Well, before this cruise I never thought I’d find myself in the Persian Gulf, with the nearest land being the Islamic Republic of Iran, but there we were this morning, sailing toward the Emirates along with a small armada of oil tankers. Actually, things seem to have calmed down for the moment between Iran and Israel, so our transit through the Strait of Hormuz was considerably less stressful than it might have been several weeks ago.
At any rate, we arrived in Abu Dhabi at 1:30 this afternoon without incident, excited to see what the first of our two days in the United Arab Emirates would bring us. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an oil and gas rich nation made up of seven small emirates, with Abu Dhabi being the capital. The combined population of the seven is a little less than ten million, but here’s the astonishing fact. Only 11.6 percent of the total population are UAE citizens. The rest are expatriates, overwhelmingly from South Asia, who have emigrated in search of employment. I could go into a lot more detail on that subject, but it would result in a book, not a blog post.
Consistent with its reputation, it’s hot here, really hot. According to my weather app today’s high was 105 degrees Fahrenheit, which is pretty typical for this time of year. It was also very hazy, and my totally uneducated guess is that the brownish-gray tint to the air was due to about 90 percent smog and 10 percent sand. Not a promising combination for an afternoon and evening outdoor excursion, but to my surprise it wasn’t that bad. This will sound like an old joke but it was dry heat, and the low humidity really did make a difference. There was less smog once we got out of the city too, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
We left the ship a little before 4:00 pm, along with a large contingent of our fellow cruisers, and piled into a fleet of six-passenger white Toyota Land Cruisers. I heard later that we totaled 36 vehicles, so it was quite a convoy that left the harbor heading through the city and out into the desert between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. I should mention that the Al Ain Highway, which we took for a good bit of the way, has one of the world’s highest posted speed limits, 160 kilometers per hour. That translates to almost exactly 100 miles per hour, which is pretty darn fast. Happily for this coward, our drivers poked along at around 80 mph, content to let numerous expensive, high performance vehicles whiz past us on the beautifully maintained superhighway.
Eventually we began taking smaller roads until our drivers finally pulled off the sand swept asphalt completely and stopped in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but dunes stretching out to the horizon ahead of us. And this is where the fun began. Our drivers had stopped so they could let some air out of the tires of our Land Cruisers, making them better able to traverse the Arabian Desert’s large sand dunes. But the plan wasn’t just to get us through the dunes to our evening’s destination. No, we were going to make full use of our increased grip and stability to do some serious four-wheeling.
What followed clearly qualifies as the wildest ride of my life, as we careened, slid and plunged our way through the dunes, with high banked turns often followed by drops so steep that the vehicle in front of us would vanish completely from sight. I lost count of the number of times we fishtailed and slid almost sideways on steep dunes, but our drivers always managed to regain control, and it was clear that they knew their business. It was great fun, but I will confess that I wasn’t unhappy when it ended and we approached our ultimate destination.
The printed description of our excursion claimed that we would spend the evening at a “typical Bedouin camp,” where we would partake in various activities and enjoy a traditional meal. Well, I’ll say this about that. Our destination was no more a typical Bedouin camp than our ship is the Starship Enterprise. It was a permanent, Disney-like, made-for-tourists version of a Bedouin camp, without a tent in sight, but that was actually okay, because it was designed to maximize our desert experience, and it delivered in a big way.
The square, low walled “camp” had all the comforts of home, including bathrooms, a gift shop, buffet serving area, cash bar, a large performance stage, and even a station where artists were painting henna tattoos on willing hands. Outside the walls our hosts were offering camel rides, and those who were brave enough could try their luck at sand surfing on a really steep dune. It would seem that the Bedouins have become Bedouins, Inc., or at least this group has.
Still, as I said, they delivered a really enjoyable evening’s entertainment. Michele got a pretty henna tattoo, we rode camels, watched the attempts at sand surfing, experienced a nice desert sunset, ate a delicious dinner, and watched a performance that included belly dancing and fire dancing. We sat on cushions and ate at low tables, which was interesting for those of us who aren’t as flexible as we were in our younger days. Most of all, instead of touring another city we got out into the desert and saw what the country actually looks like.
There was no wild sand dune ride on the way back, as it turns out that the “camp” is only a short distance from a paved road. While we were enjoying the evening festivities our drivers were refilling the Land Cruisers’ tires with air, making it possible for us to once again fly down the Al Ain Racetrack, I mean Highway, back to Abu Dhabi and the ship. We pulled up to the pier a little before 10:30, tired but happy after a fun evening in the desert.
Tomorrow we’re in Dubai, the UAE’s largest city, where we’re planning a very different experience. I’ll be back to tell you all about it, so until then, as-salaam alaykum (peace be upon you).
Passed a lot of camels on our way out into the desert.
One of our group’s drivers letting some air out of the tires to give them better grip and stability on the dunes. We were about to go four wheeling.
We don’t have any good photos of the wilder portions of our four wheeling because at those times we were holding on for dear life. Here it was calm enough for Michele to snap one through the windshield.
We stopped a time or two to climb some dunes and enjoy the view.
Endless dunes in the background.
Entrance to the Bedouin “camp.”
Michele held a falcon, the national symbol of the UAE.
And got a henna tattoo.
Sand surfing. Those are standard snowboards.
Our seating/eating arrangements. Sand surfing in the background.
Ready for our camel ride. Here’s a tip if you ever do it. Lean way back and hang on tightly when the camel gets back down.
A guide leading our camel. They knew better than to let us loose on our own.
Desert sunset.
The dance performance started after the sun set.
The male dancer was followed by a belly dancer.
The grand finale was a fire dancer, who wisely took his big finish off the stage and out by the big dune. It was pretty spectacular.
On the way back to the ship we passed the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the country’s largest mosque, which can hold 40,000 worshippers.
Back in the cruise terminal Michele was able to mail a postcard back home. So far she’s been able to mail on from each of the thirty countries we’ve visited.
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