A photo gallery of Sharjah ,UAE

One my trip to Dubai earlier this year,I was keen to explore abit more of the UAE.So while paging through the Excursions Brochure of Arabian Adventures,I was excited to see a half day tour of Sharjah and knew that we had to go.

A mere 15 minutes away from Dubai off peak you will find the very conservative and a more traditional city of Sharjah a unique experience.Sharjah is the 3rd largest and most popular city of the United Arab Emirates. Sharjah is regarded as the cultural capital of the UAE,and was the Islamic culture capital in 2014.Sharjah was named World Book Capital for 2019 by UNESCO.The sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in the emirate of Sharjah without possession of an alcohol licence and alcohol is not served in Sharjah hotels, restaurants or other outlets due to the Muslim majority in the area. This has helped Sharjah increase the number of Islamic tourists who visit the country.Sharjah has been officially named as a WHO healthy city.

Sharjah City Tour :

The tour was roughly five hours with a guide.We were picked up at our hotel.While making the booking we were reminded that Sharjah is very conservative and to dress appropriately which means no shoulders showing or legs.With that in mind we wore long tops with pants and carried cotton scarves as a visit to the Mosque was included.The price was roughly R300 and it included entry fees into the museum.

Our very informative guide and driver introduced us to this city telling us the history.Sharjah to live in is more cheaper than Dubai and many expats with families live here as the flats are bigger and life in general is cheaper.Many people commute daily to Dubai for work as it is not too far.Some companies even provide transport from here to Dubai for their staff.

The buildings are very beautiful and old Arab influences are found everywhere.Sharjah is nothing like Dubai and is defo worth a visit.We visited the museums,a souk and a mosque.

Whenever I travel I make it a point to visit places of worship as I love learning about other religions,cultures and practises.Part of our trip included a visit to the #AlNoorMosque which is inspired by #turkishottaman architecture.On approaching this beautiful #mosque it was clear to see the #TurkishArchitecture.It is one of the 3 mosques in Sharjah that are open to the public.

Before entering we covered our heads with scarves we had carried with us,removed our shoes and were given cloaks to wear before entering.

Every corner was a sight of beauty and I could not stop taking pictures.Part of our visit included a talk on the History of Islam as well as the 5 pillars of Islam.I always find these kind of experiences make my soul happy.

When visiting places it is important :
1.Dress appropriately.
2.Behave
3.Ask if you can take pictures.
4.Follow the rules.

As Sharjah is a very conservative state we were advised when booking with #ArabianAdventures on dressing appropriately.It is important when visiting other places to find out what the appropriate dress code is.

The Museum was beautiful building on its own but it housed amazing interactive displays,scaled models of mosques around the world as well as discoveries made by the Arab world that we use in our daily life.I could have spent hours here.

No trip is complete without a stop at the Souk for a few trinkets.Whenever I travel I try to support small local shops.We throughly enjoyed our day trip to Sharjah and my mission now to visit all 7 Emirati of the UAE,so far I have done 4/7.