Abu Dhabi, UAE - yallah!
Salam Alaykum. I thought it was time for a change in scenery (the Himalayans are so overrated anyway). So, Abu Dhabi it was!
I knew that Abu Dhabi and Dubai are major hubs that I would have to pass through to get to Europe. I thought that I should take advantage of this opportunity and go somewhere completely foreign to me. It so conveniently happens that my good pal Cass from my middle school days in Shanghai now attends NYU Abu Dhabi. Free place to sleep, some meals in clouded, and a guide around the city = a dream.
I landed in Dubai late at night from Delhi and was set to make it to the bus station knowing that the last bus to leave to Abu Dhabi would be at 1am. Despite my best efforts, I fell asleep on the bus to the bus station in Dubai and was woken up by "hello miss. It is time for you to go". I quickly ran out and was told my the guys at the desk that the last bus for Abu Dhabi was literally passing me as we were talking. It was gone. Curse you circadian rhythm. I was stuck in a new and expensive city at 1am with no option of transport, not ideal. Fortunately I met a very kind Philippino lady and two other guys who were all headed to Abu Dhabi so we ended up splitting a taxi. I was expecting a sleepy drive there but rather it was a very informative one. I was already being educated on the massive migrant population living in UAE by my Filipino friends (they make up a good portion). Cass pulled through (can't thank you enough!) and was waiting for me outside at 3am. We quickly reconnected like no time had passed before calling it a night so we would be ready for our big day in Abu Dhabi the next day (I guess that day cause at this point it was like 4am).
I was treated by the sheikh to a solid breakfast, one that did not involve rice or roti. I say sheikh because Cass gave me the scoop on UAE. I have to say this part of my trip has been quite educational. Full of cultural moments as Cass and I liked to put it. The university is essentially sponsored by the current sheikh. How I like to see it, the UAE is investing in other industries besides oil so for example, Dubai is built up now to be a tourist stop. Similarly the UAE government has put a lot of money into the university to get bright minds from around the world to come to the UAE. It also is a bragging rights things for the UAE to say that they have such a well established and liberal uni. Students get taken care of (and visitors) so thank you to the sheikh for all my morning omelets and falafel sandwiches! We set off the first day to Madinat Zayed to purchase an abaya for the grand mosque afterwards. It was Friday midday by the time we got to the mosque which is the biggest time of prayer for the whole week so we could not go in. We decided to head to Emirates palace to check out the over the top immaculate fanciness of this hotel. In a way it's disgusting how rich it is (like quite a few of the fancy places in the UAE) but you can't help gawk over how beautiful and ridiculous it is. To truly see Abu Dhabi you have to go to a mall so Cass took me to Marina mall where we recharged from the heat with some lemon mint slushes from Tim Hortons (I know hilarious). Malls are a big thing here. It must have something to do with the heat and also just general convenience. We then headed into the city to see a bit less of the glitz and a bit more of the local places. Of course Cass knew of a thrift store so we headed to a three story building that was just exploding with clothes that Cass explained are left overs from western countries goodwills. We set out for some food that wasn't sweet (something about sugar in the heat works wonders). After some navigational difficulties we settled for a little place on the street which made chips Oman. It's the best late night food I've ever come across as it's a roti with egg and crushed up chips in the middle with some other veggies, paired with a nice karak and you're set. It was finally mosque time and we couldnt have gone at a better time. The grand mosque is ridiculous. Ridiculously beuatiful and ridiculously over the top. All the chandeliers are made with Swarovski crystals. The carpet inside is the largest single loomed carpet in the world (apparently). Everything is made from the finest marble. Just to give you a picture. We were able to sport our new and stylish abayas (long black robes). The sun was setting just as we entered the main entrance. The call to prayer happened within 15 minutes of being there. If you've never heard it please give it a listen. To me it's just beautiful and kind of mysterious (probably because I don't know exactly what they're saying). It fills the city 5 times a day. It was great to see all the men running through past the tourists to get to prayer on time. What a day.
Day two was spent at the mock cop that Cass held at the uni. I attended and was placed to represent India in a environmental conference. Felt like I was back in school. I headed off for the afternoon to the Louvre, the new art museum. Pretty cool stuff. They had quite a collection spanning from all around the world. That night we took the bus into town with Cass's friend Ivan for some Lebanese food where I ate my body weight in hummus and fatteh. It's hilarious asking for vegetarian stuff, most of the shopkeepers kind of give you a perplexed look like "why would we have vegetable biryani when you can have chicken?". The night was finished off at a shisha bar where we met up with some more of Cass's friends. We had some very interesting conversations especially since there were so many unique perspectives (two girls were Emirati, Ivan was from Uruguay). I love how travel brings so many different paths to cross.
Sunday was the day of adventure. I was convinced into renting a car which turns out was super easy and the best way to see UAE since everything is so spread out. Cass and I set off in our Nissan for Al Ain, the garden city and birthplace of Sheikh Zayed (an icon in the UAE).We saw some sand and thought "HEY desert" so pulled off the take on some dunes. Al Ain was quite different from Abu Dhabi as it was very low to the ground and not really glitzy and glam. We saw some forts and the sheikh's palace along with the oasis. We drove a bit out of town towards a mall where right behind the IKEA was a traditional camel souk. Cass and I inquired about a baby camel, which goes for 10,000 durhams (like $2500h). The day was finished with a winding trip up to Jabal Hafeet,the mountain that overlooks Al Ain and Oman. The UAE roadtrip was a success!
My last day with Cass was a chill one, mostly just hanging on campus. She stocked me up with goods for the bus to Oman for that night. It was so nice to catch up after all these years with you Cass. Keep making the world a better place!
