UAE May 13-14 and 21-29, 2024
For most people, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) means just one place: Dubai, the sci-fi-esque city of iconic skyscrapers, palm-shaped islands, city-sized malls, indoor ski slopes and beach resorts. But beyond the glitter is a diverse mosaic of six more emirates, each with its own character and allure.
An hour’s drive south, oil-rich Abu Dhabi, the country’s capital, is quickly gaining a reputation as a hub of culture, sport and leisure. Beyond its borders looms the vast Al Gharbia desert, whose silence is interrupted only by shifting dunes.
North of Dubai, Sharjah has the country’s best museums, while tiny Ajman and Umm Al Quwain show life in the pre-oil days, and Ras Al Khaimah is busy building up its tourism infrastructure. For the best swimming and diving, head to the emirate of Fujairah and the clear waters of the Gulf of Oman.
Capital. Abu Dhabi
Population. 7.9 million. Only 18% are natives, the rest are immigrant workers.
Money. UAE dirham (Dh). 3.66 to the US$ in November 2015. ATMs are everywhere.
Visa. For most Western travellers, it is a free 30-day visa on arrival.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – ABU DHABI (Al Ain)
Sun May 12
Flights. Royal Maroc QR4548 SSG-Casablanca (CMN) @05:40-10:55 / 4’15” / 3’15” trans
Qatar QR 4566 CMN-Doha (DOH) @14:10-23:35 / 8’25” / 2’45” trans
Day 1 Mon May 13 QR1040 DOH-Abu Dhabi (AUH) @02:20-04:25
Bus – buy HAFILAT card for airport and inner city buses – 20 aed (10 aed for the card and 10 aed balance) Ticket fares: 4 aed and inner bus city
a) Take bus a2 from the airport to the main bus terminal (across the street) bus number 34 (direction Khalidiya) and get off at Grandstores after Qasar Al Hosn square.
Walk down past three buildings to building 63.
ABU DHABI
I checked into the hostel, slept and worked on my Socrata post. To see anything in Abu Dhabi entailed long drives. I ate at the Pakistani restaurant Rabab Kebab.
ON ON Sweet Home Hostel. A very mediocre hostel with two 8-bed dorms, a kitchen but no common area except for a tiny table in the kitchen. +971 55 603 4793 jaocco78@gmail.com
63 Freej Al Mazaree’ Street, Abu DhabiFreej al Mazaree’ street. Build #63; Apartment: 1501 (15th floor) Rabab kebab restaurant, entrance at back, the apartment door is always open > elevator to floor 15th – 1501
Day 2 Tue May 14
I reversed the buses to get back to AUH.
Flight. Air Arabia AUH-Socrata @09:30
Day 3 Tue May 21
Flight. Socrata-AUH
After Socrata, I returned to Abu Dhabi and rented a car to see all of the UAE, Europcar AUH. A small MG 7 days, no excess CA$280.79. Rent car AUH April 21 @17:00, drop off April 29 @17:00.
It was 42°C and the small British-made car’s AC could barely keep up even at the top fan speed.
AL AIN (pop 625,000)
With markets, forts, museums and a famous date palm oasis, Al Ain is a calm oasis after the frantic pace of Dubai and even Abu Dhabi, both about a two-hour drive away. On the border with Oman, the birthplace of Sheikh Zayed has greatly benefited from his patronage and passion for greening the desert, even garnering the moniker ‘Garden City’. But the desert is never far away: simply drive the winding road up Jebel Hafeet for sweeping views of the Empty Quarter. Al Ain has a couple of excellent museums, an archaeological park, a superb zoo and several ancient sites comprising a WHS.
Al Ain rubs up against the town of Buraimi across the Omani border. Those who are not citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) must use the Hili border crossing in northern Al Ain and take a short taxi ride to the centre from there. GCC citizens can use the more central Al Mudeef crossing.
Al Ain has no cheap accommodation. Airports: Al Ain (AAN)
ON Top Apartment Hotel 200 Dh ($48.50) but had to pay for parking behind the hotel. No breakfast. I got a parking ticket as I paid a little late – 180AED or about US$50.
Day 4 Wed May 22
I went for a drive about to see some of the sites of Al Ain
Bawadi Outlet Mall. A very large 2-story modern mall with all the usual stores.
Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. In the NM Architectural Delights series, it opened in 2014 and holds 23,000 in 7 levels. The highlight is the external facade of fabric elements resembling the trunk of a palm tree that can be lit by LED lights in 15 different modes. In the hot summer months, the palm bowl shape of the roof provides pleasant conditions – the first stadium in the world with a unique parasol roof designed to shade all fans.
Al Ain Classic Car Museum. A small collection of 30 cars – Ford Model A and T, many American muscle cars, some Mercedes and even a VW Beetle. 15AE
This was a 21 km drive around Jebel Hafeet Mountain both ways to get here and not worth it.
