Camels and Malls and Malls and Malls

So, we were on our way from Duabi to Al Ain the last time we updated. It's about a two hour drive to Al Ain. It's a big highway through the middle of the desert. The roads are lined with trees which I'm sure were meant to block sand from blowing onto the roads. I could see how they could be needed since it was a windy day and sand was blowing everywhere, making it seem quite hazy out. (Apparently it's against the law to have a dirty car in the UAE, and with sand like that you need to wash your car every week or so to keep it shiny! The malls all had people with car-washing carts wandering around the parking garages, so if you don't like to wash it yourself you can get it done while you shop - pretty convenient!) I spent the entire drive pointing out every camel I saw to Bryn...and I saw a lot of camels!

Al Ain is quite different from Dubai. First of all, it is in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (an Emirate is sort of like a state or prefecture). It is a bit more conservative than Dubai, so many of the women also kept their faces covered while they were out, and there were signs prohibiting shoulder bearing tops in at least one of the malls went to. Good thing the air conditioning was turned up causing me to want to wear a sweatshirt over my tops! Also there are no tall buildings in Al Ain. Building restrictions keep places from building over 5 or 6 stories. The sand is a lot darker inland as well...in Dubai the sand was very light and white, while in Al Ain it was an orangy-red color. It is an oasis city located right on the border of the UAE and Oman. Therefore it is a lot greener than other cities (lots of date palms) and is surrounded by mountains. The roads in Al Ain are wide and lined with date palms and bright flowers, so they are quite pretty to drive on. I was surprized by the number of round-a-bouts...one at practically every intersection! For an American they are a bit daunting! They are cool though because each one has a different sculpture or decoration in it to help differentiate it from others. Unfortunately we didn't take a whole lot of pictures in Al Ain for some reason...we did take some from the car on the way out of Al Ain and back to Dubai.

There are camels in that truck!!!

On the first night some of Robert and Jan's friends joined us for a BBQ on their patio. It was a lot of fun since everyone there was like us - loved to travel and had lived in some really interesting places.

The next morning we woke up early. Jan had to work, but Robert had the morning off. After some breakfast and a few errands, we drove up to the top of Jebel Hafeet (I hope I spelled that right...I tried to Google it at work and every site for this MOUNTAIN is blacklisted...hmmm). Yeah, so it's a mountain. I want to say it's the highest point in the UAE, but since all the sites are BLACKLISTED I can't confirm that...Anyways, it's a twisty turny road to the top, and unfortunately it was too hazy to get any good photos. Later we checked out one of the malls (which has a Zara and a H&M, making it an acceptable mall) before heading back to the house and having some of the leftovers from the BBQ for lunch. Robert had to go to work, so Bryn and I spent the better part of the afternoon sitting out on the patio enjoying the summer-like temperatures.

On the way up Jebel Hafeet

View from the top

The luxury hotel at the top of the mountain...There was also one private residence that was bigger than the hotel!

The rest of the time in Al Ain was a bit like that...visit a mall, sit on the patio, watch some TV in English...(side note...Bryn and I like cooking shows. We were watching some Master Chef while we were there and it was a challenge using pork as the main ingredient. They bleeped out the word every time someone mentioned "pork"!!! anyways...) It was a fairly relaxing and very warm couple of days.

Before we knew it we were preparing to head back to Dubai for some last minute sight seeing before our flight out in the evening. Jan had to work again, so we said our goodbyes and set off for the big city. We visited three different shopping malls/shopping areas (as you do in the UAE apparently). The first was an Egypt-themed mall (Wafi Mall)...it was HIGH CLASS...I seriously don't think there was a single thing in that entire mall that I could ever dream of affording! The decorations were quite cool though. Next we went to Souk Madinat Jumeirah, that was built to look like a traditional middle eastern souk (market). It was really something with gorgeous views, lots of restaurants and good touristy shopping. Last was Ibn Battuta Mall...WOW. It is themed after a Moroccan explorer's famous journey. Each "court" of the mall had a theme...China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia...really, really cool. We really had a good time taking pictures of that one and Bryn got some good ones.

Traditional wind towers, meant to catch the wind and cool the houses.

Hookah anyone?

This is the Inb Battuta mall...insane, and very cool!

The main gate to the mall

By then it was time to go to the airport (still not a fan of Dubai airport) where we caught our overnight flight to Singapore. We had just enough time in Singapore to join the free tour they offer to passengers in transit with a long time between flights. (We figured we had spent ample time in the airport on the way there, so why not get out of the airport this trip!) It was a two hour bus tour that allowed us to see some of the sites in Singapore, get a stamp in our passport, and make me REALLY want to go back and see more! It also was a great way to pass the seven hours before our flight to Japan.


It was good to get home once we did, but I immediatly missed the warm temperatures at the equator and in the desert. Now we are patiently waiting for the warm temperatures to make their way to Japan - and the cherry blossoms. The blossoms are starting very slowly, so we will head to Kyoto this weekend to try our luck...fingers crossed they will be blooming for us!