Anyone from Abu-Dhabi?

[Aryob]

Salamoona,

Do we have anyone from Abu-Dhabi here?
Thanks

[Insaaf_انصاف]

Yes, torkham

[torkham]

near abu dhabi - in dubai. any problem Aryob?

[Karachi]

My dad is in Abu Dhabi as we speak, been there many times, i might go again in December. which area of Abu dhabi do you live?

My dad lives on Khalidya road, near the Sheraton there

I find Abu dhabi better then Dubai

[al-arab]

I lived in UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai) when I was younger before we moved to Hijaz (Jeddah).

What is it about Aryob?

Work, study or just a visit?

In that region I can recommend Qatar but it is less liberal than UAE. I have not lived in Oman but it is a hidden pearl. If you are going to live in UAE it is worth a visit.

[Karachi]

I lived in UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai) when I was younger before we moved to Hijaz (Jeddah).

What is it about Aryob?

Work, study or just a visit?

In that region I can recommend Qatar but it is less liberal than UAE. I have not lived in Oman but it is a hidden pearl. If you are going to live in UAE it is worth a visit.

did you live in UAE in the 80's and 90's ??

how was Dubai back then? I know Abu dhabi was still very nice back then, I still remember the famous volcano fountain there on the corniche from way back in 1989 when i first went there to visit

[torkham]

I lived in UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai) when I was younger before we moved to Hijaz (Jeddah).

What is it about Aryob?

Work, study or just a visit?

In that region I can recommend Qatar but it is less liberal than UAE. I have not lived in Oman but it is a hidden pearl. If you are going to live in UAE it is worth a visit.

I agree, oman is just beautiful place. the hills there remind me of afghanistan.
I too lived in Jeddah in the mid 70s and my father would drive us to makkah every friday, the drive on the mountain was so beautiful.

[al-arab]

did you live in UAE in the 80's and 90's ??

how was Dubai back then? I know Abu dhabi was still very nice back then, I still remember the famous volcano fountain there on the corniche from way back in 1989 when i first went there to visit

I am only 20 years old Karachi. I am not that old, yet!

I lived there as a kid for 4 years during the late 1990's. It was different than today but the development was already taking place.

The first country that really became developed in the Gulf was Kuwait.

But when I lived I remember that most of the population still was Arab. Now it is different with only 40 percent. Qatar had the same development. I do not know about Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia as you know is a little different case but by far the richest country in the region but much more conservative.

What is happening in Jeddah is amazing and Hijaz. Enormous development. The potential is huge because Hijaz is a much more interesting area than UAE, little Qatar and the other little Gulf States with all due respect although it is very interesting as well especially northern UAE close to Oman.

[Karachi]

the development in Dubai started very late. Abu dhabi developed much before, these pics from the early to mid 80's (1982-1988), you can see it was already developed then:


















This is the famous 1980's volcano fountain i was talking about:

[al-arab]

I agree, oman is just beautiful place. the hills there remind me of afghanistan.
I too lived in Jeddah in the mid 70s and my father would drive us to makkah every friday, the drive on the mountain was so beautiful.

I really liked Oman when I visited. Very beautiful country I agree completely. Not very well known outside of Arab world. They also have an very interesting history. Especially the coastline is beautiful. I never been Afghanistan so cannot compare but I imagine it is beautiful.

Oh, that is a long time? How was Jeddah at that time? I absolutely love Hijaz and my wife is from there (not only Saudi Arabian though). What I like most about Jeddah is the adhan it fills me with humility every time. Before the microphone was invented the muaddin's did it themselves.

[al-arab]

the development in Dubai started very late. Abu dhabi developed much before, these pics from the early to mid 80's (1982-1987), you can see it was already developed then:














This is the famous volcano fountain i was talking about:

http://www.cyberpoint.co.uk/personal/abu/p16.jpg

Yes, Dubai was late. Very interesting pictures Karachi. Thank you very much. Do you have pictures of Abu Dhabi and Dubai during the late 1990's? Or just from the 1990's?

[Karachi]

i created a thread about dubai while back, in post # 3 you can see pics from the dubai of the 90's: http://www.pashtunforums.com/travel-...old-new-16190/

^ the major development was just starting out

[al-arab]

i created a thread about dubai while back, in post # 3 you can see pics from the dubai of the 90's: http://www.pashtunforums.com/travel-...old-new-16190/

^ the major development was just starting out

Thank you. I think I remember that thread but forgot it somehow.

[torkham]

I really liked Oman when I visited. Very beautiful country I agree completely. Not very well known outside of Arab world. They also have an very interesting history. Especially the coastline is beautiful. I never been Afghanistan so cannot compare but I imagine it is beautiful.

Oh, that is a long time? How was Jeddah at that time? I absolutely love Hijaz and my wife is from there (not only Saudi Arabian though). What I like most about Jeddah is the adhan it fills me with humility every time. Before the microphone was invented the muaddin's did it themselves.

jeddah in the 70s was a construction site. the main roads were dug up, they were laying pipes, big pipes. the cars were all 70s chevys, GMCs buicks etc and plenty of 50s automotive americana rusting away. from the centre, 10km out was a place called 'ashra kilo' (original!) and it was an amusement park, zoo etc, we as kids loved it.
there was this huge souk, real souk, not a modern contruction made to look like a souk where syrians would sell water to shoppers, from big samovars attached to their back and pouring water into small metal chinese style cups. there was another souk for women were unmarried guys were not permitted. in the souks there were matawin walking with little canes reminding women to cover, checking shops observed salah closing and just keeping an eye on unislamic activity (unlike here in liberal dubai, english women walk arounf half naked, english men walking around red faced from alcohol fest night before, jordanian/palistinian and egyptians even worse than english trying to be european in their immodest dresses, no shop keeper shows respect to salah times, etc)

the road to makkah and to taif was single lane highway. often we stopped by small homes and saudi families would invite you for tea, water, dates on their outside majlis under a shade of a canopy.

taif was really heavenly village in the granite mountains. the drive ot taif, you would see wild monkies (baboons) on the mountains.

the adhan is uniquely beautiful, and true then it was often a muezzin calling prayers without speaker. even today adhan grips me and shakes my soul to move to the masjid

beautiful times. you have evoked my amazing memories. in my innocence before knowing what is wahabi or saudi religious politics, i loved 'mumlakatal al arabiya al saudia', now i just love some of my saudi friends, the land and the islamic history this land has witnessed. if you drive from jeddah to riyadh, a few hundren kilometers east, there are more beautiful villages south side of the highway.

[Karachi]

^ jeddah was my fav city in saudi too, we used to go there 2 times a year when doing Umrah in Makkah

The corniche in Jeddah remains the best in the region, last time I was there was in 1999

The road to Taif is amazing, loved the mountains and baboons in the way. The baboons were still there back in 1999 when I last visted