Last Day of Our Tour

This was supposed to be a free day, the last day of our trip, but the group decided to visit Abu Dhabi and the women were told to dress modestly and bring hair coverings for the mosque.

Pristine Beaches

But before we took off for Abu Dhabi, we drove over to the, now famous, Jumeirah Palm Island. There are 3 Palm Islands in Dubai, we visited Jumeirah, and the first Island built; Combined with the newly developing ‘The World Islands’, 730 km of beach will be added to Dubai. The Jumeirah Palm Island is now almost fully developed and just some minor construction is left. There are many condos, apartments, hotels, malls, etc, and your location determines your rent on the island. If you have a beach front condo it is more expensive than let's say across the street. The rents range from US$ 40,000 to 50,000 per year. The cost of

An Apartment Building

living in Dubai is expensive. Remember you can only lease, not own the property. Leases are for 99 years and then you have to give your property back to the government. Yes, give it; you will get nothing for it in exchange. How popular are those places here? An area on this Palm island of about 200 villas was put on the market at a cost of 1.2 million US$ each. All were sold within 4 hours. Add to your mortgage or rent, other expenses like school fees (tuition), health care, car expenses, utilities (water costs more than gasoline), etc, etc, and you will see it is expensive to live in Dubai.

Monorail

 We took the monorail back to the entrance to the island to get somewhat of an aerial view, our bus picked us up there.

Aerial View of Palm Island Housing

We stopped at the marina part of the Palm Island, filled with yachts and watched nearby sky divers jump out of small planes. We took a group photo with the strangely twisted skyscraper buildings in the background. Whatever we saw around us was not there 5 years ago. Years ago camels raced here on a desert race track, now it’s all developed. The camels now race someplace else, deeper into the desert. Around us are tons of parks and tourist attractions; Lego-land Park, water parks, Bollywood and many new hotels. It's a buzzing area. All this costs money. Dubai lives large!

The Twisted Building

I found out cars are relatively cheap, zero import tax on cars. Of course all cars are imported.

About 90 minutes later we were in Abu Dhabi. One can tell by driving down the super slab when you enter this Emirate. As soon as you enter Abu Dhabi it gets greener. The medians on the highway are planted with trees. So are the sides, when no housing is around. I forgot the number but millions of trees that were and are planted and watered with desalinated water. The watering systems are all under ground, like drip irrigation.

I noticed the shape of the overhead lights change. We are in another country so to speak, another Emirate. The Emirates only united by the 1971 treaty. And the man who organized this unification was Sheik Zayed. He was responsible for the boom of the UAE and he was the first president. Zayed died in 2004 and left behind 19 sons. He left all of his wealth to his eldest son Khalifa. Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan became the next president of the UAE, hence the name Burj Khalifa (the name of the tallest building in the world). It is said Khalifa has no fear, he walks around without a body guard.

Beautiful Reflecting Pool Outside the Mosque

Before his death Sheik Zayed wanted to build a new mosque in Abu Dhabi, a mosque we now call the Sheik Zayed Mosque. This Mosque is the finest mosque I have ever visited. No money was spared. Zayed took no loan, he paid for everything from his income and he never tallied up his expenses. Nobody knows how much the Sheik paid, one can only guesstimate. The amounts are staggering…… a bit over 4 billion US$ dollars is the guesstimate. Sheik Zayed died before his Mosque was completed, his burial site is nearby so he can see it forever.

Scarf Kept Slipping But No One
Seemed To Mind

 All women had to be properly dressed, meaning not a burka but a full cover up. Never mind the heat. Now I know why Carol bought her cashmere shawl last night. All shoes must come off. Picture taking is allowed. We only had Marshall as our guide, no shadow from the Mosque.

Not Allowed to Walk Across This Inlaid Marble Courtyard

Wow!! It just came out of my out of my mouth when I walked in. This place deserves one’s respect.

The mosque can accommodate 40,000 worshipers. There are 1000 marble pillars. Marble in pure white of the finest stones, each pillar inlaid with mostly mother of pearl snaking up each pillar like vines, studded with flowers and inlaid with semiprecious stones; All the mother of pearl sparkles. The top of each column is 24 carat gold leaf.

To Get Into the Main Mosque (previous picture) We Had To
Walk Around the Courtyard, Through the Pillared Hallways
Which Were Open On Both Sides to Catch the Breeze
(see left side of picture)

The floor is inlaid marble overlaid with carpet where people tend to walk. The carpet in the main prayer room is so large it took 1200 to 1300 people 2 years to hand knot it. It is, no doubt, the largest carpet in the word. The carpet is made from New Zealand wool, hand knotted in Iran. The total weight of this carpet is over 35 tones and it had to be shipped in sections. The colors, beige and green indicate the desert (beige) and the green of the Garden of Paradise. Strewn across both colors are flowers. All this is made in a beautiful color combination. Raised pilings in the carpet itself indicate the rows for the worshipers to use to kneel in prayer.