Now it was time for a little trip to Oman.
I knew that Abu Dhabi and Dubai are major hubs that I would have to pass through to get to Europe. I thought that I should take advantage of this opportunity and go somewhere completely foreign to me. It so conveniently happens that my good pal Cass from my middle school days in Shanghai now attends NYU Abu Dhabi. Free place to sleep, some meals in clouded, and a guide around the city = a dream.
I landed in Dubai late at night from Delhi and was set to make it to the bus station knowing that the last bus to leave to Abu Dhabi would be at 1am. Despite my best efforts, I fell asleep on the bus to the bus station in Dubai and was woken up by "hello miss. It is time for you to go". I quickly ran out and was told my the guys at the desk that the last bus for Abu Dhabi was literally passing me as we were talking. It was gone. Curse you circadian rhythm. I was stuck in a new and expensive city at 1am with no option of transport, not ideal. Fortunately I met a very kind Philippino lady and two other guys who were all headed to Abu Dhabi so we ended up splitting a taxi. I was expecting a sleepy drive there but rather it was a very informative one. I was already being educated on the massive migrant population living in UAE by my Filipino friends (they make up a good portion). Cass pulled through (can't thank you enough!) and was waiting for me outside at 3am. We quickly reconnected like no time had passed before calling it a night so we would be ready for our big day in Abu Dhabi the next day (I guess that day cause at this point it was like 4am).
I was treated by the sheikh to a solid breakfast, one that did not involve rice or roti. I say sheikh because Cass gave me the scoop on UAE. I have to say this part of my trip has been quite educational. Full of cultural moments as Cass and I liked to put it. The university is essentially sponsored by the current sheikh. How I like to see it, the UAE is investing in other industries besides oil so for example, Dubai is built up now to be a tourist stop. Similarly the UAE government has put a lot of money into the university to get bright minds from around the world to come to the UAE. It also is a bragging rights things for the UAE to say that they have such a well established and liberal uni. Students get taken care of (and visitors) so thank you to the sheikh for all my morning omelets and falafel sandwiches! We set off the first day to Madinat Zayed to purchase an abaya for the grand mosque afterwards. It was Friday midday by the time we got to the mosque which is the biggest time of prayer for the whole week so we could not go in. We decided to head to Emirates palace to check out the over the top immaculate fanciness of this hotel. In a way it's disgusting how rich it is (like quite a few of the fancy places in the UAE) but you can't help gawk over how beautiful and ridiculous it is. To truly see Abu Dhabi you have to go to a mall so Cass took me to Marina mall where we recharged from the heat with some lemon mint slushes from Tim Hortons (I know hilarious). Malls are a big thing here. It must have something to do with the heat and also just general convenience. We then headed into the city to see a bit less of the glitz and a bit more of the local places. Of course Cass knew of a thrift store so we headed to a three story building that was just exploding with clothes that Cass explained are left overs from western countries goodwills. We set out for some food that wasn't sweet (something about sugar in the heat works wonders). After some navigational difficulties we settled for a little place on the street which made chips Oman. It's the best late night food I've ever come across as it's a roti with egg and crushed up chips in the middle with some other veggies, paired with a nice karak and you're set. It was finally mosque time and we couldnt have gone at a better time. The grand mosque is ridiculous. Ridiculously beuatiful and ridiculously over the top. All the chandeliers are made with Swarovski crystals. The carpet inside is the largest single loomed carpet in the world (apparently). Everything is made from the finest marble. Just to give you a picture. We were able to sport our new and stylish abayas (long black robes). The sun was setting just as we entered the main entrance. The call to prayer happened within 15 minutes of being there. If you've never heard it please give it a listen. To me it's just beautiful and kind of mysterious (probably because I don't know exactly what they're saying). It fills the city 5 times a day. It was great to see all the men running through past the tourists to get to prayer on time. What a day.
Day two was spent at the mock cop that Cass held at the uni. I attended and was placed to represent India in a environmental conference. Felt like I was back in school. I headed off for the afternoon to the Louvre, the new art museum. Pretty cool stuff. They had quite a collection spanning from all around the world. That night we took the bus into town with Cass's friend Ivan for some Lebanese food where I ate my body weight in hummus and fatteh. It's hilarious asking for vegetarian stuff, most of the shopkeepers kind of give you a perplexed look like "why would we have vegetable biryani when you can have chicken?". The night was finished off at a shisha bar where we met up with some more of Cass's friends. We had some very interesting conversations especially since there were so many unique perspectives (two girls were Emirati, Ivan was from Uruguay). I love how travel brings so many different paths to cross.
Sunday was the day of adventure. I was convinced into renting a car which turns out was super easy and the best way to see UAE since everything is so spread out. Cass and I set off in our Nissan for Al Ain, the garden city and birthplace of Sheikh Zayed (an icon in the UAE).We saw some sand and thought "HEY desert" so pulled off the take on some dunes. Al Ain was quite different from Abu Dhabi as it was very low to the ground and not really glitzy and glam. We saw some forts and the sheikh's palace along with the oasis. We drove a bit out of town towards a mall where right behind the IKEA was a traditional camel souk. Cass and I inquired about a baby camel, which goes for 10,000 durhams (like $2500h). The day was finished with a winding trip up to Jabal Hafeet,the mountain that overlooks Al Ain and Oman. The UAE roadtrip was a success!
My last day with Cass was a chill one, mostly just hanging on campus. She stocked me up with goods for the bus to Oman for that night. It was so nice to catch up after all these years with you Cass. Keep making the world a better place!
Now it was time for a little trip to Oman.
What an exotic and unique place to visit. Definitely not on the beaten trail I’m thinking. Way cool you had a friend there to show you around. Sweet!
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