The Experience of Life

I’ve been always making fun of people who go camping in Wadi Rum, until I went there myself, it was like a slap on my face, I can’t tell you how stunned I was by the beauty of the rocks and the shapes that emerged from the sand covering these huge and magnificent rocks.



All of the above was in the afternoon, but the sunset time and the night is something else. When we took the way to the west, and my eyes fall on the sun disappearing behind the hills, I almost stopped breathing; we honestly stopped talking when we saw that breathtaking scene.

For those interested, below are some information about this magical place. Although, I have to warn you, nothing you'll read will be equal to the beautiful experience you'll have there.

"Wadi Rum is a protected area covering 720 square kilometers of dramatic desert wilderness in the south of Jordan. Huge mountains of sandstone and granite emerge, sheer-sided, from wide sandy valleys to reach heights of 1700 meters and more. Narrow canyons and fissures cut deep into the mountains and many conceal ancient rock drawings etched by the peoples of the desert over millennia. Bedouin tribes still live among the mountains of Rum and their large goat-hair tents are a special feature of the landscape.

It’s not just that Wadi Rum is a tourist area; it has been used as a background setting in a number of films:
Lawrence of Arabia - David Lean filmed much of this 1962 film on location in Wadi Rum.
Red Planet - Wadi Rum was used as the surface of Mars in this 2000 film.
Passion in the Desert - The area was also used for scenes in this 1998 film.
The Face - BBC Film, Rock climbing in Rum"


So from now on, don’t underestimate how entertaining a place can be until you experience it yourself.


For more information about Wadi Rum please see the following links


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Rum

http://www.wadirum.jo/

Atlantis of Dubai

Not like the ones you see in ads!!! But these are from a real experience!! Beautiful place. Just beautiful

Resturant Review: Trader Vic's - Bahrain

Location: Ritz Carlton Hotel, Seef District, Kingdom Of Bahrain.



It’s a nice place, very classy, wide variety of food. I personally liked the stake there.
Prices are a little higher than the average but I think it’s worth it.
For cocktails lovers, you can find some decent cocktails there, not being a cocktail fan myself I can’t make a judgment, but that’s what my friends told me.
They have something for the mood too, Latina Band Entertainment. During winter time or more specifically during the non-humid nights, it’s very nice and relaxing to set outside by the water and under the trees.




I highly recommend it for lunch with clients on the business side, and on the romantic side it’s nice to go there on your first date.

Hotel Review: Burj Al Arab

When someone offers you the chance to go to the only 7-star hotel in the world, and enjoy a night out on the 27th floor overlooking the entire city of Dubai for 275 AED only, as a cover charge, you are definitely going to say yes! Well, at least I know I will, and actually did. So, the occasion was a farewell gathering to say Goodbye to two of our friends who are going back to Australia!

The preparations: Call, book, get dressed, panic, extra shave, and clean the car! Because you assume they have a zero tolerance policy on dirty cars! The vallet parking guy might actually throw you out! Or at least that's what I thought. For more than three years I passed by that landmark amazed by the genius of Tom-Wills Wright, the guy who came up with the design concept. It's beautiful, it's huge, and it represents the culture in a very interesting way! A sail, which refers to the inhabitants’ main source of living in the pre-Oil era! (Fishing, and the pearl industry). I've always wondered though, why is it not a 5-star hotel? Or a 6-star hotel? One would assume, there must be a good reason for them to totally skip the 6th star!

Well, the building itself, fits whatever criteria they have for 7-star hotels! The road that leads to the hotel, built on a claimed land, gives it uniqueness & exclusivity. The fountain at the entrance is decently beautiful. But as you walk in!! You start to notice that they spent all that money to build one of the most expensive buildings in the world, but they failed to hire a decent interior designer!! Or probably did hire a decent one, but confused him with the so many themes they probably had in mind. Once you step in, you think, United Colors of Benetton!! Only it doesn't look good. Shiny, shimmering, splendid, in an extra tacky way! But you still forgive them courtesy of the 2-storey high beautiful aquarium that you pass by on your way up the escalator.

Forget about the lobby. Now to the SKYVIEW BAR! I bit it's going to be awesome. Well, when you first get in, you feel humbled by the kindness and sweetness of the receptionist and the waiters. You go inside... decent enough place, but you still fail to see what the fuss is all about. Comes the menu, and right there and then it hits you! When you open the first page and you see that the first drink is called 27,321 which is also the price of the drink, you realize that it's all a show off!! A whopping 27,321 AED (i.e. 7,438 USD) for a drink! I’d rather die of thirst! What can it possibly be made of?! Holy water? Life serum? Or is it that we are on Mars now, and H2O has become more expensive than diamonds! I just think it doesn't make sense. It's pure stupidity. If you skip that part, I think it was a nice place, nice view, nice crowd, but still couldn't find out why it's different from 44 in Grosvenor's house (which, by the way, is for the Buddhabar rejects!) or any other nice place in Dubai. But wait, I think I know why! These are the new rules. Build something, call it the best/highest/biggest/tallest/most twisted/ or fit whichever superlative you can think of, give it your own bizarre rating, make a cocktail of Pepsi, Mirinda, Sprite, Orange juice, and sparkling water, give it a freaky name, and an astronomic price tag! Then believe it yourself. Consumers will come... Cause that is what we do! This is how it works.

All in all, it is a special place. A very unique, carefully crafted, and well represented hotel. But it is also highly overrated, and elegantly tacky!!!

But when you see it on CNN every time they want to talk about the newly emerging markets in near & far Asia, you think: GOD!! Whoever built this is a genius! It simply became an icon and a universal landmark for Dubai & the Middle East. I personally won't complain about that, since it replaced the camels & dunes we were always associated with!

Ah! One more thing, I just realized there are two 7-star hotels!! Any idea where the other one is? How about a guess? ... I personally would go for Abu Dhabi!

Analyze that!