A mosque in Sharjah, the UAE
Continuing on the UAE, here’re some clips from Sharjah, the emirate directly adjoining Dubai to the north. The cities of Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, another emirate to the north of Sharjah, have actually grown so much that they’re more or less joined together to form a huge extended city, so much so that you’ll not notice when you’ve cross the Sharjah border from Dubai.
The good thing about this is that you can have access to 2 international airports within 30 minutes drive of one another (yeah, Sharjah has its own international airport, and Air Arabia, the UAE’s equivalent to our Air Asia, has its base there).
Second, things are cheaper than Dubai, especially housing. Most people who work in Dubai, stay in Sharjah, or even further away, for that reason alone.
Third, this is where you can get all the second hand goods, like our trusty old TV, and the fridge and the useless piece of junk called the washing machine (well, you can’t be lucky all the time, right?)
The bad thing about Sharjah, is that, because it’s cheaper, the population has increased so much that it gets really congested in the rush hours, and traffic jams are a common thing. The industrial part of Sharjah, just outside the city, has a seedy feel. It’s piled high with junk, spare parts, abandoned cars (which is common in the UAE due to cars and fuel being dirt cheap, ...compared to Malaysia, or India that is), second hand goods, labour settlements, etc.
Sharjah also has a reputation of being a devout Muslim emirate, to the extent that liquor and even shisha (hookah smoking), one of the highlights of being in the UAE, are banned! Luckily, (for those of us who're not that pious), all these (fun) things are easily available just a little drive north, to Ajman, the adjoining tiny emirate. Maybe that's why Ajman is such a favourite with our colleagues, especially Indians. Now, as Ajman is completely surrounded by Sharjah, the trick is to drive across without ever being stopped by any officers in Sharjah territory. That’s the whole thrill!
The Corniche, Sharjah
An outing at the Corniche, Sharjah
At the Sharjah Fort, completely dwarfed by apartment blocks
Some artificially greened area in Sharjah, this is typical in the UAE
