The Longest Day

Abra are the water taxis of Dubai. They ferry workers back and forth across The Creek which is actually a salt-water inlet.

Dirham and fils are the equivalent of dollars and cents. US$1 is roughly 3.67 dirhams and NZ$1 is about 2.50 dirhams. The abra drivers charge each passenger about 25-50 fils and wait until the boat is full (20-30 people) before ferrying everyone over to the other side.

Smart tourists can negotiate to rent an abra for private tours up and down The Creek. Personally this is the way I'd do it because the little putt-putt abras are far more charming than the touristy dhows that charge hundreds of dirhams per person, and they'll take you up as close as possible to things you want to see better. Also you cannot help but smile when you climb aboard because the driver will negotiate hard (expect around 25 dirhams for a straight ferry, more for a tour) but you won't mind because you'll know you just saved him several hours work for the day. Just be careful getting in and out because the concrete jetties are very slippery.

This little guy will get the shock of his life if he's around the mouth of The Creek tomorrow morning because there'll be a ship three times the size of Titanic heading pretty much straight across his bow. Her name is Queen Mary 2. Only nine more hours to go now. This has been the longest day.

By the way, if you want to add comments, just click on the "number of comments" link below each post. Use the right hand side of the pop-up to type in what you want to say. Make sure the "Other" radio button is selected so you can enter your name (unless you already have a Google account). Please don't use "Anonymous" because I won't know who I'm talking to.

Time for sleep now. I have to be up early to photograph her coming into port. I should have time to post again before embarkation. After that you might not get many photos for a while but I've set up the blog so I can send e-mails that will permit me to add new posts without using the internet.

Night all.