Like I started to tell you in my last post, I've now been in the UAE for over a year. It's not a bad place to be if you must be in the Mideast for an extended period of time. If you're here all by yourself, it can be a lonely place, just like anywhere else. I was blessed in the past year to have Dana here with me for a total of 3 months, and that made it an enjoyable place!
The UAE was effectively founded by Sheik Zayed. He is rightfully revered by his people, because he was a visionary leader who planned and build his nation with the benefit of those people in mind. It is a beautiful place, even out on the highway between cities, with the main roads being lovely greenbelts. More on that below.
One of the treats of being here as a consultant expat is that every month I get to go see my friends at the Omani border, because I must go every 30 days to get a new tourist stamp in my passport. There are people here who've been doing this for years, and there are businesses that provide bus service over and back! The Google Earth image below shows a pretty fair view of what it looks like on the way. Better shots from the ground follow!
Leaving by 0930 or so works out pretty well. You can arrive at the border around noon, and that is a very low traffic time of day. The forecast was for a high of 82F (28C), which is a nice temp for a drive and a walk. The shot below is on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, from the right hand lane of an 8 lane highway - the buildings here are, for the most part, single family villas, i.e., nice big houses!
This complex is right off the road, also on the outskirts of the city. I think these are nearly completed, high-end housing units - there's a lot of that around here!
The road between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain is a modern 6 lane highway in perfect condition. There are trees lining both sides and the median. The trees are multipurpose - they block the wind, slow down the dust, stop the sand before it gets to the road, and they're very pretty and green! There are also speed cameras every few kilometers. You rarely see a police car but most people drive at the limit because the cameras don't miss, and you get the ticket in the mail.
On each side of the road are dunes, farms, towns, and orchards. I saw one scene as I went past at 80 mph that I wish I could've captured in a photo. It looked a lot like the shot below, but there was a line of camels coming toward me. Camels have a somewhat ungainly gait, although they can move very quickly at top speed, and camel racing is big sport here. This line of camels was trailed by a young man on a camel, which you don't see very often, and I hope the camel knew where it was going because the teenager was totally absorbed in the smartphone in his hands! What a contrast.
Almost to Al Ain the sand turns reddish, a very unique shade that influences all the architecture in the area. These dunes are huge and fascinating, and the locals love to drive all over them! I don't know how they retain their shape despite vehicles traversing them when I cannot even walk up the slope without starting a slide, but they do!
Not to overkill the topic, but the color differences here are wild. From one part of the drive to another the entire color scheme changes. The image below shows the UAE-Omani border on the right. Just left of the road to the border is Jebel Hafeet - the tallest mountain in this part of the country. It is a stunning jumble of faults and cracks and erosion that I would love to visit with one of my geologist friends just to learn how this big rock happened! A photo of Jebel Hafeet follows.
The border crossing is pretty simple, and you can do it in a car or on foot. During the hot summer I've done both, and just about prefer walking. On this trip it took me 50 minutes to make the 2 mile round trip across and back. I've rarely done it faster in a car - I just hit it perfectly on this day and I was the only one at each of the four stops required to get exit and entry stamps in each country. There's a lot of commercial traffic at this border, with one of my favorite cargos shown below.
When I was getting into the car after crossing, I noticed a mosque I'd never seen before and decided that might make a good shot. The mosque was out away from any other structure, and was impressively backed up by the flank of the jebel.
When I got in the car to leave and go find some lunch, the midday call to prayer started. I jumped back out and got the short video below - sadly the wind took over most of the audio, but if you listen carefully you can hear a beautifully done call. Standing there in the wind in the desert was a very peaceful moment.
As I drove back toward the highway a small, wiry man on an ancient,
rattly bicycle slowly pedaled by on his way to the mosque, and gave me a
great big smile and wave as he went by. Regardless of what you may see in the news or hear from some political leaders, Islam is a religion of lovely, peaceful, welcoming, friendly, positive, delightful people. Of course there are extremists, but probably as a far smaller percentage of the total than the Christian extremists who don't get nearly as much press as the phantom menace promoted by one of the major US political parties. Don't be misled by cruel, deceitful rhetoric.
The rest of my trip was nice and uneventful. I had lunch at a nearby mall (where I could choose Chinese, Italian, Lebanese, Greek, or 5 others from America - I went with Chinese!) and then drove the 1.5 hours back to Abu Dhabi. Not as nice a day as when Dana was here and we went together in February, but otherwise it was about the best monthly trip I've made. Thanks for reading!
#JebelHafeet #PeacefulIslam #UAE
The UAE was effectively founded by Sheik Zayed. He is rightfully revered by his people, because he was a visionary leader who planned and build his nation with the benefit of those people in mind. It is a beautiful place, even out on the highway between cities, with the main roads being lovely greenbelts. More on that below.
One of the treats of being here as a consultant expat is that every month I get to go see my friends at the Omani border, because I must go every 30 days to get a new tourist stamp in my passport. There are people here who've been doing this for years, and there are businesses that provide bus service over and back! The Google Earth image below shows a pretty fair view of what it looks like on the way. Better shots from the ground follow!
Leaving by 0930 or so works out pretty well. You can arrive at the border around noon, and that is a very low traffic time of day. The forecast was for a high of 82F (28C), which is a nice temp for a drive and a walk. The shot below is on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, from the right hand lane of an 8 lane highway - the buildings here are, for the most part, single family villas, i.e., nice big houses!
This complex is right off the road, also on the outskirts of the city. I think these are nearly completed, high-end housing units - there's a lot of that around here!
The road between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain is a modern 6 lane highway in perfect condition. There are trees lining both sides and the median. The trees are multipurpose - they block the wind, slow down the dust, stop the sand before it gets to the road, and they're very pretty and green! There are also speed cameras every few kilometers. You rarely see a police car but most people drive at the limit because the cameras don't miss, and you get the ticket in the mail.
The border crossing is pretty simple, and you can do it in a car or on foot. During the hot summer I've done both, and just about prefer walking. On this trip it took me 50 minutes to make the 2 mile round trip across and back. I've rarely done it faster in a car - I just hit it perfectly on this day and I was the only one at each of the four stops required to get exit and entry stamps in each country. There's a lot of commercial traffic at this border, with one of my favorite cargos shown below.
The rest of my trip was nice and uneventful. I had lunch at a nearby mall (where I could choose Chinese, Italian, Lebanese, Greek, or 5 others from America - I went with Chinese!) and then drove the 1.5 hours back to Abu Dhabi. Not as nice a day as when Dana was here and we went together in February, but otherwise it was about the best monthly trip I've made. Thanks for reading!
#JebelHafeet #PeacefulIslam #UAE
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