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I had a trip to Sri Lanka set up for mid-June via Abu Dhabi. The Sri Lanka flight got canceled, presumably because of all the poo poo going on there and because Wizzair, but the flights were on separate tickets so I still have the flights to and from Abu Dhabi. I considered this outcome when booking. I could eat the cost of the flight and just not go, it's not too much. But even though Dubai is a shithole, I've never been to the region further than Sinai, so what the hell. So besides a few days in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, what else? Would a trip to Oman or Bahrain or Qatar be worth it? Frankly it doesn't even have to be anything extraordinary, if it isn't costing hundreds per day I could just chill in the shadow somewhere while WFH. It's also possible to instead use it as a stopover to India instead, after all I was going to Sri Lanka. But the original flights connected pretty well, and the choices are now somewhat limited so I'm not sure it'd be worth it time-wise. It's also going to be the monsoon season there  E: just remembered that I have a colleague in Dubai. Asked her what's the situation is like and if I'll survive coming during this time. Worst case I could just work from the office there and save the PTO for another trip. mobby_6kl fucked around with this message at 17:08 on May 29, 2022 |
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May 28, 2022 23:31
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mobby_6kl posted:I had a trip to Sri Lanka set up for mid-June via Abu Dhabi. The Sri Lanka flight got canceled, presumably because of all the poo poo going on there and because Wizzair, but the flights were on separate tickets so I still have the flights to and from Abu Dhabi. I considered this outcome when booking. I can't help too much, but Jebel Akhdar in Oman has been on my radar for a long time, and some friends spent 3 days there for their honeymoon and really liked it.That was in mid-March but it should be reasonably cool even in June. Otherwise I don't think I know anyone who's been to Oman, nor do I know anyone who's been to Dubai, including the couple that split their honeymoon between UAE and Oman, who said Dubai is anything other than "Vegas, minus casinos, minus shows, and minus the interesting landscapes around Las Vegas". As for June, I have spent a lot of time in MENA countries in summer (mostly Cairo and Tunis) and to be honest I found living in Houston in the summer to be much more miserable than living in Cairo in the summer. I also found the coast of Tunis to be way worse than Tunis City, despite it being nominally 5 or so degrees cooler, since it's basically a hammam at the sea, but the city is merely a sauna. So you'll be sweaty if you do anything outdoors during the day, but it's not like you're doing hard construction work like a Qatari laborer. But generally it probably depends on your experience with being in hot climates. I find that it's awful if I'm working somewhere but I don't mind nearly as much as a tourist where I can wear shorts and a polo and can go back to my hotel and chill and change whenever if I want. Also how much time do you have there? One option would be to go somewhere that is probably more historically interesting, like Cairo or Petra or even back to Turkey, but then it might make sense to just like... cancel the flights and go there directly.
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May 29, 2022 19:39
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Saladman posted:I can't help too much, but Jebel Akhdar in Oman has been on my radar for a long time, and some friends spent 3 days there for their honeymoon and really liked it.That was in mid-March but it should be reasonably cool even in June. Otherwise I don't think I know anyone who's been to Oman, nor do I know anyone who's been to Dubai, including the couple that split their honeymoon between UAE and Oman, who said Dubai is anything other than "Vegas, minus casinos, minus shows, and minus the interesting landscapes around Las Vegas". I just rememberd that I was actually in Jordan in June a few years back. It was really only intolerable around the dead sea, walking aroud Petra involved a lot of sweating and drinking water but was doable. Duba seems like it could be worse though. I think it's like 11 days. Which is way too much to be stuck in the UEA obviously, but the idea of course was to have enough time in Sri Lanka. I've done Petra, as mentioned, though mainland Egypt could be worthwhile. Turkey... probably less so, I'd rather just go there another time.
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May 30, 2022 10:50
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mobby_6kl posted:Thanks for the Jebel Akhdar suggestion, I wasn't even aware of it. Though to be honest I know gently caress all about Oman at all, just that it seems to be a relatively common destination. I don't have much interest in Duba, definitely looks like a shithole. It might make more sense to just book a trip to Cairo instead though, as the flight from Dubai/Abu Dhabi to/from Cairo might be in the ballpark as the flight to Cairo directly - although if you have no direct flights anyway to Cairo then I guess it's reasonable. Kind of depends on how expensive your ticket to Abu Dhabi was in the first place, if it's worth eating it or not. It looks like overall Oman gets about 1/5th as many visitors as Dubai (all nationalities combined, ~3 m vs ~16m, 2019 stats). It definitely markets itself as a "UAE, but authentic". It's been on my radar both because of my friends who spent like 5 days of their honeymoon there and because I like driving and landscape photography, particularly in mountains and deserts, and Oman has that in abundance. I've never quite gotten beyond the stage of planning of "maybe someday it'd be cool" though, and if you're more of a city person then it's probably mega boring.