Jebel Hafeet Mountain. A massive rugged mountain south of Al Ain. Access the top on the winding Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road accessed from the NW corner.
Jebel Hafeet Beehive Tombs. Enter the park on the SE corner to see these dome-shaped tombs, some that are restored on rock platforms. They have been reconstructed and can’t be entered. 10AED to enter the park. The Bronze Age tombs date from 2500-2000BC with over a hundred tombs although only a few have been excavated. It is 20 km south of Al Ain.
I then drove 178 km to Masfout.
Masfout is a village that forms part of the eponymous exclave of Masfout in Ajman. It is surrounded by Ras Al Khaimah, the Dubai exclave of Hatta and Oman. It is only accessible from Ajman itself by crossing the territories of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. There is little to see in the town.
Hatta (Dubai exclave) is an inland exclave of the emirate of Dubai. Formerly an Omani territory, its ownership was transferred to Dubai in or around 1850. It is about 134 km (83 east of Dubai high in the Hajar Mountains and borders Oman to the east and the south, the Ajman exclave of Masfout to the west, and Ras al-Khaimah to the north.
Hatta became a dependency of Dubai during the reign of Hasher Bin Maktoum after the Omani Sultan Turki bin Said transferred the territory, finding himself unable to defend it against the Na’im of Buraimi, who had settled neighbouring Masfout (today a part of the emirate of Ajman).
Some ancestral burial chambers from the Hafit period (3200-2500BC) can be found in the east part of the village. Some of them have been completely rebuilt. Hatta’s main economy is tourism, water, and historically dates.
Hatta Dam was built in the 1990s to supply the area with electricity and water.
Due to Hatta’s higher altitude, its climate is much cooler than central Dubai. Hatta has an arid landscape and temperature, reaching 55 degrees Celsius in the summer; however, it is less humid than Dubai and far colder in the winter.
Hatta Archaeological Landscape Tentative WHS. The archaeological graves consist of 29 graves, many restored with their rock domes and small entrances. I only saw the first two graves, #8 and #3 but all appeared virtually identical.
ON Hatta Guesthouse. 300 AED. A very nice hotel with an excellent buffet breakfast and 2 sodas and 2 water in the fridge.
Day 4 Thur May 23
I continued my drive north. GO TO UAE – The Rest
Day 7 Sun May 25
I returned to Dubai from Sharjah
UNITED EMIRATES – DUBAI
DUBAI (pop 2.1 million)
Everyone flies here – the aerial view is variable but always interesting: skyscrapers that sprout across a desert hemmed in by a coastline with constructed archipelagos. From the world’s tallest building, skiing in the desert, islands shaped like the entire world and the world’s largest shopping malls
Under the leadership of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai has become a centre of finance, tourism and trade – much based on its income tax-free status. But the expense of living here including property taxes makes it not so attractive.
For visitors, Dubai is an exciting place to visit, with lovely beaches, sophisticated restaurants and bars, world-class shopping, ultra-luxe hotels, and awe-inspiring architecture, including, of course, the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
Dubai’s heritage is still strongly rooted in Islam and generations of Bedouin heritage.
Dubai is an ultramodern city – there is nothing here over 50 years of age. Spread along the west coast of UAE for many kilometres, it is basically a city of freeways, low-rises, and mosques with high minarets and desert-adapted trees and palms. There are concentrations of high rises downtown around the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall and around Dubai Marina/Creek. All are architectural wonders clad in reflective glass and stainless steel. Even the “historical districts” look brand-new.
In the neighbourhood, where I am staying and on the metro, it is interesting to pick out nationalities. These are all guesses but 90% appear Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Filipino, and the rest are a smattering of African, Chinese, tourist and the least common, Arab. At Dubai Mall, besides the workers, 80% are Western tourists, 15% South Asian tourists and 5% are Arabs dressed in their flowing white kaftans and headgear (they are the only ones in the unbelievably swank restaurants in the domed atrium). Arab women are all in black and many had a full burqa. I asked a worker in a store (who was obviously Filipino), how many of the people who worked in the mall were Filipino – she said 70% – they are very courteous people.
Jameel Arts Centre. OMG, another modern art museum with contemporary art – nothing was interesting in the three floors. Free
Dubai Frame (Urban Legends) is an observatory, museum, and monument and holds the record for the largest frame in the world. It is 150.24 meters high and 95.53 meters wide. The building mainly serves as an observatory, providing views of old Dubai in the north and newer parts in the south.
The ThyssenKrupp Elevator Architecture Award is an international architecture competition first held in 1988 with 926 design proposals to create a Tall Emblem Structure for Dubai. Donis’ design won a $100,000 prize.
