Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
FORMER Bahrain resident and author of the popular book Streetsmart Bahrain, Melissa van Maasdyk, has announced the release of a new online travel guide.
In The Steps of Shaikh Zayed is the 56-year-old’s swansong for the UAE, her home for the last decade, and she hopes it will offer visitors, especially from the kingdom, a unique interactive experience.
Exploring Abu Dhabi’s history and culture, the guide features virtual tours of 14 important landmarks and video interviews, including one with a special Bahrain touch, pinned on a map! It’s entitled so because it interweaves the stories of the country and its founder, Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
“I always seem to wait until I leave a country to come out with a book,” the writer and creative told GulfWeekly on a lighter note.
“I came out with the first edition of Streetsmart Bahrain in 2012, the year I left the island to move to Canada, and now this online guide, when I’m leaving Abu Dhabi for Portugal.
“While it starts out as a history lesson and profile of Shaikh Zayed, it can also be used as a guide to the UAE by people in Bahrain planning to visit the emirate.
“It all started when I discovered an online course on digital storytelling, which covered mobile documentary media production using iPhones and iPads, and Geographical Information System (GIS) story mapping on Google maps. For our course assignment, we were asked to geo-locate stories in our immediate communities, and I decided on creating this guide.
“Initially it was just a class project but the first few interviews I conducted were so fascinating that I decided to continue even after the course finished,” added the yoga teacher.
The guide features interviews of people who knew Shaikh Zayed or worked for him, or are knowledgeable on the UAE’s history. They were shot on her iPhone with the help of a small mobile microphone.
“My interview with German historian Frauke Heard-Bey sheds light on one of his greatest challenges as ruler, which came in the late 60s when Britain announced its intention to withdraw from the Gulf by 1971. This meant that Abu Dhabi, like Bahrain, would lose Britain’s military protection upon which the Gulf countries had come to rely. Shaikh Zayed, together with Dubai’s ruler, Shaikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, decided that the answer to navigating the transition to independence was to merge the seven emirates, and so the United Arab Emirates was born in 1971.
“In the interview, Frauke also talks about the time she joined Shaikh Zayed for lunch on top of Jebel Hafeet in the company of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who was then the Crown Prince, and the video features a wonderful photo of her shaking hands with King Hamad,” the former Salmaniya resident added.
Furthermore, the guide features itineraries combining historical sites with some of Abu Dhabi’s best leisure offerings, from beaching to desert-tripping, galleries to restaurants, along with some insights into Emirati cuisine and traditions, finishing off with a roadtripping guide to the rest of the UAE.
“This section includes my personal recommendations and draws on my experience as a lifestyle writer for various international magazines and Streetsmart Bahrain, which has four successful print editions.
“In 2018, Streetsmart Bahrain was gifted to selected guests at the F1 Grand Prix, and this was repeated the following year,” said Melissa, highlighting that she hopes the new guide will fulfil a similar role.
The creative lived in Bahrain for seven years with her husband and hopes to make a return visit soon.
“I made trips to Bahrain many times while living in Abu Dhabi and will definitely be visiting again. I want to see the completed Pearling Path next time round and think I need another fix of the traditional suqs.”
Storymap, the platform on which the guide is available, is accessible for free.
For more details, follow @bymelissa_vm on Instagram.
