A day trip to Al Ain ... part 3 ... Al Jaheli Fort

After our stop at the zoo and then our drive up Jebel Hafeet, we headed back into the city of Al Ain.

Al Ain reminds me a bit of older sections of Scottsdale, Arizona. And it's a mellower city than Abu Dhabi or Dubai, much more suburban. No tall buildings, and some beautiful landscaping.  In the middle of roundabouts are large sculptures.  ("Turn right at the roundabout with the horse sculptures" or "Turn left at the roundabout with the pagoda" might directions you receive in Al Ain.)  

Al Ain is where the founding father / first president of the United Arab Emirates (Sheik Zayed) grew up.  As you drive in to Al Ain, you are greeted by beautiful orange dunes. I have heard that Sheik Zayed brought some of the orange sand into Abu Dhabi to remind him of home.

Once back into central city area of Al Ain, and after driving up and down several streets, we found Al Jahili Fort.  http://visitabudhabi.ae/en/what.to.see/culture.and.heritage/al.jahili.fort.aspx

We missed the turn into the fort the first time we drove by ... we saw a narrow opening from the road, but thought it must be a pedestrian entrance or service entrance. You know those poles that are put into the ground as barriers?  There are three of them here, and the middle one is removed for the day.  After going around a huge city block that surrounds a park, we came back around. The first time driving by, we didn't think it was the entrance. Lo and behold, it certainly was.  So through the opening and into the unpaved but smooth dirt lot.

The fort is quite striking.
Walls a couple of stories high, and very tall and wide wooden doors at the entrance.  
Tall walls are still a common feature here, especially around government buildings, villas, and parcels of land.  It must be a carry-over years ago and having to protect one's home.

The wooden doors on the Fort have a smaller wooden door built in to them; easier to open and have people pass through than opening the big wooden doors.  Would have been less risk as well.  Fewer strangers or enemies can get through that smaller portal.  That's the way you leave at closing time -- through the smaller door within the bigger door.

Some photos I have seen show tents with majlis (the cushions and rugs on the ground, where friend and family gather to drink coffee and talk) in this inner area.  The building in the photo is within the walls of the fort.

You can walk up to the second-highest level of this structure. Lots of rooms. Small windows that actually allow you a good view of who might be approaching, small enough that weapons or such would not penetrate.  


Very thick walls.  You can see sand, straw, shells as part of the materials used to build it.

My close-up shots of the texture didn't show up, so I'll share this cool shot instead. (I am sure Tim has good up-close texture shots on tmgtextures.com ... yes, a shameless plug!)

Palm trees were used in many UAE buildings (and still are on the farms). This is a shot of a ceiling.  In the other photos, where you see the rain spouts -- those are palm trunks cut in half and hallowed out.  Clever.

Breezeways, with rooms along the side.  Open courtyard to the right. Each of the lattice-type walls had different designs.  You can see the thick walls, which are just as thick or thicker on the left side where the rooms are.

After walking around the fort, and before leaving, we had a few minutes before closing time to view a photography exhibit.  Wilfred Thesiger, author of Arabian Sands and some other books, traveled around the Arabian Peninsula in the late 1940's.  The exhibit is a display of some of his 38,000 photos.  Stunning black and white photographs that captured his travels with the local people; much of his travel was through the Empty Quarter. (Still called that today; large (huge) expanse of what is now the UAE that is nothing but sand dunes.  On map, look south and southeast.)  You can view some of his photos and read about Thesiger on the internet.  We picked up a book while in Dubai, which highlights many photographs, and includes excerpts from Arabian Sands.

You might enjoy looking at some of Thesiger's photos. Here is a link. Scroll down a few to see Arabian Peninsula photographs. Stunning.
http://www.prmprints.com/collection/2992/thesiger-collection-highlights

A day trip to Al Ain ... part 2 ... Jebel Hafeet

After visiting the zoo in Al Ain, and since we were on the south end of Al Ain already, we decided to drive up Jebel Hafeet.