This Shows the Immensity of the Main Prayer Room
(enlarge to see 2 of the main chandeliers)

Every detail is thought out. The air conditioning is hidden within the columns. There are 7 chandeliers throughout the Mosque; each one is made in Munich, Germany. Each chandelier incorporates millions of Swarovski Crystals that sparkle like diamonds. There are 3 chandeliers in the main prayer hall, the middle chandelier weighs 11,5 tons but can be lowered easily for maintenance, using a hidden hydraulic system. The rest of the chandeliers have similar hydraulics. It is a modern marvel.

Outside, against the walkways, against the buildings are reflection pools which reflect the beauty and make it seem even bigger. This Mosque is the epitome of a modern, yet elegant house of prayer. The UAE should be and is very proud of Zayed, he left a legacy.

You Can Almost See the Raised Pilings In the Carpet Which Indicate the Prayer Rows
(the pilings run from top to bottom of the picture)

Marshall, the guide took us to the Heritage Village to have lunch, but it was too late in the day. And it was also very crowded and touristy. We opted for a nicer, air conditioned mall nearby to have lunch. Plenty of restaurants but they were hidden. Carol and I saw a Fuddruckers and had a good old fashioned hamburger.

Emirate Palace Hotel In the Distance
(picture taken through the wrought iron gate which was
blocking entrance)

We stopped at the Emirate Palace Hotel for pictures but they only let you take a picture from afar; One more of those $10,000/ night places. Even the hired security guy was snobby and threatened me with the police if I don't do as he says. I don't need people like that in my life.

Abu Dhabi has the world's fastest roller coaster, 240 km/hour. Now that is scary.

The population of Abu Dhabi is 2.8 million spread out over a large area. Oil was discovered here offshore in 1958.

There was a small town here as far back as 1757 when nomads chasing gazelles settled somewhat. Abu = father. Dhabi = Gazelle.

Very Fast Ferris Wheel

We saw a leaning tower (Capital Gate) that leans 4 x as much as the leaning tower of Pisa. We drove past large palatial residences for the 19 sons of Sheik Zayed and their families.

It is said there is no corruption in the police department, everybody is treated equally.

Informers can just call and get a thank you and then a hang up. You do not have to give your name or identify yourself when you call with a tip for the police. You can use a toll free number that is not traced.

The windows of many cars are fully tinted; you cannot see who is inside the car from the outside. We were told this is because women were driving the cars.

The "Can Opener" Building (supposed to have been in either
a James Bond or Mission Impossible movie - I forget which)

Oman is ruled by a Sultan. The UAE is ruled by Sheiks and is much more multinational.

Abu Dhabi is really a large Island.

We stopped on the way back at a market, specializing in all kinds of dates. Chocolate covered yum! I bought a package to take to Crete, our next stop.

We had a great time romping around India, Nepal and the UAE. But it beat us up too. So before we go back to Canada, we will decompress in Crete for a few weeks.

Dates - Yummy

We got back to the hotel around 7.30 PM

We went back down to the lobby around 8:45 pm to say good-bye to the rest of the group who now had to fly back to BC, with a layover in Hong Kong. What a weird world we are living in.

Auf Wiedersehen!      Tschüß!

Dubai Safari

The morning is a free morning; our desert safari starts at 3.00 PM. So we took a taxi to the Gold Souk as we had not seen the details of this large Souk. Carol, to enhance her Indian Ruby ring, thought a ruby pendent would be nice to complement it. We stopped in 3 stores and Carol found a very dark, clean stone of about 2 carat. Now the negotiations were left up to me. I did my best and we settled on 25 % off list price. It takes time to buy and talk but all left happy, so I think the dealer still made out well. Carol sure is happy with her pendent.

I wanted to buy a shirt in Dubai and we walked to the appropriate Souk but found nothing. One has to know the area well and get to know all the people to deal here.

Sahid's Drivers Seat

Knowing that, I went back to the guy in the souvenir shop who sold me the camel pin yesterday. He smiled and recognized me immediately. When I pantomimed I wanted one more pin he knew exactly what I wanted. No more haggling or saying anything. He gave me only the camel pin out of the total set, I paid him and all was done. It was very easy, very fast. We both smiled. Good business.

Getting To the Desert

Back to the hotel, lunch, and off we go via SUV into the desert. While it is a little cooler after 3.30 PM, it is still plenty hot. Lucky the car has A/C. We are 6 passengers in the Toyota Land Cruiser, which the driver, Sahid, is convinced is the best car for desert driving. With its manual shift, it outperforms any other vehicle by any other manufacturer in many ways. His car had over ½ million miles on it and was in perfect condition. It was clean and well maintained. He drives it every day, and every day he uses the 4 wheel drive features in the loose sand of the desert.

They Seem Like Friendly Camels

The way out of town going west sees gradually fewer and fewer houses and then, nothing but desert; as far as one could see only sandy desert. Our first stop, after we drove for about an hour was a camel pen. We just got out of the SUV to stretch and to say hello to the animals, some were feeding on hay and some had young ones, who still nursed. The beasts were used to people and let you pet them, which does not happen often with camels.

