Modern Metrotropolis In The Land Of Sand And Oil - Dubai, Abu Dhabi And Al Ain
Posted On Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at at 12:47 AM by Alvin
Flying over the Persian Gulf from Shiraz to Dubai took just over an hour, but the modernity of Dubai was a world apart from the historical Iran where we had spent the previous un-forgettable two weeks ! Oven level temperatures greeted us at the Dubai Airport Arrivals but we soon settled down for the night - both feeling a natural "high" in spirit, from having visited the lands of ancient Persia. Little did we expect, our "high" spirit was to last a further three days in the United Arab Emirates as we marvelled at how man-made modernity overcame the inhospitable lands. Everywhere we went : we were soothed by the ever-present air-conditioning (even the road-side bus stops had air-con); we were impressed by the mile-high skyscrapers (Burj Al Khalifa being the tallest in the world); we were transported around the city by the efficient and comfortable Metro - what an impressive city ! We visited the souks by Dubai Creek and the huge shopping malls Dubai Mall (with an in-built floor to floor aquarium !) and Mall of The Emirates and they could easily each have taken 5 hours to explore.
The next day, we took a 2 hours' bus to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and we were made speechless by the opulence of the mosque as it was covered in precious stones, white marbles, colorful sparkling chandeliers and giant end-to-end Persian carpets ! Our trip to the Al Ain date palm oasis 2 hours from Dubai, gave us a better and more complete picture of the U.A.E. and we were mighty impressed as we made our way home after this journey.
