Another view from the same observation deck. Not much could be seen in the distance, owing to the sandy visibility. Despite the tall buildings, there is an overbearing sense of sand and the colour version of this image had strong yellows. And since this shot was taken through the plate glass, some clarity was further lost. The specks seen on the right are from my lens however.

This is a view from the top of the Burj Al Khalifa. Well, not the top, the 124th floor which has an observation deck open to the general ticket price paying public. The road seen here is again the Sheikh Zayed Road. So it would seem that there are some lesser buildings, as seen in the background.

This is the reason behind the lush greenery. Powerful monitors shoot out jets of water over great distance to soak the soil. The grass is of the thick, fleshy variety, which I believe, retains the moisture. I took the shot below simply because it felt a bit unreal to have a thick, lush green carpet like grass, bordering on crunchy, under my feet.

Al Ain is one of the lesser known places of UAE. It is the fourth largest city after Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah and also the birthplace of Sheikh Zayed. Seen in the distance are several green patches. This solitary road makes its winding way right upto the top where there are several viewing spots, a resort hosting business meetings and conferences, and picnic spots for families to spend a relaxing day. And now a close up.

This was taken around the Sheikh Zayed Road of Dubai. Sheikh Zayed Road is named after the first president and the driving force behind the formation of the UAE. This road today houses most of the corporate headquarters and financial institutions of the UAE. This particular building is very close to the Burj Khalifa. In the colour shot below, one can see the pipelines and lights for the spectacular light show in the evenings.

Taken on a desert safari. One of the touristy things that may be done in order to get 'the feel' of the desert. The guy was certainly energetic and put up a vigourous display, not to mention that he was in complete control of each of the props. I thought this whirling colours went well and the light conditions had my camera stretched to its humble limits. Other highlights from this evening include smoking a sheeshah, dining on Arabic food and watching a, I guess, East European belly dancer.

Souks are the Arab version of the mall, I gather. Of all the shops occupying these premises, most of them dealt in carpets, textiles and gold ornaments. Earlier, souks were open air, weekly markets. Often conducted from caravans, they were conducted around festivals. Today they are somewhat like this one seen here in Sharjah.

Another icon for the Bedouin of UAE. The camel is an animal that is superbly adapted to a life in the desert. Large, padded feet ensure it does not sink into the sand and can walk effortless. Providing mobility to the nomads, the camel is also a source of milk for nomadic families and meat for social occasions. Camel beauty pagents and camel races are wildly popular in the UAE. The long eye lashes seen here help to keep sand out from the eyes during sandstorms.

Falconry is a traditional sport, originally practised by the nomadic folks. Taming falcons took a lot of time and patience, after which they were employed to hunt rabbits for food. Today not many people engaged in falconry but the falcon has become a national and cultural icon of sorts.

I spent a brief few days in UAE and thus this shot, to smoothly glide from the previous bunch of auto shots to a quick series from the UAE. Well not from all of UAE, just Dubai and Sharjah. This is an example of dune bashing: massive SUVs with screaming tourists strapped in their seats and the drivers with smiles permanently pasted on their lips, lurching the vehicles up and down the dunes. I could swear that every now and then, these huge vehicles were air borne. Once the ride ended, some of the guests would stumble out and yell "I hate you!" at the driver. He would grin broadly, taking that as a compliment.

There were many cars with such customized exteriors. Really made each and everyone of them an attention grabber.