United Arab Emirates

Radhika had a class to go to in Abu Dhabi from September 25 to October 2nd for GE, so I decided to go along, as the Middle East is not strong on our radar of places to visit. It seemed like a good way to at least check out the area to discern if there was any reason to return one day for a deeper look.

We had a mid-morning flight out of Amsterdam, arriving in Abu Dhabi in the late afternoon after connecting in Paris. The hotel GE had her staying at was the OnetoOne Village. It's a little on the outskirts of the city center, but by taxi it's only 15 minutes at a cost of 4 to 5 euros. The first room had a dirty bathroom, so we asked to change rooms. The next day we encountered more problems, and while Radhika was at her class I moved our belongings to the upgraded suite, courtesy of the manager. We had numerous problems within the first 14 hours, so the upgrade and breakfast buffet was the least management could do considering this was supposed to be a top-notch property.

Summer was giving way to fall, but I couldn't be convinced of that. Over 100f degrees/40c degrees every day with little cloud cover. At midday the streets and outdoor public places were deserted, except for one dope with a camera. Shade, any shade, was more precious than a peanut butter sandwich. I have never been so heavily drenched in sweat outside of a sauna! I seriously considered dancing through a children's water park that I came across while photographing the downtown area. I stood there (in the shade, of course) looking at the cool water spraying out of the caterpillar, palm tree, and from the ground, and considered how uncomfortable I would be walking around the city soaked for the next odd number of minutes until I air dried. I eventually decided against it, but the margin was very close!

If the city were a cake than construction cranes would be the icing. I have never seen so many cranes (until we went to Dubai on Friday). I believe I read somewhere that 70% of the worlds construction cranes are in the middle east or perhaps just in the UAE! I can believe that. There are many buildings in various stages of construction, all due to the fact that they have the wealth now, knowing that it is finite, and are trying to develop the place for tourism in the future when the proverbial and literal well runs dry. But it seems they are making it only as a place for the rich and well to do. It may be the first place I have been where my interest was not engaged too deeply. As far as natural things to do, there's a desert safari. But after just doing that in Namibia, revving up a 4X4 through soft sand or being bounced around in one was about as appealing to me as a body waxing. I looked at the online offerings from searches, "what to do" in Abu Dhabi, and there was nothing of interest for me other than the sleek, new construction. The Ferrari Experience would open in a month, and a F-1 race also occurred in November, but that didn't help me now. So, I would do my morning swim, eat breakfast, and head out to the usual starting point near the Marina Mall. From there I had many subjects within reasonable reach, strategic locations to cool off, and meander into the downtown area. I had to be careful with respect to the big temperature changes between the air conditioned 22 to 25 degree Dunkin Donuts for a smoothie and 42+ degree outdoors, as condensation would "dew up" my equipment and that's never a digital camera's friend. Before I would leave the hotel room in the morning, I would place my camera bag outside for 20 minutes so it slowly acclimated to the warm temperature. I wasn't always successful at this, as the images made at the Grand Masque illustrates. Going inside the cold mosque and then out into the hot early evening could not be avoided. Luckily my equipment cleared rather quickly because the cold, dry air didn't have time to penetrate deeply into the camera/lens material. And the effect bore interesting, ethereal results as you can see from the pictures in the album.

