Extended Stay in Abu Dhabi

We stopped in Abu Dhabi on the way back to Hong Kong for a few days (or so we thought...to be continued...) It was hard to not compare Abu Dhabi to its neighbor Dubai (which we visited 2 years ago), but in every case Dubai had more to see and was just more fun. Abu Dhabi has the hop on hop off bus, so of course we did that for a day. Abu Dhabi's skyline is shaped by many uniquely designed skyscrapers...and an equal number of construction sites where future skyscrapers will be erected. 

While on the hop on hop off bus we saw jets fly over then they started doing acrobatic rolls while letting out smoke in black, red, white and green - the colors of the UAE national flag. 

Our last stop on the tour was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque which is absolutely massive. The closer you get, the details from the carving to the inlaid stone like on the Taj Mahal become apparent. Before we got too close, a guard stopped Melissa and told her she would have to cover up if she wanted to go any further. We were expecting as much and she came prepared with a pashmina ready and waiting. As we got closer, we saw the line for Melissa to get the proper clothes to go inside (pashmina was adequate only for outside) and it was crazy long as the mosque had just opened up for tourists that day due to Friday prayers. We decided to pass on going inside and to just appreciate the view from the outside. 

We have been interested in taking a desert safari for a long time but it never worked out.  A few years ago in Dubai, we tried to book one but it was sold out and when we were in Qatar, we didn't have enough time. This time, we arranged our desert safari with dune bashing as soon as we arrived in Abu Dhabi. 

We were picked up from the hotel and driven almost 2 hours outside of the city before we switched to the land cruiser - then we headed into the dunes. Unfortunately we had a German family of four with us - we got a bit concerned when before we got started, the driver asked if everyone would be okay and the German father said his daughter came prepared and she held up her vomit bag - Melissa who was sitting next to her was not very happy about that. 

We pretty much just followed the SUV in front of us which made things a bit more concerning as we could not tell when we were about to go down a big dune until the SUV in front of us slowed down, then we would see the spare tire on the undercarriage reveal how steep the dune really was. We did that for a bit...along with some sliding horizontally down hill before we stopped to enjoy the sunset on the dunes. It was an awesome experience and one we won't soon forget! 

After the sunset, we went to the camp where they had the whole desert experience waiting for us -  a falcon, henna painting, arabic water pipes, traditional arabic clothing for photos, camel rides, sand boarding and even a gift shop. There was absolutely nothing there (out in the middle of nowhere), so everything had to be brought in - from the generators to the water - it was a pretty impressive operation. For dinner they had a large buffet of Arabic food which was pretty good, at least so I thought.. (to be continued....)After dinner they had a belly dancer which was not that impressive.

The next morning I woke up not feeling very well, but had a light breakfast which I was not able to keep down very long. I will spare you the details but we were due to fly out later that evening and mid afternoon I was feeling much worse and ended up going to the hospital. I was diagnosed with severe dehydration and food poisoning. After several hours and over $300USD, I was discharged and told not to fly for 3-4 days. Luckily we were able to change the flights to later in the week and extend our hotel reservation. 

After a few days of being holed up in our hotel room and taking the requisite prescriptions, I was feeling much better to where I could start eating again and even felt well enough to start walking around, so we took advantage of it and enjoyed the rest of our extended stay in Abu Dhabi. We went for a long walk down the corniche.... 

We found a Lebanese restaurant which was very good! So good in fact we had it twice! Look at the size of that flat bread.

By the end of our trip, we were so ready to get back home to Hong Kong!