A typical reaction to the fact that we went to Emirates for holidays was “Is there anything worth seeing or doing?” Well, it depends on what you are looking for.
I do not argue that Dubai indeed has many skyscrapers, many shopping malls and many Russians. But it does not stop there. All these skyscrapers and shopping malls were not there 50 years ago, but people lived there, they had traditions, culture, food and dunes with the sea. Leave the city and you will be faced with the infinity of the sand on the one side and with the endless sea on the other. Just too many visitors never leave their hotel’s beach club. On the other hand Emirates (and not only Dubai) are packed with the attractions for kids that could keep you busy for weeks. It is true kids’ paradise (but I will write about this next time).
A good place to learn about the country and its past is Al Ain (an oasis city that shall be on everyone’s ‘must see’ list!). A trip to a different country starts the moment you leave Dubai’s or Abu Dhabi’s high-rises behind. All you can see around is sand – yellow, orange, red, and an occasional roaming camel. If not the modern highway you could imagine yourself to be an explorer on the back of the camel crossing the Empty Quarter. The trip from any of the two megalopolises is only a bit more than an hour so could be done as a day tour, but I think that there are a lot of things to see making it worth to spend in Al Ain at least few days. One shall also consider that the place is inland that makes it very hot (our car showed 43 degrees).
During our two day visit we saw Al Ain palace museum – the home of Sheikh Zayed, the founder of UAE; Al Jahili fort – the most historic building in UAE, Al Ain national museum that holds artefacts from surrounding archaeological sites and shows a very interesting short movie about the history of the oasis. The big attraction for kids was a visit to camel market where we saw hundreds of different camels, small and big, old and babies. We just forgot to ask how much they costJ. When entering Al Ain oasis you understand why this place was of such an importance as the shades of the palms make a nice retreat from the midday heat. Finally we drove all the way up to Jabel Hafeet, but frankly, did not find it somehow extraordinary. Maybe because the views were not clear as the air was hazy. But there is a nice playground for kids at the top so they did not complain about the drive.
As the trip was too short and the days were too hot we had no time to visit Al Ain zoo which is apparently very nice and the attempt to explore Hili archaeological park failed as it was closed without any apparent reason. But maybe even better – now we have a reason to come back.