The Beach--at Last!

Well, we have had 4 days off for the Eid al Fitr (end of Ramadan). We’ve tried to pack as much sight-seeing in as possible, knowing that once school begins, our time off will be much more limited.

Heather and I headed down to the Corniche (main highway and sidewalk along the water) to the beach on Friday, thinking it would not be as crowded because it’s their holy day. The taxi let us out at a spot quite a ways from the public beach entry, so the walk down the Corniche was beautiful, but HOT!!

When we finally reached the right gate, we walked down to the water’s edge and spread our towels. There was only one other Western couple besides us at the beach, so we stood out, to put it mildly. The men typically outnumber the women 4 to 1 here. I would say at the beach it was more like 50 to 1.

We learned that we should probably splurge for the extra money it would cost to go to a private (hotel) beach instead of to the all-public beach.  It was fun watching the men frolic in the water, particularly one group of about 5 men who had brought a child's blow-up wading pool to play in the water.  They were hilarious as they climbed in and out and dunked each other.  As more men hovered and stared (a side effect of going with Heather), it got to be a little uncomfortable, so we headed away from the beach to explore a little more of the city.

The building with the tower (looks like the Space Needle in Seattle) is the Marina Mall

We stumbled into a Burger King, desperately looking for some Diet Coke.  It's so wonderful that Ramadan has ended and it is possible to get something to drink during the hottest part of the day!  We realized after ordering that the manager locked the door.  We sat and drank our coke and then, when it was time to leave, he had to unlock the door.  We soon realized that they were closed for the lunch hour, but they had served us....thank goodness!  Walking through the heat of the day was NOT a smart idea!  Isn't it odd that a fast-food restaurant would close for lunch??!

We did VERY little more exploration and then caught a taxi back to our hotel, utterly exhausted.