I had read in several places that the drive up this mountain was well worth it, given a smooth winding road and incredible views.

When you Google "Jebel Hafeet", you can get some details and images.  One of those websites is http://visitabudhabi.ae/en/what.to.see/attractions/jebel.hafeet.aspx, and this is what they share:

"Rising 1,240 metres, Jebel Hafeet is the emirate’s highest peak, and UAE’s second. This towering rocky height, which stands guard over Al Ain and borders Oman, is forged out of craggy limestone that has been weathered over millions of years. Significant fossil discoveries have been made in the area, which are vital pieces in the jigsaw of the city’s ancient history.Over 500 ancient burial tombs dating back 5,000 years have been found in the Jebel Hafeet foothills.  You can drive or, if you have the stamina, cycle to the top via a winding highway, which edmunds.com (the automotive information online source) describes as “among the world’s greatest driving roads.” Once you reach the top, you'll be rewarded with magnificent views over Al Ain where you can take a break at the Mercure Jebel Hafeet hotel near the Jebel’s peak."

Probably would not be as pleasant a drive on a busy day. We had the road to ourselves all the way up and all the way down, and maybe 4 other cars in the car park at the top.  There is a hotel near the top, which overlooks the valley. Here are views ...

This is looking toward part of Al Ain, I think toward the northeast. (Yup, I really do need to carry a compass around, just to be sure that I'm sharing things accurately!)

And that way (to the right of road) is Oman.  We're looking pretty much north at this point.

And I believe the large home at the top was built by Sheik Zayed (founding father of UAE), who grew up in Al Ain.  I assume his family still uses it.

Ever into the details in various places in the UAE, even the fences around the car park are interesting.

Unfortunately, Tim and I noticed, that the spear-like points screw off, and some are missing. Guess some people thought they would be good souvenirs. Who in their right minds thinks that's okay?!

It can be quite hazy, and the sand lingers in the air (makes for beautiful sunsets!).  And there can be clouds on occasion.  It must be an extraordinary view on a clear day.

A day trip to Al Ain ... part 1 ... the Zoo

I was able to take a full day off when Tim was visiting (when I had to work, Tim had the chance to relax for once!); on the day I took off from work, we visited Al Ain.

Al Ain is due east of Abu Dhabi, and about a 1.5 hour drive.  We rented a car while Tim was here, to give ourselves flexibility (and not impose on Tom and Danielle's flexibility!). 

It was a full but fun day.  We did a lot, so I am breaking the day into different posts.

We visited the Al Ain Zoo, drove up to Jebel Hafeet (one of the highest mountains in the UAE) with a great road going up to the top, and the Al Jaheli Fort.  

In this post, I'm sharing some photos of the zoo.

One of the zoo's features are the white tigers. When we walked up and looked through the plexiglass walls, both of them were quite relaxed and lying down.  Then, they both rose and started walking around.  They are beautiful creatures.

One of the areas is large, mimicking an open plain in Africa, complete with zebras and giraffes and rhinos and some other four-legged animals I'm not sure I'll accurately identify so am not hazarding a guess.

A watchful Meerkat ... I think they are a kick.  There was another one that kept running back and forth in front of a 3x4 foot (guessing) plexiglass window, hyper and entertaining as could be.  The others slept, with this guy on the lookout.

Like our pup Suki in California, or pup Grover here with us in Abu Dhabi, this lion loves to lie belly up!

Next post: Jebel Hafeet

Thanks for reading!

I recently discovered that you can see the number of people who have read a post, or gone to your blog site on any given day.

I also found a feature that shows you what countries people live in, who are reading your blog.  How cool is that?!

So I went to the "overview" section and clicked on "audience".

First of all, I am honored that anyone is reading this blog site. Period.

Secondly, I am having more fun that I thought I would, writing these posts ... if it was just for me, no big deal in my mind. But to know others are enjoying the posts, I get excited to take photos and to write up the descriptions.

