Tuesday January 31, 2023
Port to dock, RHS drive, Tour Bus 1, Al Ain and the Great Mosque, Abu Dhabi, UAE, guide Hussein (from India, but lived in Abu Dhabi for 25 years).
Before embarking on the day’s adventure, it seems to be prudent to set the scene and discuss what is this thing allied the UAE and what is is all about? Human occupation in the region dates back to the earliest humanoid presence, 124,000 BCE through finds at the Faya-2 site in Melina, Sharjah. More recently, Portugal and England were the dominant powers. In 1820 established this “Trucial State” as a British protectorate which ended in 1971. When the British left the area there were various (for our purposes it was 9) Sheikhdoms, all with their respective rulers and ways of being. Two: Qatar and Bahrain, opted to go on their own and start their own countries; the other seven, decided to band together into one country – the UAE – United Arab Emirate. Six singed as of December 2, 1971 and Ras Al Khaimah joined on February 10, 1972. There is a ruling council of 7 Sheiks, each overseeing their own Sheikdom. One of the seven, chosen by the council is selected to be the President of the UAE and another the Vice President. Usually these positions are taken by the Sheik of Abu Dhabi as President and that of Dubai as Vice President. There is only one common military, there are no elections and it is not a democracy, as the Ruler is all powerful and whatever he says is the law. The seven Emirates with their dates of establishment are (oldest to latest): – Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah (1708); Sharjah (1727); Abu Dhabi (1761); Umm Al Quwain (1768); Ajman (1813)Dubai (1833 and Fujairah (1879). UAE has various, out of the ordinary, Ministries – The Ministry of Tolerance; Ministry of Happiness (Like Bhutan’s “Happiness Index”); Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Ministry of Possibilities.
Some statistics – there are 2.9 million people living in Abu Dhabi, occupying 67,340 square kilometers (87% of UAE) with 215 natural islands and 2,435 kilometers of coastline. The UAE has a population of 9.2 million living in an area of 83,600 sq km, of which about 20% are “natives” and 80% are foreigners who choose to live in this Income Tax free (VAT is 5%), work here, but never get citizenship and at 65 you must return to your home country. The only exception is, that if a woman marries a UAE man, she can, as well as their children all obtain citizenship. Being a citizen comes with great perks, such as free education, medical and given land and house to live in with your family. Wages and cost of living is similar to New York with a 1 bedroom home in a decent area going for US$1 million and villas starting at US$5 million. Foreigners can purchase homes. Although Arabic and Islam are the state language and religion, almost all speak English and indeed all signs are in Arabic and English.
Most food and other items are imported, but dates and date palms are everywhere and the main source of food trade. This is all fed by desalinated water as there is virtually no rainfall during the year. Due to this there is no standing water and thus no mosquitos. Drugs and Drinking & Driving carry hefty penalties and there is zero tolerance. Thus there is virtually no crime and very safe for all. Fishing, pearl diving and other such activities were the main economic factors until 1958 when oil was discovered and in 1961 saw the start of oil exports. Affluence is apparent and opulence replaced modesty as we saw the contrast of the Sheik’s palace which was very simple vs the Grand Mosque (cost of US$540 Million) with it’s elegant opulence.
A very early start today as we had to be ready to depart by 7:00 AM. As it turned out the UAE Authorities took longer than usual to board and clear the ship allowing passengers to get off and then each had to go through immigration and then hand in the passports back to the ship. So it was nearly 9:00 AM before the coach left. Today we were to drive about 2 hours outside of Abu Dhabi (speed limit 120 kilometers an hour) to a town called Al Ain to visit a Fort, a Palace, an Oasis and have lunch then to a Camel market, before returning to the Mosque in Abu Dhabi and be back on the ship for departure by 6:00 PM!
Being in the desert, the 6 lane highway (3 in each direction) between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, had trees and flowers and green plantings on either side of the road but only some 10-20 meters wide, After that it is all desert.
The Fort in Al Ain
We reached Al Ain – Garden City with a population of 600,000 known for growing some vegetables. It’s origin is due to the fact that there is an oasis in the heart of town occupying 360 hectares. Our first stop was at the 100 year old adobe built – Al Jahili Fort . It was built by Sheik Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan (Zayed) who ruled from 1855 to 1909. The fort was built between 1891 and 1898 to be the summer residence of the Royal Family.. He was the Grandfather of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was the first president of the UAE. Al Ain dates back to 8000 – 4000 BCE but major activity was during the Bronze Age ( 3000 – 2000BCE) and even more expansion during the Iron Age (1000 – 30 BCE). It is now an interesting museum.