We went out one night with a group of some of Radhika's fellow classmates. There were people from different parts of the world. It was a nice dinner place in Abu Dhabi, one of the most upscale restaurants in the city. I enjoyed some sushi, but not being a huge fan I had other items off the menu that were good, and was the only one to order (ahead of time) the chocolate soufflé. Great move on my part if I do say so, because it was toe curling good! I offered a taste of it and a little envy crossed their face at not having one of their own. There were at least two dance places in this complex where the restaurant was located, so we checked them both out. Very top scale, and we stayed at the 2nd one for most of the evening. It was subdued and quiet, at first, and then more people came in and the music started pumping. It was an odd clientele, and there was a sense of some in the female crowd that they were there for "curious" reasons. That's all I will say about that. Anyway, a fairly good time, but for me at least, as most of these things go, I could've split an hour or so before we actually decided to leave. One in our party was really hammered, and Radhika and I helped this person get along. The place was so vast we had trouble finding an exit. Back and forth we went on different floors until we found someone to ask and we escaped to a taxi. We tried to take this person to their place, but they couldn't muster the power to inform us where they lived, so after pulling the taxi over when our driving back and forth in what was thought to be their neighborhood was over, we took them back to our hotel where we luckily had a separate room and a big couch where they would crash. Of course the taxi, persons clothes, and parts of Radhika's and my clothing were a little "soiled", and the taxi driver was given extra above his fare for "cleaning fees". Wasn't the right night for me to where white slacks and a white shirt! After washing the stains out of our clothes in the sink we went to bed as they had a class in the morning. Our guest slept thru the night and was a little late to class after going home for a cleanup and clothing change. Like oh so many Daytona Beach Spring Breaks I experienced in my younger days.

Something that is quite unique for the UAE is that Emirate Nationals make up only 14% of the population! That means the other 86% are foreigners. The majority of those come from two places, the Philippines and the Indian subcontinent. The former are found primarily in restaurants and stores, basically the service industries, where the latter proliferate on construction sites. The native population is basically well off financially. The government meets healthcare, retirement, education, and the entire social needs. There doesn't seem to be much to worry about if you belong to that 14%. I did not see one Emirati driving anything close to a Kia! As a matter-of-fact, I think all of the Hummers that smart Americans dumped over the past 3 to 4 years ended up over here where gasoline is as abundant as sand. Also, apparently one must be careful with their interactions with local females. We were in the mall, and as we passed what appeared to be two young Emirati females, one smiled and looked at me for more than a passing moment. I smiled back, which is when I received the warning from Radhika (and NOT the one you think). I was informed that cultural differences could cause a misunderstanding with members of her family by my smile or attention. My reply was basically "She started it!” Radhika said she saw the woman's behavior, but me being a visitor and her a citizen, it would be better to show restraint in being friendly. I guess that can be true as this is a place where holding hands in public is about as tolerant as it gets. Dubai is more liberal due to the higher flow of tourism that it sees, but Abu Dhabi is still a little tighter on cultural matters. So...no more smiles in return to the Abu Dhabi chickies from me!! Radhika and I continued our walk around the mall, in search of a place to eat. We asked a gentleman at an information counter if there were any restaurants with outside seating, as we didn’t want to just sit in what was a fairly empty mall. He gave me a look that didn't require words, but offered them anyway. "We don't have anything outside." Now, that look and inflection means everything in this story, because the American version would've been something like "Are you f'ing crazy!? The food would cook as it sat on your plate! If you want to salt it you just lean in and let your sweat do the job!!" Too much? Don't be squeamish, it's only to convey how damned hot it was outside, and how oblivious I was to dinner + outdoors = miserable. Days later in Dubai, we saw restaurants with tables outside at the Dubai Mall, and Radhika asked me if I wanted to sit outside! I borrowed that expressive look from that guy back in Abu Dhabi and asked "Are you serious? No way."

We spent only a few hours in Dubai, which lies 90 minutes north up the coast of Abu Dhabi. Just enough time to have a light dinner at the mall with one of Radhika's classmates, see the current worlds tallest building, and the Barj El Arab. Our flight took after a little after midnight from Abu Dhabi International, so we left Dubai via taxi in time to make the airport, and after spending the few dirhams left in our pockets on Twix bars and Emirate Dates, we boarded our crowded flight back to the place of drab, cloudy, rainy weather, pot-seeking/red light district visiting tourists, and increasingly more grumpy Dutch as the sun index decreases. Next trip? USA in November.

The album for this post can be found at:


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