Activities in Middle East
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Tour Guide, Arash Sadeghzadeh
Young, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and highly organised guide and fixer. Recommended.
reviewed
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Mohsen Hajisaeed
Young, highly organised Mohsen speaks excellent English, leads tours in Yazd, Kerman, Fars and Esfahan provinces (including Bavanat), and can arrange hotel discounts.
reviewed
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Dive Aqaba
A highly professional training centre known for its high-quality teaching staff.
reviewed
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Amman Beach
This newly upgraded public facility goes under the full title of Amman BeachTourism Resort, Restaurant & Pools. The beach, 2km south of the main resort strip, is run by Amman municipality to give affordable access to the Dead Sea. The grounds are attractively landscaped and the beach is clean, with sun umbrellas, freshwater showers and a vibrant local flavour, making it a great place to strike up conversation with a Jordanian family. There are also a number of swimming pools, a restaurant (JD10 buffet), some drinks stalls, basketball courts and an amusement park next door. It gets very busy at weekends (especially Thursday night and Friday). Locals will generally sw…
reviewed
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Via Dolorosa
The ultimate Jerusalem walking tour is, of course, the Via Dolorosa, the route that Jesus is believed to have taken as he carried his cross to Calvary. The walk (around 30 minutes) is easily done on your own, but for a somewhat more unique experience join the Franciscan Fathers on Fridays as they lead a cross-bearing procession along the route. Each stop marks the stations of the cross. To begin the route known today, head deep into the Muslim Quarter, in the direction of Lions Gate.
Before embarking on the walking tour, you might want to visit St Anne's Church and the Ecce Homo Convent of the Sisters of Zion, both located close to the first station. The First Station is …
reviewed
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Ski Dubai
Skiing in the desert? Puh-leeze! Where else but in Dubai? The city’s most incongruous attraction, Ski Dubai is a faux winter wonderland built right into the gargantuan Mall of the Emirates. It comes complete with ice sculptures, a tiny sledding hill, five ski runs (the longest being 400m) and a Freestyle Zone with jumps and rails. Gulf Arabs especially are fascinated by this snowy display, but they typically restrict themselves to the walk-through Snow Park, passing through a colour-lit igloo filled with carved-ice penguins and dragons, then sledding down a little hill in plastic toboggans. Skiers and boarders are kept separate from the Snow Park and instead whiz down a f…
reviewed
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Madaba Turkish Bath
If you’ve had just about enough mosaics for one day, you could always enjoy closely knit tiles of a modern kind at MadabaTurkish Bath. These small and cosy baths are clean and intimate but opening times, like elsewhere in Madaba, are flexible. Call ahead to reserve the baths for an hour or so. Women can choose a female or male attendant and couples can share the facilities if they wish. You begin with a shower, sweat it out for a few minutes in the steam room, relax on a heated marble slab, lounge in the Jacuzzi and finally lie down at the mercy of the masseur. If you behave nicely, you’ll be rewarded with mint tea in the comfortable majlis (lounge) area.
reviewed
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Al-Wadi Resort
Newly opened, this public resort has a variety of water games, including a wave machine and slides, in pleasantly landscaped surroundings. There are two restaurants (open 9am to midnight), one selling snacks and the other offering an Arabic menu. Children are measured on entry: those under 95cm are admitted free! The resort is about 500m north of the Convention Centre at the head of the Resort strip.
reviewed
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Sensasia Urban Spa
Detox treatments, facials and massage from Bali, Japan and Thailand are the specialities at this women’s indie day spa done in sensuous Far East–meets–Middle East style. The menu includes such highly original options as warm cocoa butter stone therapy, chocolate body buff, fennel colon cleanse and pro-collagen quartz lift. For the ultimate indulgence, become ‘Queen for a Day’ (Dh1500).
reviewed
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Givenchy Spa
Clean, elegant and straightforward, Givenchy exclusively uses its eponymous products in its 12 treatment rooms. The lighting is a bit yellow, but it’s the kind of place you can go with your conservative mother who prefers sensibility to excess. Hot-stone massage is the specialty.
reviewed
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Negevland Tours
Best all-round adventure company in the area. It offers jeep crater tours, abseiling, paintball, and licensed hiking guides who speak English, French and Spanish. Negevland also has the only professional bike-repair shop between Be'er Sheva and Eilat and rents 21-gear mountain bikes.