Third, it is an absolute kick to see the following:

Pageviews by Countries

Entry	Pageviews
United States	107
Germany	3
United Arab Emirates	2
Ethiopia	1
India	1

Thank you for caring about me, and sharing in this UAE experience.

Holding a falcon

In addition to the camel, there is a horse and a donkey at Heritage Village that you can say hello to.  But there is also a falcon.  Still today, falconry is a huge part of the UAE culture. 

There were two falcons that you could hold (like riding the camel, 10 dirhams, and so worth it).  You put your left had in, palm up. And you can stroke the front feathers of the falcon.  Beautiful animal; soft feathers and ever-watchful eyes.

The handler has you put your finger in the falcon's mouth. Guess I should say beak.  Teeny really. Doesn't hurt you, but you get the sense of the strength of the beak; and a tiny rough tongue.  It's feet/claws are much like a chicken's.

The bird that Jeanine and I each held, really was magnificent.  

When I first saw the birds, I found them intriguing. Having the opportunity to hold one, to touch one, to be that close -- it honestly felt like an honor to be able to have this moment with this creature.

Camel ride

A fellow NASPA Board member was in town last week (hey Jeanine!) and we had fun getting to know each other.  Saturday (9th February), Jeanine and Tim and I spent the day being tourists in Abu Dhabi.  Nothing like riding a camel and holding a hawk to jump-start a friendship.

We started with a breakfast snack at Marina Mall, deciding on whether to drive around ourselves or take the Big Bus Tour of Abu Dhabi. We opted for having our own schedule and drove.

First stop was Heritage Village. Now, I've posted about this place, along with photos of the camel there.  That day, we each rode the camel :-)

For 10 dirhams ($2.72) you can ride the camel for a few minutes.

Jeanine went first, so I was forewarned about the steep incline as the camel gets up on his legs (from a position of lying down), and when he lies back down so you can slide ride off.     After I went, Tim opted in as well.

Here is a video. It's about 1.5 minutes. You'll hear three different voices: mine, Jeanine's and Tim's ... a little commentary to assist. 

When the camel stands up, his back legs go up first; for a moment you think you'll topple over, head first. Same when the camel goes to lie down; front legs first and for a second or two you are pretty sure you're going to roll forward and off.  You grip VERY tightly onto two straps that run alongside the blanket, and don't let go!

Gotta love the wonderful bedouin gentleman.  This is his camel. And he had a sense of humor. For people who stand next to the camel for a photo, they don't see him tug gently on the rein, which makes the camel bring his head toward the guest, which makes the camel also protest. The guest usually jumps or even squeals a bit, laughing. The guest is coaxed back to still get the photo, and the bedouin gentleman cracks a smile.

And a couple of photos.

The fountain behind us has all kinds of shards of pottery making lovely designs and forms.

Visit from Tim

Happy happy happy :-)

Tim is here for his first visit to Abu Dhabi.
He arrived Thursday night (7th February) and is here for 10 days.

I mentioned in a previous post that he had recently been to Haiti, volunteering to help build a school ... as you have read my posts and viewed my photos, I am certain you can imagine the contrasts between the two countries ... to have visited a place (Haiti) with such need, and now visit a place with such wealth, in less than one month's time, must dizzy the mind.

Tim and I talked about how it's a bit on the side of surreal that I am showing him around a place I am familiar with and he is not.  And for him to now be suddenly 8437 miles from home.

For 25 years we've shared where we have lived as well as traveled together to other places. Now we are not sharing that for 15 months. So while it's absolutely fun and fabulous to show him places I've talked about, blogged about, and come to know ... for us it's simultaneously odd, for lack of another word, for one of us to be showing the other around.

It's a gorgeous time of year here, and I am happy he gets to experience Abu Dhabi without sweltering. The number of people that continue to tell me about the summer months, especially July and August, borders on amusing ... if you didn't realize the truth behind it. So I continue to get myself outdoors as much as possible now, knowing that in a few months I will be content to stay inside with AC and Netflix and books! (I will have to get creative about what I post during those months ... otherwise I will bore you to tears if all I can talk about is the heat and give you reviews of what I've read or watched!!)

