The sounds of abras gliding over the winding waterways turn into music. Over the tent-filled terrace, the full moon casts a silvery light while the majestic Burj Al Arab hotel rising from the Arabian Gulf puts on a spectacle of colour and light. This is not a mirage. Shoo Fee Ma Fee is a Moroccan [...]

Tchak Tchak Tchak That’s the sound of the coppersmiths at work as you approach Khan Al Nahasin, the copper market in Aleppo. Tchak Tchak Tchak. Your footsteps on the cobblestones echo their rhythm. The Aleppian khan or souk dates back to the 16th century when it was the epicentre of copper trade in the Syrian [...]

“Make us as famous as you can,” Latifa says in a broad English accent after welcoming us inside Dubai’s Jumeirah Mosque. Her statement is a response to a question on everyone’s mind who has an eager finger on a camera shutter. Photography is indeed permitted and encouraged inside the mosque. It is a Sunday morning [...]

Some travel souvenirs remind you of the world, others tell a story that goes back in time. This is called kabkab, the Arabic word for clogs. And this souvenir is a mini kabkab. You slide one on the thumb, the other on the first finger and you click them like finger cymbals. Clogs aren’t usually [...]

Desert Safari and Dune Bashing tours are on the top of the list of things to do in Dubai. Ask anyone who has been there, and they’ll tell you it is the most fun you can have in the desert. Most tour operators offer relatively the same experience albeit at different prices. It is the [...]

“Travelling to Dubai? You must go on a desert safari!” A gleaming white Toyota Land Cruiser pulls up in front of the hotel. It is 3.00 pm, the pick up time for the Dubai Desert Safari and Dune Bashing, one of the top things to do in the Emirati city. I strike a conversation with [...]

Finding a genuine souvenir from Dubai is no easy task. Most objects that caught our attention were either made elsewhere in the world or ones we already owned from previous travels to the Middle East. We purchased a selection of Al Nassma Camel Milk chocolates but they wouldn’t have a permanent place in our travel [...]