Starbucks and Burkas
A very busy and interesting day for the Pathaks thanks to the private tour by Dev family ( Pankaj, Neeru, Arushi and Yuana,) . Day started with a nice breakfast at home and than a drive to Abu Dhabi ( about 100 miles away) .
Abu Dhabi is the capital of UAE and the biggest and richest Khalifate in UAE. We were heading there to see the latest and greatest Mosque ( has not even made it in the tour books yet) . Drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi was six lane freeway all the well marked in English and Arabic. The drive went through very modern mulirises with unique architecture ( such as a buildings like a perfect ( CONVEX LENS) , Twisted Towers , Sail of a ship and many others trying to outdo one another, then through desert with nothing but sand and shrubs.
One has to wonder , how much human ingenuity and oil money has gone in to convert the desert into such dazzling landscape. Abu Dhabi turned out to be an older and more mature brother of Dubai. It is richer by all measures but the richness is understated with elegance of single family homes ( palaces) , parks and other features. Never the less, the splendor of Abo Dhabi shows. Abu Dhabi is also more conservative and we saw lot more full Burkas ( even I had to wear one) .
The Mosque is said to be the biggest and newest in the old. It reminded me of Taj Mahal in its whiteness of marbles and the art work. I had to wear the WHOLE BURKA to be able to get in but it was worth it.
We drove back home through the scenic route along the marina, man and nature made islands and man made parks ( speaking of the parks, the water used here is all desalinated water and yet there is no shortage of water anywhere in UAE) . We wondered about the desert transformation over last TEN years. I am told that most of what we see today has just sprung up in last ten to fifteen years.
Afternoon and evening were spent doing the private desert safari tour with the Dev family. It was an adventure with fun and moments of scare…we drove in the sand through and over the dunes and along little villages growing Dates and raising Camels. Hanging out with kids is always lot of fun for me. Both the girls are very sweet and Pankaj and Neeru are wonderful hosts.
At night tried to see the Dancing fountains again but no luck today either. Too windy…oh well may be tomorrow. Had a wonderful Arabic dinner and time for the blog and rest. Good night.
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