Language in the UAE

The official language in the UAE is Arabic but many other languages are spoken. The main language other than Arabic is English. There are many Indians in the country so Hindi is spoken too.

Religion in the UAE

The official religion of the UAE is Islam, however the government has a very strong policy of religious tolerance. Within Dubai alone there are over 500. I heard on one of my tours that the goal is to have a mosque within every 500 meters so that places of worship are easily accessible to all.

UAE Dirhams

The currency in the United Arab Emirates are called Dirhams. 1 US Dollar is currently about 3.7 Dirhams.

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates was official formed on December 2, 1971. It is a federation of seven emirates.  The capital is Abu Dhabi. The other emirates in no particular order are Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaiman, and Umm Al Quwain.

the flag of the UAE

Burj Al Arab

The Burj Al Arab is an iconic hotel in Dubai built in the design the sail of a traditional Arab boat called a dhow. It opened in 1999 and was build on a man made island.

Burj Khalifa

The tallest building in the world is located in the center of Dubai. It is the Burj Khalifa. It is 828 meters (about 2716 feet). Inside there is a hotel, residential apartments, an observation deck, a restaurant, and office space.

Dubai

Dubai is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It started as a small fishing and pearl diving village back in the late 18th century. Then oil was struck in the 1960's and since then the city has developed at a rapid pace.

Dubai's skyline as seen from the airport

some of the many skyscrapers lining both sides of Dubai's main road

the iconic Burj Al Arab

the Burj Khalifa

Indian Food

I ate a lot of chicken and lamb. In India the cow is considered sacred and so no beef was available. I also ate a lot of vegetarian dishes for this same reason. A well known staple of Indian cuisine is curry, which is like a type of sauce.  It would be served over meat or sometimes separately so that you could dip your bread in it.

Religion in India

The dominant religion in India is Hinduism. The majority of people identify with this religion, however many others are present. There are millions of Muslims living in India and there are also a great deal of Sikhs.

a mosque in Delhi 

a Hindu festival at a village 

a statue of the Hindu god Vishnu

Jal Mahal

Jal in Hindi means water, mahal means palace. So, Jal Mahal=Water Palace

Elephants

In order to get to the top of a fort I visited, I rode an elephant up the hillside. Elephants have long been used as pack animals and there have even been war elephants. The elephant is a symbol of good luck in Hinduism.

 

 

 

Jaipur-The Pink City

The city gets its nickname because of the color of stone that was used for many of the buildings within the city.  Jaipur is the capital of the Indian state of Rajasthan and was one of the first planned cities in India. Because of this, the streets of the city are laid out in a grid pattern.

some buildings appeared more orange, but there was a rule that the signs on the buildings could only be white with black text

this is the Hawa Mahal, the most famous building in The Pink City