My Sharjah Experience: Al Noor Island, Rain Room, Mleiha, Sharjah Light Festival
Hey guys,
If you follow me on Instagram, you know I was in Sharjah in February for 5 days for the 9th Annual Sharjah Light Festival.
We covered so many places in 5 days and also 3 evenings were dedicated to the Sharjah Light Festival where different city landmarks were lit up with the light shows created by an array of international artists. And the Grand Finale was amazing, the fireworks were spectacular.
Sharjah is UAE’s cultural capital and rightly so with some of the best museums and art galleries in the country.
Let me start with my day by day experience..
Day 1:
We checked in to the Sharjah Sheraton Beach Resort, and after resting for a while and catching a bit of sleep, we headed to Mleiha. First we were given a guided tour of the Mleiha Archaelogical Centre and Indoor Museum. We learned some interesting facts about how people formed a society, how migrants from Africa came to Gulf through Mleiha and saw some preserved tools and weapons used by people in those days.
We then did buggy bashing and dune bashing which was a lot of fun, and stopped for a few pictures in the middle. Finally we headed to the last destination for the day, Mleiha Overnight Camps where we had barbeque dinner, did some star gazing (saw a piece of meteorite as old as the Earth!) and slept in tents. I have never done camping, that too in a desert, so it was kind of an interesting experience and I did enjoy it.
Day 2:
We had breakfast at the Mleiha camps and saw the most beautiful sunrise at 5.52 am. I have not seen many sunrises in my life as I am not a morning person, and this was the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen!
Later we came back to the hotel and after freshening up, we left for Rain Room. Rain Room was one of my favourite experiences in Sharjah. You walk through continuous downpour of rain, without getting wet! Yes! How you ask? There are sensors which detect your presence and the water stops pouring in that area. But you have to walk slow and alone, keeping distance from others, for the sensors to work.
Post the amazing Rain Room experience, we went to Souq Al Arsah in the Heart of Sharjah where we met Fatima and her colleague. They served us Gahwa (Arabic Coffee) which is their welcome drink and dates. Gahwa doesn’t have sugar and hence they drink it with a date, so it balances the bitterness from the coffee. They also explained and taught a bit about the culture and hospitality, how a glass is shaken if you don’t need more gahwa and how they eat dates in odd numbers always (it is said to balance the insulin in the body). We then headed to the Sharjah Heritage Museum which was also a part of Heart of Sharjah.
For lunch, we went to Al Bait which is Sharjah’s first luxury resort and is a part of the Leading Hotels of the World. Al Bait is a part of Emirati Conservation Project and the entire resort is made up of heritage buildings that are more than a century old. The lunch there was amazing and the entire experience was pure luxury.
By evening we came to Al Noor Island which had the most beautiful view and again one of my favourite experiences in Sharjah because it had butterfly house 😀 We played with the butterflies and clicked some pictures with them.
Then we headed to our first day of Sharjah Light Festival. We covered American University of Sharjah, Sharjah Police Academy & University City Hall. We had dinner at Sutis at Al Majaz Waterfront and it was one of the best Lebanese in Sharjah.
Day 3:
We left for lunch at the Shooting Club and also tried our hands at archery there. Shooting was the original plan but there was some technical issue, hence we tried archery.
Later we went to Kalba Birds of Prey center and Al Hefaiyah Mountain Conservation Center where we saw some rare and interesting species of birds, reptiles and animals.
In the evening, we reached our Sharjah Light Festival locations Khorfakkan Municipality, Municipal Council and Town Planning Department.
We had dinner at Fatima’s house, her house was stunning and every corner was so pretty. We even tried some traditional outfits and jewellery.
Day 4:
On Day 4, we went to the Sharjah Islamic Museum and the Sharjah Aquarium. We had lunch at Jones The Grocer which was my favourite meal in Sharjah! Everything we ordered was so fresh and full of flavours, and the desserts were mind blowing.
Then we went to Al Jubail Market and bought some Medjool dates. It was a like an air conditioned vegetable market, and had everything you would need. The variety of dates here is amazing, and the prices are really good plus the quality. I highly recommend shopping for dates in Sharjah, I regret not getting more.
We also went to Irani market and bought some Oud perfumes. This was the final day of the Sharjah Light Festival and we went to Al Qasba and Al Noor Mosque. Then we headed for the Closing Ceremony and Gala Dinner at the Al Majaz Waterfront. The lights, music, laser shows, fire crackers, it was a beautiful closing ceremony!
Day 5:
Day 5 was our last day in Sharjah. We went to Kingfisher Lodge for lunch, it’s a beautiful property and the chef was Indian, so we finally had Indian food on our last day and it was pretty good. We were supposed to do Kayaking but it was raining that day, hence we couldn’t. But we did tour the property and the luxury lodges were beautiful, definitely wish to stay there once.
We went to Sahara Shopping Centre for some shopping and then finally headed to the airport.
It was quite a different and unique experience, and I loved being a part of it. A big thank you to Visit Sharjah for having me, it was quite a memorable trip.
I am glad I could capture it all for you guys through this vlog. The total footage was of 80-82 mins, and I have cut it short to 40 mins. I know it’s a long vlog, but I wanted to show everything and I didn’t want to make two parts of it and cut the flow. Also all my Instagram stories from the trip are under the ‘Sharjah’ highlights.
I hope you enjoy this blog and the vlog, do let me know your favourite part in the comments down below or any questions/doubts related to Sharjah.