There is already a strong sporting theme to my posts this November, and for all you sports fans out there, the theme continues today (albeit tangentially).
For those unfamiliar with the geo-political set up of the UAE, there are 7 Emirates roughly laid out in a line with Abu Dhabi in the South at one end, and in the North we have Umm Al Qwaine, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaiamah.
In the middle lies Dubai and its next door neighbour Sharjah - DXB airport effectively provides the dividing line between in the centre of town so there is no formal border crossing but the two Emirates are like chalk and cheese - Dubai very high rise and relatively affluent with 5* hotels coming out of its ears, whereas Sharjah is much more Industrial and gritty with its roads choc-a-bloc in the mornings/evenings as its residents make their way to and from work in the other Emirates. It is very much a conduit to the Northern emirates and whilst it does have some impressive buildings on the Corniche as well various museums ( including a maritime museum and a vintage car museum), the combination of a lack of decent hotels and the fact that it is “dry” means that it is not a tourist destination in the same way as the other Emirates.
Tonight I made my second trip in a week to the Sharjah cricket stadium with R and J although disappointingly England managed to lose their T20 World Cup match to S.Africa.
Even on a Saturday, the traffic along the main highways was heavy. However, the stadium does have a certain ramshackle charm and hopefully there will be more opportunities to come back for some more cricket in the future.
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