24.2 - Day in Abu Dhabi

Took a few hours before we were ready to head out of Dubai towards Abu Dhabi - the capital. It is the second largest city in the United Arab Emirates. United Arab Emirates Government is located here as well as Emirati Royal Family. Abu Dhabi is the richest city in the world as stated by CNN and other sources.

While driving from Dubai to Abu Dhabi I saw all this sand all around us, fields of sand. But apparently it is soil not sand! And very fertile, as soon as it gets water, plants would grow there very nicely. By the roadside there are always trees and bushes, planted of course. To keep them growing there is irrigation built into the ground to keep constant water supply for watering. As I learned, there is a huge desalination plant to create clean water (since it is a desert here and not much clean water around). Apparently this plant produces way too much clean water and they had to dump whole lot of it back to the sea, so now they have the plant running only for 3 days a week. Also learned that UAE is one of the biggest wheat exporters, they also grow quite a bit of dates around here.

Plants are necessary by the roadside to keep the sand off the road when winds pick up. It is about 160km between the two cities, having 4-by-4 lane road all the way all lit up with street lights :) Very nice I must say :) As the speeds on the road can go up to 160km/h the ride was quick :D And they have similar speed check boxes on the highway here as they are installing on Tartu road ;)

On our way I managed to see some wild camels by the road as well. For obvious reasons could not take a photo with a camel though :) Perhaps some other day ;)

As Wikipedia states, Abu Dhabi city is geographically located on the north-eastern part of the Persian Gulf in the Arabian Peninsula. It is on an island located less than 250 metres from the mainland and is joined to the mainland by the Maqta and Mussafah Bridges.

There is much talk about oil, Abu Dhabi holds 9% of the world's proven oil reserves and almost 5% of the world's natural gas. It has taken on an active diversification and liberalisation programme to reduce the UAE’s reliance on the hydrocarbon sector.

More from Wikipedia: the majority of the inhabitants of Abu Dhabi are expatriate workers from India, Pakistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines, the United Kingdom and various countries from across the Arab world. Consequently, English, Hindi, Urdu, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Amharic and Bengali are widely spoken. Apart from Urdu and Hindi spoken by Indians and Pakistanis, many South Asian expatriates also contribute other South Asian languages to the cultural milieu, including Malayalam, widely spoken in Kerala.

First we visited Sheikh Zayed Mosque - the largest mosque in UAE and 6th largest in the world (Wikitravel). It was opened year 2007, capacity is 40 000 people. Building was magnificent - all white marble, beautiful decorations, floor is covered with carpet all the way, it is just gorgeous and very spacious. A must see place.

Next stop was Corniche - Abu Dhabi's spectacular waterfront that stretches for miles from the Breakwater near Marina Shopping Mall almost up to the Mina Zayed port. It has a walkway for the entire length, and certain stretches have sandy beaches. Had lunch in Marina Shopping Mall and of course had to squeeze some shopping in as well :)

Right after Marina Shopping Mall there is Emirates Palace - built at an estimated cost of US$3 billion, this was by many accounts the world's most expensive hotel to build, with oodles of gold and marble plating every available surface. The scale of everything is gargantuan — you need directions just to find your way from the gate to the lobby! — and the hotel feels like it's straight out of Las Vegas, minus the slot machines. Day tripping visitors are welcome, and entertainment options include caviar and champagne at the Caviar Bar, a fine Cohiba and cognac at the Havana Club, or a Turkish coffee (Dh 30) at Le Cafe. Rooms for the night start from about US$500 (Wikitravel).

Peeked in Emirates Palace as well - it is exactly as grand as they say it is. Managed to see an exhibition about Guggenheim Museum plans for making cultural center at Saadiyat Island. Seems to be a huge program with co-operation between Guggenheim Museum and UAE - all the plans seem fabulous. If all the financing goes through then seems like Abu Dhabi will be a grand place in few years.

Getting back to Dubai was even quicker as speedometer showed mostly 170km/h - no I was not driving this beautiful grey Porch suburban :D

Now the plan is to go over to Jaana's friends place and make Estonian food for dinner, watch some movies and have good time with the whole crowd :)