World cruise 34M

From Margaret
Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Garden City of Al Ain

More or less south of Dubai lies Abu Dhabi, the largest of the UAE kingdoms. On Abu Dhabi's border with Oman lies the garden city of Al Ain. After a long drive on a superb highway through the ever changing desert, the exquisite landscaping of the streets of Al Ain was a relief to eyes more used to greens than tans and browns. Abu Dhabi apparently has a bit more natural water than other parts of the UAE and that coupled with the water from desalination enables them to irrigate pretty much whatever they want.

Our first stop was the renovated Palace of Sheikh Zayed, the Arab Emir who was instrumental in founding the United Arab Emirates and guiding this confederation into putting its oil wealth into universal healthcare and education for its citizens and into building the infrastructure that has enabled the UAE to become part of the 21st century.

Sheikh Zayed's Palace is beautiful in a fortress sort of way. It is more of a compound than than a simple palace. There is comfortable living space for the entire royal family (multiple generations) and its retainers as well as space for all of the administrative functions of a ruler.

Many of the original furnishings plus lots of photographs and paintings are in the Palace. I rather liked the painting of Sheikh Zayed out hawking as well as the photograph of Sheikh Zayed with Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, and the Queen Mother.

The grounds within the Palace walls are exquisitely landscaped with gardens both decorative and useful. I wish we had had more time to explore this place.

Our second stop was the Department of Antiquities and Culture's museum in Al Ain. This museum has a well-displayed collection of items reflecting the daily lives of Arabs from that area on one side of the building. The display goes, for all practical purposes, from birth to death. There were displays of jewelry worn by the women (who were expected to wear their wealth) to implements, including surgical tools, and medicinal compounds used by doctors; construction and agricultural equipment to looms for weaving cloth.

The other side of the building is a collection of materials retrieved from various archaeological sites in the area. This one has the same inscription as the tomb below. If my memory is correct, some of these materials date back to 5000 BC. Loved it.

From the museum, we went to the camel market – yes, real camels. Lots of them. It is apparently the largest camel market in the UAE. There were also sheep and goats in this market, but tourists get shown the camels. We did not see a lot of selling going on, but there were definitely a lot of camels. Some get bought for large sums as racing camels, others become draft animals – although there is not as much of that as there once was. The young ones are primarily for the meat market.

After lunch, we went to the Hili Gardens and Archaeologicl Park. These gardens surround an active archaeological site dating back to the 3rd millenium BC. It is a World Heritage site. One of the structures, a burial tomb, has been reconstructed as an example of what is located there.

Other areas of the park are under active excavation, and I think that the tour guide said that a large area outside of the park has been protected as it may contain more remains that need to be investigated. If the reconstructed tomb is an indication of the masonry skills of these early people, they were adept! The joints have no mortar and are so tight you could not get a knife blade between them. Fascinating!