T a x F r e e was about employment or starting a business. Dubai should not be a tourist destination. There is nothing there. If you want desert and desolatio

T a x F r e e was about employment or starting a business. Dubai should not be a tourist destination. There is nothing there. If you want desert and desolation, with mountains, and nicer people, go to Oman. Musandam is remarkable (fjords on the Strait of Hormuz!), and usually accessed from Dubai. Hiking around Jabal Shams canyon, or Jebel Akhdar, can be tough but enchanting (apricot and rose harvests), and there are a smattering of old forts in the mountains (e.g. Nizwa). Egypt is much more famous, and rightly so. However, the best single destination in the world, not just the Arab world, is Petra (Jordan), which should certainly top any bucket list.