Sunday, January 30, 2011 | 7 Comments 
On our second day in Boubyan we sailed north near Khor Abdullah to see the wrecks of the two oil tankers destroyed in the war. Until we started planning the trip, I knew nothing about them. In fact I still don't know anything worth noting. My work is in the oil industry and particularly on the shipping side - so this was familiar ground for me with a very unfamiliar scene.
Monday, November 1, 2010 | 10 Comments I spent almost three hours photographing Kuwait City from Al Hamra Tower yesterday. This magnificent building took me to the highest point in Kuwait on the 74th floor - which I'm told is about 400m high. I will go through the 300 photos I took with my Nikon over the next few days, and will post the full story with better quality images. For now, please enjoy this time lapse attempt. I used a Canon G11 and held it in place, on the scaffolding, using a Gorilla Pod. The intervals were not regular and I know I missed some of the interesting bits, but I hope it gives you an idea of the elevation and views. More images soon...
Thursday, February 18, 2010 | 10 Comments 
I returned last night from a very frustrating trip to Dubai. I've always known integrity is rare in the business world; now I add decisiveness. People are so busy covering their backs. Half - if not more - of their energy is invested in avoiding decisions. Result in our case: A year's work - of putting small pieces together for a business deal - fell apart yesterday because of one man. He was born without a spine.
Anyway, this is a positive blog, and positive it shall remain. My meeting was in Jebel Ali and I had to rent a car to go in. I therefore had some free time in the afternoon, and for the first time in Dubai I had a car. I've driven there before, but I was stuck often there with colleagues. Non-photographers are not as patient when, say, we're waiting for the sun to be at exactly the right angle...
I drove around looking for the perfect spot for a Dubai skyline shot. I wanted to include the world's tallest skyscraper, Burj Khalifa, in order to compare it with the rest of the buildings. I'm sure there are some great locations to do this, but in my free hour, I managed to find this. The trees and shrubs are a little distracting - but I liked the overall result.
Friday, December 11, 2009 | 18 Comments 
We spent the long Eid weekend in and around Muscat. This post is a little late - but I hope you enjoy the images from out trip. It makes a nice change being on holiday with my camera and not on business. This was a good four days with the family and all we did is explore this beautiful part of the world.
After an initial hiccup with my wife's health, we were off to a great start. We stayed in the hotel on the first day enjoying the pools and the fantastic beach. We turned in after watching one of the nicest sunsets I've witnessed for a long time.
The beautiful mountains, which provide the perfect backdrop to almost every seen in Oman, were one of the star attractions for this visit. Not only because I'm a man who has loved mountains all my life, but because it's time to impose this on my children. I had promised them a new experience; which in Kuwait seemed to only worry them: 'What if we fall off?' they kept asking.
I arranged for a car and a local driver to take us to Nizwa. There we would see the fort and the old souq before exploring the areas near-by. The journey was long but easy. The scenery was interesting and varied. The mountains were imposing and proud. From time to time, we even caught glimpses of every-day-life when we spotted children playing outside houses, goats grazing around their shepherds, and speeding motorists rushing from town to town for their Eid visits.
We stopped a few times to get some shots of the more interesting spots. Nizwa is a lovely town with a very prominent fort. The market was not fully open, but pottery seemed to be their thing!
As we left Nizwa to explore the surrounding areas, the mountains were there again decorating our journey. We managed to get tickets to visit the Al Hoota Cave. This turned out to be a nice bonus to the trip. There are bats inside, eight-eyed spiders... and blind fish! No photography is allowed in the cave - even if some people were rude enough to do it.
To me, this was the highlight of the trip. Masfat Al Abreen is a community living on a mountain and extending their dwellings down the whole valley. They get fresh water year round from the top of the mountain, and have therefore used it to irrigate their plantations of vegetables and fruit. As soon as you enter this place, you will forget where you are! I plan to one day return and trek all the way down - which I hear takes more than an hour.
We also saw the town nearby with many old houses. Some had been abandoned - but others on the same street were still in use.
Our driver knew his way around this place and he drove us into this date-palm farm. The picture that follows it is the same farm from a distance!
The final day was spent in Muscat's Souq Mutrah and around the Corniche. We closed the final day with a relaxed evening walk to have coffee with Omani friends.