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May 30, 2022 12:36
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Saladman posted:It might make more sense to just book a trip to Cairo instead though, as the flight from Dubai/Abu Dhabi to/from Cairo might be in the ballpark as the flight to Cairo directly - although if you have no direct flights anyway to Cairo then I guess it's reasonable. Kind of depends on how expensive your ticket to Abu Dhabi was in the first place, if it's worth eating it or not. The ticket, at least Krakow<->Abu Dhabi part, was like $60  so yeah.. not a huge loss, and I'd definitely spend an order of magnitude more if I actually go. That said, it's more like you say, I've been aware of Oman (or UAE) in the "maybe someday" way; it's not difficult or super expensive to go there, but there's always a bunch of other destinations that I'd prioritize before going to the Gulf specifically. I do like weird landscapes that you don't see in Europe and driving (especially when gas isn't $2.5/liter) so I was leaning toward going... until a friend pointed out to me that the Iron Maiden show I've had tickets for for 2.5 years is finally taking place two days before I'm supposed to be back. I can sell them of course bu uhhh.
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Jun 1, 2022 09:44
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Yeah I think with what everything you've described, if I were in your shoes, I'd consider that I had made a generous $60 donation to Emirates.
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Jun 1, 2022 17:54
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Saladman posted:Yeah I think with what everything you've described, if I were in your shoes, I'd consider that I had made a generous $60 donation to Emirates. Otherwise I've been trying to do stuff rather than chickening out, even if it might mean some regrets later. If it's not this time, I might not go to UAE/Oman anytime soon if ever. I just saw that with Wizzair I could get a return flight (via Budapest, but w/e) a few days earlier for another $50 and make it to the show. Decisions, man. Why won't somebody make them for me
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Jun 5, 2022 19:37
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Don't bother with Dubai honestly, it's just a rich person destination with no personality where everything is way too expensive and gimmicky. I don't think Abu Dhabi is much better, the only thing I've ever really seen of there is that mosque, and although mosques are cool, it's definitely not a "fly around the world to see" destination. I haven't been to Oman but it's absolutely on my radar as well; I know a few people who've been and really enjoyed it. Cairo is cool, though don't skip on southern Egypt either. Abu Simbel is my absolute favourite of all the antiquities (and there's a hell of a lot of competition). If it makes a difference, you can probably thoroughly cover the highlights of Egypt in about 10 days which might fit in with your schedule?
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Jun 9, 2022 01:29
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webmeister posted:Don't bother with Dubai honestly, it's just a rich person destination with no personality where everything is way too expensive and gimmicky. I don't think Abu Dhabi is much better, the only thing I've ever really seen of there is that mosque, and although mosques are cool, it's definitely not a "fly around the world to see" destination. I haven't been to Oman but it's absolutely on my radar as well; I know a few people who've been and really enjoyed it. The Louvre branch museum in Abu Dhabi is also pretty nice, but again that really isn't worth a whole trip. I got skeevy vibes from the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque as soon as I learned there was a darn food court underneath.
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Jun 9, 2022 22:10
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I've been in Oman twice, but always liveaboard diving which doesn't really help with getting a feel of the country. First was from Dubai north to the peninsula / exclave in the straits of Hormuz (Musandam). Extremely nice diving incl Whale Sharks, practically noone else around. Second was to Muscat and then Sifah > Daymaniyat Islands. Nice diving but we got unlucky and had many jellyfish. Not too many others but some day groups. But I'm not sure if diving centers are open in June / July. I heard that the mountains in the interior are nice with the oasises. Spices and things like that come from there.
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Jun 10, 2022 10:23
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Thanks everyone. Still have until midnight if I decide to go webmeister posted:Don't bother with Dubai honestly, it's just a rich person destination with no personality where everything is way too expensive and gimmicky. I don't think Abu Dhabi is much better, the only thing I've ever really seen of there is that mosque, and although mosques are cool, it's definitely not a "fly around the world to see" destination. I haven't been to Oman but it's absolutely on my radar as well; I know a few people who've been and really enjoyed it. Oman is really the interesting destination there to me. I tried to do some research and while the mountains will be doable in the summer, and supposedly Salalah would be fine too, but it's way too far away for a quick trip. And the rest of the interesting thing would be way too hot to properly experience. Egypt is cool but I'd probably be better off doing a separate trip there. Only been to the Sinai so far. So I'm sure I could get something out of the trip, it's probably not going to be the optimal use of my PTO and money not to mention the effort to make it work
Mano posted:I've been in Oman twice, but always liveaboard diving which doesn't really help with getting a feel of the country. How would you say it compares to the Red Sea? That's my only other diving experience in the region.
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Jun 11, 2022 13:07
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mobby_6kl posted:
hmm, I'd say it's pretty similar, but a whole lot less people. A bit less fish maybe. But less people means that the reefs are generally in better condition. Except for the stupid jellyfish there. (the deterioration in Egypt between like 2001 and ~2019 is something that makes me weep). Diving is never cheap 
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Jun 16, 2022 15:58
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