An observation deck spans the top of the frame, with glass-bottomed floors looking down almost 150 meters. The lower span contains a museum showing the history of the city.
Safa Park, Urban Legends. A small urban park with a playground.
ON Restivation. A nice hotel about 6 km from the Marina
Day 7 Mon May 27
I took a day off to rest, read and work on my new book.
After talking to Anna, I drove down to the Marina area.
Princess Tower (Architectural Delights) is a 101-story, 413.4 m (1,356 ft) tall residential-only skyscraper located in the Marina district of Dubai It is the third tallest building in Dubai, after the Burj Khalifa and Marina 101 and the 36th tallest building in the world. Princess Tower was the tallest residential building in the world from 2012 to 2015, when it was overtaken by 432 Park Avenue in New York City.
It has 763 units, 957 underground parking bays (spread over six floors), and eight retail outlets and was completed in 2012.
There is an indoor swimming pool, outdoor swimming pool, fully functioning gymnasium, sauna, steam room, exercise studio, multiple games rooms, children’s play area, banqueting hall and an Observation Deck on the 97th floor with Wifi access.
Ibn Battuta Mall. A large modern one-story mall. One part has an Egyptian motif and the other side is typical UAE construction. I had dinner here at Hardee’s.
ON Resivation Hotel for the second night.
Day 9 Tue May 26
After a late start, I drove to Abu Dhabi, saw the following sites and returned the rental car to the airport. It was then a 10-hour wait for my flight.
Louvre Abu Dhabi. A great museum with a wealth of wonderful especially the sculpture. 63AED
Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental. A 5-star hotel on its own 1.2 km private beach. Construction costs were around US$3 billion making it the third most expensive hotel ever built, surpassed by the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas ($3.9 billion) and the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore ($5.5 billion). Inside is a large central dome and 114 smaller domes spread around the building. There are 390 residences, including 92 suites and 22 residential suites, the majority furnished in gold and marble. The cheapest room is 1,800 AED.
Aldar Headquarters. Architectural Delights. This is the first circular building of its kind in the Middle East. The shape of this building is achieved through the use of structural diagrid, a diagonal grid of steel. It has 23 floors and 12 passenger elevators.
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The extent to which the circle is embedded in the ground was designed around the golden ratio.
Marina Mall. Opened in 2001, it is located along the breakwater on Corniche Road, close to the Emirates Palace Hotel. It has 4 stories.
I had a difficult time finding gas but still returned the car on time at 4 pm. There was a 180AED parking ticket.
As my flight was at 02:45 am, I had almost 8 hours before I could check-in. AUH is surprising as it had no restaurants except Starbucks on the landside.
Day 10 Tue May 29
Flight. PIA Pakistan International Airline. AUH – Peshawar (PEW) @02:45-06:50 3’05” direct CA$176
DARE
Abu Dhabi Emirate extreme west (Al Sila area)
Sir Bani Yas Island is a natural island located 170 km SW of Abu Dhabi and 9 km offshore from Jebel Dhanna. 17.5 km long and 9 km wide. It was originally home to Arabia’s largest wildlife reserve and is home to thousands of large free-roaming animals, several million trees and plants and a bird sanctuary. Adventure safaris, kayaking, mountain biking, archery, hiking and snorkelling.
Sir Bani Yas is the crest of a salt dome created millions of years ago by natural geological forces.
The first human settlers arrived several thousand years ago. Thirty-six archaeological sites Nestorian Christian monastery dates to 600 AD. Animals introduced include gazelle, oryx, llama, hyrax, giraffe, and ostrich. One hundred species of wild birds. One of the world’s largest herd of endangered Arabian oryx (formerly extinct in the wild, but now over 400 roam freely on the island).
Taking up about half of Sir Bani Yas, the Arabian Wildlife Park has 13,000 animals indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula including the endangered Arabian Oryx, Sand Gazelle and Mountain Gazelle as well as free-roaming predators and scavengers such as the cheetah and striped hyena.
Critically endangered include sea turtles, sand gazelles, Barbary sheep, Arabian tahr and oryx. More than 10,000 animals from Sir Bani Yas have been released into wildlife reserves.
Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara with 64 rooms and three restaurants
Flights are available through Sir Bani Yas Airport.
Sir Bu Nair Island Tentative WHS: (30/01/2012). This protected island is a marine protected areas, geological formations, natural flora and Marine birds. Sir Bu Nair is one of the most important hawksbill nesting sites within the entire Arabian Gulf.
Important sea-birds nesting here include lesser crested tern, great crested tern, red-billed tropicbird and Socotra cormorant. Sooty gulls and bridled terns nest in large numbers. Threats to nesting bridled terns from feral cat predation.
The subsoil of the island is rich in iron oxide and sulphur and used in the paving of streets in Britain.
