[Rokke]

"I was there in January of 1999."

Seven years ago? Go back now.

[jdm]

"Seven years ago? Go back now."

Australia is an ally in the WOT, and they've had a travel warning for UAE, for some time now.

- We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in the United Arab Emirates because of the high threat of terrorist attack.

- We continue to receive reports that terrorists are planning attacks against Western interests in the United Arab Emirates. Commercial and public areas frequented by foreigners are possible terrorist targets.

http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/United_Arab_Emirates

[fallujah-nuker]

Seven years ago? Go back now.

An entire month was enough time out of my life, no thanks. Longest month of my life, I made a chart to track what percentage of my time was complete. At last the blessed day came in the middle of the night and I boarded the KLM 767 that would head back to Amsterdam. The plane took off and I was happy, then it turned 90 degrees and followed a highway at low altitude. I thought we were going to turn back but the plane just followed the highway. Finally there was an announcement that we would be landing in Abu Dhabi. I thought "holy crap, I got on the wrong plane." But no, it had said KLM on the side and the flight attendants were Dutch. As it turned out the route is Amsterdan-Dubai-Abu Dhabe-Amsterdam. A triangle route with one hell of a hypotenuse and adjacent side and a minimal opposite side!