Eid in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

DUBAI!


First, a bit of geography for those who don't know what or where the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is.
The UAE is a confederation of 7 emirates, Abu Dhabi being the largest and containing the capital, and Dubai containing the largest city. Each emirate is ruled by an emir (king). The Emir of Abu Dhabi is President and the Emir of Dubai is the Prime Minister. It is bordered on the south and west by Saudi Arabia, and Dubai is 7-8 hours by car from Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, where we live. End of geography lesson. Let the fun begin!

(Cheesy photographer's picture, but it captures the awesomeness of Dubai!)

For an American, Dubai is the Middle East's equivalent of New York City. The buildings are stunning, the entertainment tons of fun, and the shopping never-ending. The food is memorable too!

For an American living in Saudi Arabia, it allows a little escape back into a more Western style of life. It's not Western, but it is a bit closer. We left Saudi during Eid Al-Adha, a 4-day Muslim holiday where almost everything in Saudi is closed. It was the perfect time for a few days in the UAE.

We flew into Dubai on Emirates, easily my favorite airline. 

As always, there were some crying babies, but thanks to great noise-cancelling headphones and the Emirates' music choices, I heard very little of the cacophony around me.

We checked into our hotel and went in search of food. Following the concierge's directions, we found the 5th Avenue Star Cafe & Restaurant. Although we were assured by the concierge that the area was "100% safe," it was actually pretty seedy. I'm sure most patrons of the restaurant and other services close by wondered why this older American couple was there. :)

 Tex's Corn Soup--that man loves corn!!

 Chicken shawarma, a typical Middle Eastern treatment of meat. This was the first time I had this when it was not wrapped in flat bread. Here it was served on hummus that was a little better than average. The naan (flat bread) was good, but not fabulous. All in all though, it was a good meal and very interesting. 

The next morning, we headed to the BURJ KHALIFA, the tallest building in the world. 

 The observation decks are on floors 124 & 125. The elevator is impressive because it takes about 1 minute to get that high AND you can't even tell you're moving. 

The observation deck used to be the highest in the world until a higher one was opened in China. The Burj Khalifa then opened a new observation deck on floor 148, which was the highest, until yet again, a new building in China became #1. Floors 124 & 125 are plenty high for me! 

 It was very dusty/sandy/hazy the day we were there. We've heard that on clear days, you can see the shores of Iran and the curvature of the earth from the higher deck. Even with the haze, it was still very impressive. 

More cheesy pictures taken in front of a green screen on floor 124. The photographers, Tex & I had a lot of fun doing these silly shots. Tex especially likes his impersonation of Tom Cruise. I wonder if they'll ask him to be in the next Mission Impossible movie. :)

The Burj Khalifa is actually attached to the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world. Once we finished at the observation deck, we headed in search of food again, and we were hoping to find bacon at our favorite hamburger joint: Five Guys.

 No bacon. No surprise. The UAE is still a Muslim country, so it's halal, which means no pork. It was worth a try, right? We went ahead and ate our cheeseburgers without bacon, and still enjoyed them immensely. We've now eaten at Five Guys in Paris, Frankfurt and Dubai. It's nice to get a little taste of home.

 After lunch, we spent a little time exploring and then went to a movie. No theaters in our part of Saudi, so this was a fun treat for us.

Near the movie theater, a virtual reality experience has a relief map of Dubai on the wall and ceiling. It changes from day to night and back every 6 minutes. We found ourselves just standing there, staring at it and watching it change. We're easy to entertain. Ha!

If you get tired, you just call an indoor taxi. These are a GREAT idea!! Some of the large malls in Saudi have these as well. 

That evening we went on a cruise along the Dubai Canal.

One of the bridges the boat goes under has a waterfall that turns different colors and becomes much like a veil pulled aside as the boat goes under the bridge. Very pretty. The entertainment was a tanoura dancer. More on that later.

The next morning found us visiting Jumeirah Mosque, one of the few that allows non-Muslims to visit. This mosque tour was very interesting.