Emirates Palace, part 2

For whatever reason, I couldn't upload more photos in the previous post about the Emirates Palace. 

And then the week was really busy again (including working a big chunk of last weekend, just in an attempt to catch up) ... so it's taken me much longer than I expected to get back to this post.  So here are more Emirates Palace photos. Thanks for your patience!

This is the ceiling above the main entry area of the building. Intricate patterns and lovely colors.

More intricate patterns on wood panels, covering a vent of some sort.

A HUGE tapestry on one of the walls. (So big, I had to do this angle for the photo to give an idea of the size ... easily the height of one story of the building.)

Unique handles on some of the front entry doors. (I'd say 2-3 feet in length.) Apologies ... still haven't figured out how to import these photos the way they are in my laptop and share them right-side-up!

And yes, real palm trees too :-)

Rain!!

This morning when I woke up, and right before getting on Skype with Tim, I heard a sound that surprised me ... the sound of a light rain.

People have half-joked that it rains maybe 20 minutes a year here in Abu Dhabi. It rained for about five minutes, and I thought "well that was a fun treat" and assumed that was it.

Then I went into work. It was cloudy.  Rolled up the blinds.  Opened up my laptop and got to work on emails and some tasks that needed focus which I cannot provide during regular work hours.  And then I heard this sound again.  Rain!  Not torrential, but a nice rain. And it lasted for a few hours. 

Was careful driving home. It was still raining, and I know how our Southern California roads can be after it hasn't rained in awhile. Nice and slick. Given the infrequency of rain here, and you throw in the factor of drivers who still go really fast and ride people's bumpers, then I'm good with slowing down myself and ratcheting up the defensive driving.

Anyway, just had to share. Because the rain is a fun change in my view.

Which reminds me another point I meant to share earlier this week.

A not fun change in the weather is the fog here.  This time of year, we can have some very thick fog in the mornings. Steer-wheel clenching kind of fog, where are in patches you cannot see 50 feet in front of you.  Thick in enough area of the UAE that it's too dangerous to bus the kids to school. (And again, you have a handful of people speeding along, and with no lights on, like it's any other day driving in the UAE.) While a photo of darker clouds and wet asphalt isn't all the interesting to anyone else, here's an idea of the fog earlier this week. I was in a taxi (most days I still carpool with Danielle, but we had different schedules that day) ... I was clenching the little handle above the door most of the time, hoping others were being careful. This shot is a little blurry, but it was actually one of the better points of visibility on the road (hence my willingness for a moment to let go of the little handle).

Just after this photo (taken from my office window), it cleared enough that a couple of us could take our scheduled drive up to our campus in Fujairah.  (Photos of that scenery to share in another blog.)

All that glitters is gold ... the Emirates Palace

As promised, I am checking things off my list here in Abu Dhabi.

Last weekend I visited the Emirates Palace.  (It was a week of long days at work, so just now having the chance to write this post.)

For those of you playing our game of 'where has Kate visited' and are becoming experts navigators of Google maps, the Emirates Palace is at the end of the Corniche, not far from the Marina Mall.  It's worth looking at the Emirates Palace website.

I only saw a portion of this 5-star hotel. The guests rooms are reportedly superb. They have their own beach, yacht moorings, theatre, beautiful grounds, several restaurants, and shops.

Here is a view out the window out to a bay and beyond that the Arabian Gulf (have to be a guest to enjoy the grounds and private beach). 

The color theme throughout the Emirates Palace is gold. Whether the etchings on the elevator doors or the mosaics on the walls. 

Now my apologies. On my computer as saved images, they are the vertical image they should be. If someone can let me know how to be vertical on a blog post, please share! For now, tilt your head to the left :-) Or a computer screen to the right. (Easier today with a laptop than a desktop of course!)

Marble floors with intricate designs.

A ceiling area near the hotel registration area.

Cannot seem to load more photos ... I will do a part 2 for the Emirates Palace.