that was already at sea. What I didn’t tell you all is that I was leaving to meet HMCS Protecture in the Persian Gulf. I met her in the port of Fejir in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). My flight took me from Halifax to Montreal then to Zurich then Dubai, Muscat then finally back to Dubai. Yah it was fun. When all was said and done I was on the go for 40 hours straight with out any appreciable sleep. It was military logistics at its best let me tell you. I met Protecture in Fejieer on the 19th around 10:00 LST which is a difference of 7 hours from Halifax. I left Halifax at 14:30 AST on the 17th. So do the math. Can you say not happy?
After my ordeal I finally started settling in on board (i.e. cleaning out a locker so I had a place to put my kit and making my rack). Once that was done it was a decent meal and a hot shower then about 24 hours of sleeping on and off just trying to straighten out my internal clock.
Okay now I’ve caught up on most of my sleep and I am functioning on some sort of level I figure I’ll go out and check out the port. Well here is another disappointment. There really isn’t much of a port. What is laughingly referred to as down town has two crappy little plazas and not much else. There is lots of construction going on, but nothing is built yet. The older guys tell me this is what Dubai was like 20 years ago during the first gulf war. So maybe I’ll come back in 20 years.
EAU is a different world all together, the class system is very entrenched here and is not going anywhere anytime soon. The Emeratie royals are on the top, followed by the nationals (Emeraties), then white men, then women, then the immigrant workers. And this applies to all areas of life I’m told. From service in line to fights in the street; the person higher on the ladder is always going to get preference regardless of the circumstance.
I took some pictures of different things between the ship and where the bus drops us downtown. Check them out.
The city is surrounded by these ancient mountains. They are so old and dry they actually look more like huge piles of dirt than mountains.
Unfortunately this fort wasn’t open to the public while I was here. There is an old city near the fort as well. I can only assume that it dates from the time of the Pirate coast and Tructial coast times.In the background of the one picture you can see a high rise under construction.
This picture shows more of the huge amount of construction going on in the city. Once again the mountains are right on the edge of where people live. The city is between the mountains and the ocean.
This is a picture of a typical housing section I saw. Squat smooth buildings. Note the piles of rubble from near by construction sites.
This was probably the most impressive structure I saw in the city. I’m guessing it is an office building of some sort. It is in the heart of ‘downtown’.
Even though you hear about the ‘decadent western infidels’ from this region all the time, they just can’t seem to avoid our influence. This KFC was one of a few western fast food chains I saw in the region. Everything from DQ to Pizza Hut.
Okay so there you have it... My first adventure in to the middle east since my 20's. Heck even then I didn't really make it to the middle east I only went as far as Africa. Anyway there will be more to come over the next few days. The plan is to post everything about the trip over the next several days in the order they happened. Here's hoping all goes well.
