From time to time I visit Sharjah, one of the seven emirates that comprise the United Arab Emirates.  In my experience, it’s much less well-known than its immediate neighbor, Dubai, and lacks its glitz, glamor and playboy-playground status.  It’s the only emirate where it’s illegal to buy alcohol, and that’s a reflection of its generally conservative status and reputation.  If Abu Dhabi is the “business emirate” and Dubai is the “fun emirate”, Sharjah would like to be known as the “cultural emirate”.  There’s some justification for its claim as there are several good museums there, and the local ruler, himself a published historian, has invested heavily in educational and cultural projects.

Merging seamlessly as it does into the Dubai conurbation, Sharjah can feel like the quiet, unassertive, shy sibling of its bigger, brasher brother.  Nevertheless, it shares many of the features of the other emirates: shiny, new office buildings that dwarf the mosques around them, sandy back streets where you feel the nearby desert encroaching, the relentless construction everywhere, and, of course, the inevitable traffic jams.   I’ve always enjoyed my short stays in Sharjah, not because of any particular sights or distractions it has to offer, but because of the courtesy and the kindness I find there and the gentleness and elegance of its people.