Nursing

Loose Lips

While we were taking pictures, Sahid let some air out of his tires. He went from 35 lbs down to 14 lbs to give him better traction in the sand.

The Camels Mostly Ignored Us

Steep, Rutted Dunes

And oh boy, did he drive like a wild man in the soft sand. All in the car were laughing and bouncing around on the inside while Sahid laughed at us. He drives here everyday and knows the area, knows the curves, the dunes, and his car. Not only him but everybody in the now forming caravan drove like this. A bit of a show for us tourists, but safe enough, I am sure. For us novices to this land, it was an unnecessary risk, but what do I know. 

After being bounced around, traversing some steep dunes and sometimes close to a tip over (that's what it felt like), we joined all the cars in this caravan (20) near a large dune and took a break. All tourists got out of each car and we all walked up this dune. Three steps forward, sliding back 2 steps. It is hell to walk or climb in loose sand. We were huffing and puffing but

Steep Dunes, Hard To Walk Up Them

ultimately, finally made it to the top. Carol had a smile on her face but admitted that this would not be her favorite way to take a walk. The view was lovely, the sun was getting low, the temps were getting lower but it was just a taste of a real desert experience. To be on a journey through the desert must be a very difficult way to travel. Or am I getting old?

We all drifted back to the SUVs and did more sliding around the sand dunes with the cars. It was, (felt to me), like the drivers were trying to outdo each other, showing us who can be the wildest; with yippee's and yahoo’s we arrived in another area were we were given water and then all the cars re-inflated their tires. This took a bit of time, but we were not walking anywhere. The sun now is almost gone but there were too many clouds for good sunset pictures. Yet, I LOVED those clouds; they sure cooled things down a bit.

Beautiful Sky

When all the tires were re-inflated, we drove from there into a desert camp. This was a very, very large area that contains Old Fort-like buildings where we would spend the evening. 20 or so such forts (camps) spread out in this huge area. Our caravan of about 20 SUVs, all white Toyota Land Cruisers, arrived at our designated camp. We were a crowd of about 120 people. We saw some other structures far away but never heard the other camps. Outside of our camp were camels but Carol and I disregarded them and walked into the Fort through a large door, into a large plaza-like

Our Oasis, Al Jabal Village

 setting. All around the 4 walls of the inside camp were stall-like lean-tos made out of wood or other low end building material. It was a shelter from the desert, not a hotel, not a tent, not fancy. But it was effective. The winds that had started to blow, blowing around stinging sand, clouding the vision and eventually stinging the skin painfully, were gone inside this camp, it was a refuge. Some lean-tos were souvenir shops, some were kitchens, sitting areas, eating areas, etc. In the center of the plaza a large stage was erected and we knew we would get some performances. Low tables with about 8 seats each surrounded this stage.

After getting seated we could take a free camel ride outside the Fort but Carol and I opted out of that. We have ridden camels a few times; we knew it would only be a photo op and a few rounds in the parking lot. Carol explored the shops and I enjoyed my soda pop. Ah, this is a tourist version of an experience in an Arab camp, after a long day walking in the desert. Somehow I can understand how it must have felt. I had a sense of accomplishment, a sense of camaraderie, of relying on each other to beat this landscape, this desert. To just relax for the moment, have a much needed drink and lookup at the stars. It was a hard life then, a much simpler life but fulfilling nonetheless.

The Women's Line. Excellent Food

I was shaken out of my reverie when Carol showed me the cashmere shawl she bought at the shop here. It was only $ 12 US and made up for the high cost of her beer which was 30 Dirhams or $ 8.25 US.

Appetizers arrived and all the camel riders came back to their tables. Then a buffet dinner was served. Men formed in one line, woman in another line. I am not sure what the women were served but our food was good. Different way of using spices but the chicken shish-kebob was delicious. We were offered lots and lots of different salads.

Henna

Strangely enough, the dessert table was set up for both sexes.

Carol disappeared for a while and then came back with a henna tattoo on her right hand. It had to dry so she was careful. She was told it would last for 2 weeks and then disappear slowly.

The lights dimmed and the music started to play and….. Belly dancing! The woman was tall, blond with long hair and Caucasian with very pale skin. She had a kind of Scandinavian look. I was

Our Belly Dancer

expecting an Arabian beauty. She was a good dancer though, but again, my hormones are not what they used to be. She performed for a good 15 minutes and left with applause.

Next was a whirling dervish in a festive costume. He spun and spun and at one point, his billowing skirt started to light up. And then light up in more and more different colors and patterns. His clothing was electrified with mini light bulbs that could be controlled or programmed. Tech has arrived even in traditional dervish swirling. What an age we live in now.

A Whirling Dervish

The evening was good, relaxed, albeit, of course, touristy.

Our driver Sahid took us back to the hotel.

We had an insight, however shallow, in the ways of the caravan, of the life in the desert. I would have liked to do this again but then slower, on camel, in tents with story telling time and a real camp fire. But I am only dreaming; I know it.  

Electrified Dervish

 تصبح على خير.  (Good Night)