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The desert at the door

Fifty years ago, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, was just a cluster of huts sheltering the fishermen and pearl divers who pulled a living from the Creek. Aside from this small settlement, the rest was sand – 6,000 square kilometres of it.When oil was discovered in 1966, the Emirate began to blossom like the desert after rain. Money flooded in and construction started;  at one time it was estimated that a quarter of all the building cranes in the world were at work in Dubai. But beyond the encroaching city, the desert remains and it’s worth seeing.

Draw of the desert

 A drive of less than an hour leaves the city of Dubai behind and brings you to the edge of the Arabian Desert. Almost 4,000 sq km of this vast expanse – second in size only to the Sahara – belongs to the Emirate of Dubai. At first glance, red dunes under a hot sun look like an environment that can take care of itself. But in fact, the desert was no match for the aftershock of Dubai’s prosperity. If the ever-expanding city centre was one problem, the effects of the four-wheel drive vehicle were worse.The tracks of these vehicles squeezed the life out of fragile plants that had survived, until then, for millennia and by 1964, mechanised hunters had all but wiped out the desert’s most beautiful creature, the white Arabian oryx. The breed was saved from extinction by the then ruler of Dubai, Sheik Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the architect of modern Dubai. He sent a small herd of oryx to a sanctuary in Arizona, in the United Staes where they bred in safety. Thirty-five years later, 90 oryx, the descendants of the original herd, were brought back to Dubai’s desert and released in a newly established national park where they now number 250.

 When five per cent of the desert was designated a Desert Conservation area in 2002, the problem of ‘dune bashing’ was addressed. Previously, some 19 tour operators had been offering these desert joy rides; that number was reduced to four and wild as the rides may seem, they follow an agreed route. Although ecotourism is in Dubai’s future plans, for the present the experience of sharing this awesome space with the oryx, the desert fox and the Arabian gazelle comes at a price.You can stay in one of the 40 or so villas of a luxurious desert resort, Al Maha, built to look like a Bedouin encampment in an oasis. Costs range from $600 to $1500 a night for the smaller villas but they are the epitome of Arabian luxury. Staff members outnumber guests three to one and each villa enjoys its own, chilled private pool –where oryx now sometimes come to drink.There are falcon displays and the chance to ride into the desert on a horse or camel.

For a much less expensive foray into the desert, book a dune drive and desert dinner with Arabian Adventures.The evening begins with a hair-raising fourwheel drive over the rolling dunes (consider taking a Dramamine) then a stop where you struggle up a dune on your own two feet to photograph the setting sun. At dusk, you get your first glimpse of the Bedouin tent set out for the evening’s feast; the sight is pure romance.

 During the evening there’s a chance to have your hands painted with henna, try a puff on a Hubble-bubble pipe, watch some belly dancing and to experience a short ride on a camel. I can report it feels as if you’d straddled a large padded footstool that suddenly morphed to a great height and began to stride around the room. At the end of the evening, before guests climb back into the long convoy of fourwheel drive vehicles for the return to the hotels, the lights are switched off for several minutes.The scene is dimly lit by the moon and stars, the dunes like dry ocean waves rolling into the darkness. Hundreds of people sit in absolute silence for several minutes.When the lights come on again, there’s a momentary pause – and then applause. It could be for the feast, or for the entertainment, but I think it’s probably for the desert.

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Time off in Istanbul

In between visits to Istanbul’s awe inspiring sights, it sometimes feels good to come up for air. Here are four suggestions for Istanbul experiences on the lighter side .

Cruise like a Sultan on a Sultanboat

A cross between a royal barge and a massive Venetian gondola these splendid open vessels hold 30 passengers and make regular excursions throughout the year. When the Sultan travelled on his gilded and bejewelled vessel loyal subjects bowed to him from the shore. As your boat passes under the Galata bridge, pedestrians and fishermen greet you almost as enthusiastically. Prepare to wave! Cruises on the Golden Horn depart from the dock outside the Halic Kultur Merkezi in Sutluce daily at 10.00 and 20:00. For a shorter outing take the Sultanboat shuttle from the Dolmabahce Palace on the European shore across the busy Bosphorus to the Beylerbeyi Palace and the Kucuksu Summer Palace on the Asian shore (daily except Monday and Thursday). Or book a Sultanboat for a private cruise any day between 10:00 and 20:00.

Visit www.sultankayiklari.com for further information

Treat yourself to a view to remember

In the 19th century, the mystique of Constantinople was at its romantic height. Julian Viaud, a French naval officer who wrote under the pen name of Pierre Loti, was just one of those enchanted by the city. Loti used to climb the hill behind Eyup’s tomb to write in a humble coffee shop with a remarkable view of the Golden Horn. This 19th century coffee shop, now called the Loti Café, is still there.

And the view, too, is still worth the journey. Take a taxi, or better still, use the funicular signposted from the Eyup Mosque. (Eyup was a friend of the Prophet Mohammed and his was the first mosque built after the Turks took Constantinople.) The funicular glides up and over the ancient Ottoman cemetery that extends uphill from Eyup’s tomb – like a landslide in reverse – to bring you to the coffee shop terrace. From here, you can survey the Golden Horn in all its sinuous beauty. The view is best at twilight, when the sun’s rays gild the water of this natural harbour. Pierre Loti Café is open daily from 8.00 to 24:00. It serves non-alcoholic drinks and snacks. No credit cards. The funicular costs 1.30 Turkish lira. There’s a token dispenser at the station.

Commune with Agatha Christie at the Pera Palace

The mystery writer Agatha Christie began her love affair with Istanbul in 1923. She visited many times in the next few years and always stayed in room 411 at the Pera Palace Hotel, where she was inspired to write Murder on the Orient Express. Guests can still stay in room 411 where the key to her diary was found hidden under the floorboards three years after her death. Agatha Christie’s books form part of the décor. But you don’t have to book in to the hotel to enjoy the atmosphere. Take afternoon tea under the magnificent domes of the Kubbeli Salon, have a meal in the Agatha Restaurant, or muse over a drink in the Orient Bar, a favourite of Ernest Hemingway’s. The father of the Turkish Republic, Ataturk, stayed at the Pera Palace too, and his preferred room – 101 – is now a museum open to visitors. Just ask a bellman to show it to you. Pera Palace Hotel, Meşrutiyet Caddesi No. 52 Tepebaşı Beyoğlu 34430 Telephone: +90 212 222 80 90.

For details, see www.perapalace.com.

Explore the Koc Industrial Museum

This is the private world of a world-class collector, Rahmi M Koc. Thousands upon thousands of items are housed in an elegantly restored 18th century anchor house and in 14 adjacent waterside buildings that were once a ruined dockyard on the Golden Horn. It’s impossible to describe the inventory adequately; it includes gleaming ranks of vintage cars, an olive oil factory, the Sultan’s railway car, a submarine (book in advance to visit) an airplane, a 1917 X-ray ambulance – just about everything that has wheels that go round or a motor. There’s also miniature doll’s house furniture, sailboats, a horse-pulled tram, and a street of reconstructed shops; I can only recommend that you see it for yourself. The museum is located at Haskoy Avenue No. 5. Open 10:00 to 17:00 Monday-Friday and until 19:00 Saturday and Sunday.

For details, visit www.rmk-museum.org.tr.

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