In my favorite abaya with my favorite guy waiting for the tour to begin.

This tour guide did an excellent job explaining the Muslim faith and what happens in a mosque.

He gave an example of a prayer. This, along with the rest of the tour, was very helpful to me in understanding the culture I live in. It helped make sense of what goes on around me every day in Saudi.


That evening was the most fun part of our trip: The DESERT SAFARI

We got into an SUV with roll bars on the inside and headed to the desert. That worried me a bit, and it should have warned me to tighten that seatbelt a lot more. Bouncing around the dunes of the desert means you'll hit your head on the roof if you're not belted in tightly.

There were 10 SUVs full of tourists on this safari. Here some of the drivers are letting the air out of the tires before we go dune bashing.

It was extremely windy out in the desert, which has a special kind of beauty all its own.

Once we arrived at the campsite, we were introduced to a falconer, who explained how falcons are trained and gave us a demonstration of how cool these birds are.

Beduoins used falcons in the desert to hunt for food, and because of their great eyesight and fast flying, they are great hunters.

And then........THIS!

This actually went better than I imagined. "Hold on tight!" the camel handler said, as if I needed to be told that. Going up wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. The ride was a quick one, which was ok with me as this is not the most comfortable mode of travel.

We also dune-surfed, where you use a snowboard to go down the sand dunes. I sat on the board and went down, as I don't have the best balance. It was a blast, and we were having so much fun, we didn't get any pictures of it!

Then we got up close and personal with a falcon.

He seems to be unsure if he wants me holding him or not!

Falcons are highly respected in the UAE, and are the national symbol of the Emirates. Their image graces all money and many buildings.

Falcons are no longer allowed to hunt in the UAE, so they race them. The biggest falcon race in the country last year had a winning purse of 8 MILLION AED ($2.1 million)!! (We were told this by one of the falconers, but I haven't been able to confirm it.)

Dinnertime!

Again, chicken shawarma served with naan, which I enjoy. It tastes a lot like the meat in a chicken fajita.

After dinner came the entertainment:

First, the flame thrower, who was amazing!

Then the tanoura dancer

We saw a tanoura dancer on the canal cruise, as well as here at the safari. The dancer (always a man) wears a lighted skirt with multi-layers. Tanoura means skirt.

The dancer twirls around and around doing different things with baskets and the layers of the lighted skirt. Imagine a ballet dancer or ice skater that continues to twirl around and around for 10-15 minutes. They never seem to be dizzy. I got dizzy just watching!

The lights really make this beautiful and interesting.

And last, but not least, was the belly dancer. This picture of her shiny golden cape is the only picture acceptable for a family blog. 

The night ended with an interesting photo op of the camels being led off into the desert. This was a really fun night.

ABU DHABI

The next morning we headed to Abu Dhabi to see the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

This place is huge! It will hold 40,000 worshippers, most of them outside in the courtyard.

And what a courtyard it is! Beautiful white marble inlaid with mother-of-pearl and other semi-precious stones. Amazing beauty.

The most surprisingly part of the courtyard was the coolness of the white marble. Everyone had their shoes off at this point, and when I stepped out into the sunshine for this picture, I fully expected for the marble to scorch my feet. It didn't even feel particularly hot! When I stepped on the inlays, however, they did burn. 

Every part of the mosque and its surroundings is beautiful.

The entrance to the mosque, covered with more incredible inlays.

Inside, the mosque has three of these amazing chadeliers.

The red, orange and green balls hanging from the center of the fixture are made of Swarovsky crystals. 

The persian rug is the largest rug in the world.

Tex, in the courtyard, on our way to find our shoes.

We left Abu Dhabi and headed back to Dubai where we said goodbye to our wonderful driver Abid at the airport.

Just one more perk when flying Emirates.

What a fun 3 days we had in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and it's only an hour and a half by plane from Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. We said goodbye to the UAE, and of course, now it's time for other adventures.

Until the next blogpost, HAPPY TRAILS from Tex and me!!