Oman is truly a wonderful place. It's well organised, tidy, clean, safe, interesting, beautiful and its people are very kind. We look forward to going again soon.
Friday, October 30, 2009 | 12 Comments 
If Chicago is the windy city, and Paris the city of love, then Cairo has got to be the city of contrast. Every extreme of anything in life is all around. You see it live as you walk the streets and drive through this huge, bustling and sprawling metropolis. On the same street corner you will find the latest luxury cars, a 'thing' that can barely be called a car and a donkey-drawn-carriage selling vegetables. This doesn't even begin to describe the extremes one sees in this place.
I'm no stranger to this city. My visits tend to be short and busy. My experience is unfortunately always the same! This is a city that offers so much to be explored. History - ancient, recent and modern - is in abundance. It's displayed raw and disorganised which usually adds to the interest of the reader. The negative part is the visitor-facing people. In my opinion (in my opinion!) they are a bunch of crooks, thieves and oscar-winning actors... and not in a good way.
Egypt has millions of nice people - I don't need to be told this. I know some amazing Egyptians. However, in the same extreme contrast the city is displayed, those who face the visitor - hotel staff, taxi drivers, airport security, porters - are the other extreme from the nice general public.
You're never too far from a smile - wherever you go - which is a breath of fresh air. But those who you are forced to deal with see you as an ATM machine. Their job is to get as much out of you as possible for as little as possible. Offering a service and doing it right are secondary priorities. Every time!
It doesn't take me long before I become a totally different person. My trips are rarely longer than three days. My patience usually lasts only two. The third day is needless-to-say always terrible!
Whilst the photo below may not appear very interesting, it's of the building in the very famous film: el erhab wil kabab.
I wish this great city would consider a significant change in their front line to the tourists and visitors. I hear it's different in other cities in Egypt. I am yet to find out...
Sunday, August 30, 2009 | 8 Comments 
A short hop to Dubai for a day. I didn't bring my camera this time, so it's another old photo I'm afraid. You can tell from the columns on the left bank of the road. These are now the supports for the metro track, which is almost complete including stations. The photo above was taken in February 2008.
Dubai is still quiet - but the queue for the taxis at the airport was unbelievably long.
Sunday, August 23, 2009 | 20 Comments 
I'm clearing my photos (about half way there) and came across this one last night. I haven't shared it on this blog before and, with the significance of sunset during this month, I thought it would be nice to post it. The wonderful weather added two major factors to the composition: great colour and the people on the pier.
Click on the photo to have a look at the larger version (it's a huge one this time). The silhouettes of the people are really interesting, and they put me in a good mood. The photo was taken early October last year.
Saturday, August 22, 2009 | 7 Comments 
I wish you and your families all the best for the holy month. To my readers who are not familiar with Ramadan, it is the month every year when Muslims around the world fast during daylight - no food, no water and no smoking until the sun is down. Another significant event that took place during this month is the revelation of the Holy Quran.
The small attractive mosque above is in Fintas. I took the photo earlier this evening at sunset.
مبارك عليكم الشهر و عساكم من عواده
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 | 9 Comments 
I passed through Jeddah yesterday. This was my view from the hotel room. In fact all I saw of Jeddah was this beautiful sunset.
Sometime last summer I started a book and it found its way into a briefcase of mine. I only found it again two weeks ago, and finally finished reading it on the flight yesterday. The last chapter of Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss is about the hyphen, and how it's becoming extinct. I should therefore point out that the title of this post is Red-Sea Sun-set; not Red Sea-Sun-set.
Good book if you haven't read it - it's light despite the heavy subject.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 | 8 Comments 
Time seems to stand still in this beautiful city. So much pride is taken in this place by the people in it that nothing, and I do mean nothing, is out of place. It all sits together wonderfully and the whole country has a very relaxed atmosphere.
I no longer have a free afternoon tomorrow but I managed to steal an hour earlier this evening. The photograph of the two men was taken outside Souk Mutrah. Um Yousef would love this place. It's very old with ornate ceilings and lanterns. It has many shops selling everything you can think of. One could spend hours walking around the shops. Unfortunately I had only 15 minutes... This time...