reviewed
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Al Boom Diving
Al Boom is the largest dive operation in the UAE and leads daily guided dive trips off Dubai and to the East Coast and the Musandam Peninsula. The experienced staff also offer the gamut of courses, from Discover Scuba Diving to Instructor level.
reviewed
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Day Tour to the Enchanting Forts of Nizwa
9 hours (Departs Muscat, Oman)
by Viator
The tour starts with a spectacular drive through the Hajar mountains via the oases of Fanjah and Birkat Al Mauz, to reach Nizwa and the impressive 17th century …Not LP reviewed
from USD$67.15 -
Muscat City Sightseeing Tour - A Fascinating Capital
4 hours (Departs Muscat, Oman)
by Viator
The tour begins by driving through the beautiful embassy quarter of Muscat en route to Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. Visit the mosque, a religious landmark of Mu…Not LP reviewed
from USD$35.13 -
Private 4x4 Safari - Mountain Fascination - Eastern Hajar Mountains
10 hours 30 minutes (Departs Muscat, Oman)
by Viator
Your private 4x4 tour starts on the road from Muscat to the coastal town of Quriyat, then moves off-road to continue on a mountain track through the Eastern Haj…Not LP reviewed
from USD$142.90 -
Markaz al-Bahja Shopping Mall Play Area
A fair way out of town, this covered play area with themed rides is in the new shopping mall, 5km northwest of Seeb Airport on the highway towards Seeb.
reviewed
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Private Day Tour of Rustaq - Voyage into the Past
9 hours (Departs Muscat, Oman)
by Viator
Your private tour starts with a visit to the fish market and souk in Barka and a visit of Bait Na'am, a fortified house where the Imams used to overnight during…Not LP reviewed
from USD$89.53 -
Private 4x4 Safari of Wadi Shab - The Coastal Caravan
11 hours (Departs Muscat, Oman)
by Viator
Head out from Muscat on your own private tour to the coastal town of Quriyat, famous for its beautiful beaches. Then onto a photo-stop at the "Sinkhole" which i…Not LP reviewed
from USD$161.85 -
Driver, Hossein Soltani
Hossein works in the Shiraz Eram hotel and moonlights as a (safe) driver and fixer.
reviewed
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Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport Private Departure Transfer
40 minutes (Departs Tel Aviv, Israel)
by Viator
Make your departure from Israel as smooth as possible with a Tel Aviv Ben-Gurion International Airport Private Departure Transfer. Forget about the haggling wit…Not LP reviewed
from USD$16.18 -
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Hammamat Ma’in
Drive anywhere in the hills above the Dead Sea and you’ll notice occasional livid green belts of vegetation, a trickle of water as it catches the sunlight, or a curtain of ferns across a disintegrating landscape of sulphurous rock. On closer inspection, you may catch a puff of steam and the hiss of underground water. These hills are alive with the sound of thermal springs – there are about 60 of them suppurating below the surface, breaking ground with various degrees of violence. The most famous spring is Hammamat Ma’in, a resort in Wadi Zarqa Ma’in. The water, ranging from 45°C to a blistering 60°C, tumbles off the hillside in a series of waterfalls and less assuming …
reviewed
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Sataf Nature Trail
Walkers will enjoy the Sataf nature trail, a two- to four-hour hike in the hills west of Jerusalem. The hike begins from the Sataf Junction. A bus from Jerusalem's central bus station to Kibbutz Tsova will drop you there. From the junction, follow the road with the brown sign marked 'Sataf' past the car park for 1.5km until you reach the national park. Sataf, located at 600m above sea level, was one of many Arab villages in the area to be deserted in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
Two springs and pools are in the village. You are not allowed in the pool but you can climb into the tunnel that feeds the spring (bring a torch). From the village, a marked trail descends to the ri…
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Sahary Gate
The number of expats living and working in Dubai who have never had a single conversation with a UAE national is a cause for concern. Too many expatriates know very little about the culture of their hosts, and Emiratis aren’t making enough of an effort to enlighten their guests. To help counter the stereotypes and misunderstandings that pervade Dubai society, Sahary Gate offers a range of workshops and tours that help educate foreigners about the local culture. Arabic calligraphy, cooking, language and jewellery-making are taught in workshops typically lasting between two and four hours, while some of the tours are refreshingly unique. You can visit the palace of a genero…
reviewed
