This city truly reminds me of home, but slightly more laid-back and with the perfect sunny cloudless sky and chilly air. The tallest building in town is nowhere near KLCC but the pristine walk along the Arabian Gulf, overlooking the underconstruction of Lulu Island, is unmistakably one of the highlights here. At night, you can even catch the beautifully litted dhows (traditional wooden boats) which double-act as restaurants.
The local Arabs here, like the Americans adore their SUVs. You can easily spot American SUVs like Cherokee and Hummer and of course, the British Range Rover and Japanese Toyotas. The rest of the road make-ups ranging from European luxurious sedans like seven series Bimmers, Mercs to eastern Sedans from Japan and South Korea (driven by foreigners, mostly). Compacts are a rare sight, and my speculation on this is that, the locals here treasure their space. Who won't when generations after generations, they have inherited the vastness of the desert. Or a rather more logical explanation is that, petroleum has never been a concern, DHS 1 per liter, which is comparably cheap in global standard.
It's amazing how much attention is being paid to beautify this city with green gardens, activities and recreational areas and fountains. A rich desert and oasis surrounded by developments here and there, Abu Dhabi can pass off as one of the good chill-out place to be. Shopping is good too with famous international brands easily spotted in its famous Marina Mall at Breakwater, Abu Dhabi Mall and in the areas near Khalifa Street and Tourist Club Area. Too bad, the central Souk is still underconstruction.
My favourite encounter so far, is the desert safari tour. The tour began with an Arab tour leader shooing us into his white Toyota Land Cruiser SUV. Once we were seated, middle-eastern tunes filled the air. With the speed of his driving, we quickly buckled up except him. He arrogantly sang along in Arabic and occasionally humming the chorus of “You don’t know what it’s like, baby you don’t know what it’s like”, when an English song was finally played.
We made a pit stop after 45mins on the expressway, which could lead us all the way to Al-Ain, a famous city, rich in history of UAE. We were joined by 6 other Land Cruisers and after a toilet and shopping break, we headed to the desert. We were greeted by some sand dunes of various size and height and when the SUV were gliding above them, we feel like riding a mini-coaster ride. We then stop for a picture break where all the drivers begin to deflate their tyres.
We stepped our feet into the desert sand and it felt cold. A natural phenomenon which, I won’t know the scientific reason behind it, as I didn’t bother to ask. I just couldn’t wait for the much-anticipated, exhilarating dune-bashing ride, which is slowly picking up in UAE. I was told, this sport is picked up by the riches who just need an excuse to show off their machines!
The non-stop bashing is so much fun and I began to yearn for a higher dune, hoping that it would be more heart-thumping. My craving for speed and excitement has always been ingrained in me. After much shoutings, we visited a small camel farm. Nothing much to brag about, a place with camel droppings everywhere. Camels are amazing creatures and our hearts sympathised when seeing their two front legs being tied, to avoid them from running fast. After a drive-along the desert, we noticed that all camels were given the same treatment. We felt raged until we were told the reasoning behind it by a fellow Egyptian, who was also in the tour. He told us that, it’s for the camel’s own good. Deserts now is not a camel’s land anymore as automobiles begin to roam freely in their territory. Often than not, camels may be hit by a vehicle when they are running and according to the locals here, once a camel is hit, it will try to kill the driver. This, is the vengeful side of camel for they have a memory of the elephant and a vindictive nature of an angry man.
The tour ends with a nice lovely dinner in the middle of the desert, open air, with sparkly stars as our ceiling and Persian carpets to cover the sand. We sat on the pillows, with free-flow of sodas and es-Kebabs, briyani, dalca, pita bread with hummus and local salads like Salatat Bathinjan - Eggplant Appetizer, Tabouleh - Parsley and Cracked Wheat Salad and more! We’re also being entertained by a father-and-son dance act, whom his son danced with a toy riffle. A belly-dancer also graced the stage, an elevated large platform which soon transformed into a hip-hop dance floor! We smoked shisha, gazed into the sky and just enjoying the rare moments of silence in the desert. I must say, I am quite contented to leave with only this encounter in Abu Dhabi.