The Sultan’s Palace
We then progressed to the Al Ain Palace built in 1937 and now a museum, but was the private palace of the prior Sheik Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan who died in 2004. He was succeeded in 2004 by the 15th ruler of the house of Al-Nahyan – Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed (born 1928). It is a large place with courtyards, water features and many bedrooms and sitting rooms. However, what seemed to us to be the most remarkable feature was the simplicity of the bedrooms – carpet, chest of drawers and 4 poster bed with canopy in all rooms. Even his bedroom, was similarly decorated, but about twice the size of the other rooms. The sitting areas for men and women, separately, were comfortable, sitting on the floor with a cushion behind and central tea service. There was one open tent area where a large group of individuals, one assumes mainly men, could watch a dancing or other such show, while eating and drinking.
Our next stop was the Al Ain Oasis. This large green park in the desert landscape is home to may date palms. Although this is not the season for dates, we were shown a demonstration of how trees are climbed, to harvest the dates. A strap around the back of a man is placed around the tree and then jerked up, followed by the man leaning back to keep the strap taught, then walk a few steps up the tree. This process is then repeated a few times until the man is at the top of the palm. At which point he can harvest the dates and descend by repeating the process in reverse to the ground. We enjoyed some dates and brought some back to the ship to enjoy aboard. The oasis is now an educational “theme park” with activities for all to enjoy.
It was now lunchtime so we enjoyed a buffet lunch at the high class Ayla hotel. Our first stop before returning along the highway to the Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque was to go to the animal, principally camel market. It is the largest camel market in the UAE and camels are brought on lorries, backed up to the reviewing stand and all the men haggle over price and the “winner” of the confused auction takes the camel to their pen in the market. Some 100+ pens are in the market and some 5 to 20 camels are in each pen. Other pens in this open air market have sheep, goats and other such animals, but the “main attraction” was definitely the camels. We toured several stalls, seeing the various types of camels and watched the confusing ordeal that seemed to be the auction! A terrific and fascinating experience.
It was time to head back to Abu Dhabi to the Great Mosque which started construction on November 5, 1996 and was officially opened on the 19th December 2007. Some 3 years after the person who constructed it, and for whom it is named – Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, passed away.He is buried near the Mosque. From the coach one enters one of the two class “cucumber end” structures to what appears to be a shopping mall with all types of shops including a McDonalds, a Tim Horton’s and Costa Coffee establishments. One then passes through security and enters long corridors with moving sidewalks, like in airport terminals. After progressing along 5 of these, and walking in between, one reaches the escalator that takes you to the surface only to be greeted by this gigantic white edifice that is the Grand Mosque. As we passed through the various plants of the Mosque we fully understood why it cost US$540 Million to build. Around the outside is a portico with some 1,000 columns all in inlaid marble. The courtyard allows for some 40,000 worshipers to be present for services. All very elaborately done with inlaid marble floors walls and mosaic figures. 4 minarets and numerous domes, exquisitely decorated in gold with sayings from the Quran accentuate the majesty of the place. When we entered the central prayer hall, the sight was overwhelming. We observed the 96 pillars, 99 names of Allah inscribed on the wall facing Mecca, the largest carpet in the world weighing 35 tons (it took 1200 weavers 2years to make the predominantly green carpet with New Zealand wool) and Swarosky crystal chandeliers that each weigh 12 tons were just some of the many features. The chandeliers were somewhat gaudy, but one can admire the workmanship.
We retraced our steps along the corridors, back to the bus and then back to the ship. In the parking area just outside the dock area we were amused by the food truck selling what we assumed was Mexican food called “Senior Taco”? Tacos for old people or a spelling error??
A bit of frustration reigned throughout the day as our guide was very vague, took us to places and left us to find out what it was we were looking at. Then due to time mismanagement, we only had 1 hour instead of 2 to see the mosque so it was a rush through without really getting a chance to admire the beauty of the place. At 6:00 PM we were still at the Mosque which is 20 minutes drive away from the ship. Nevertheless, as I mentioned it was a really interesting and fun day.
Back aboard we had supper and then were entertained by Berni Flint a very amusing and well known musician / comedian, who reflects on the music of the 60’s while putting a funny spin on his life, winning for 3 months, each week a talent show where others who only won 2 weeks in a row became much more famous.
Roger & Anne Travels 