The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a single country made up of 7 regions which they call Emirates. Each Emirate is ruled by a king who, over here, is called an Emir. Until about 20 years ago the 7 Emirates were independent countries, but now they have joined together as one country, All have oil, and all are rich because of it. We are visiting three of the seven; Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In all cases the name of the main city and the name of the Emirate are the same.
Abu Dhabi is the largest geographically and wealthiest of the 7 Emirates, and is the captial city of UAE. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi has a population of almost 3 million, while the city is almost 1 million. Only about 20% of these are citizens, however, the rest are expats from all over the world, mostly India, who do all the heavy work.
The city of Abu Dhabi is located on a group of large islands along the shore of the Arabian Peninsula in the Persian Gulf. The islands are connected to the mainland, and some to each other by bridges and tunnels. The infrastructure here is amazing. The roads, bridges, tunnels, subways, buildings, parks, etc. are all new, shiny, clean, and in mint condition. There are no slums, and no poor people. The signs are all in English and Arabic, and everyone seems to speak English, and quite well.
All of this is an amazing change in just 50 years. Before 1958 when the oil was discovered, nobody lived here except poor fisherman living in huts along the shore of the Persian Gulf, and nomadic Bedouin tribes who moved about the Arabian desert with their flocks of animals and their camels. Now Abu Dhabi is one of the fanciest and most modern city in the world, and the country has the third highest per capita income in the world; the equivalent of $90,000 per person per year. And their are no taxes. Moreover, if you are a citizen, pretty much everything except food is free. Education, health care, housing, electricity, telephone services, etc. are all free to citizens. So, the citizens seem to wander about all day long in their white robes for men, and black ones for women, doing not much. They live in luxury. We are told that fifty years ago, the Arabic language had no word for "luxury". It wasn't needed. The downside, however, is that the lifestyle is catching up to them. The prevalence rate of diabetes is 25%; i.e., one in every four citizens has diabetes. They even have a special hospital just for the disease.
Here is the Abu Dhabi skyline seen by Peggy having breakfast on the stern of the ship.
Abu Dhabi is an architect's delight. These twin towers have an interesting feature whereby the strange looking window covering rotates around the towers throughout the day to block the direct rays of the sun.
The Great Mosque of Abu Dhabi is considered one of the top 10 mosques in the world. It is new, very large (can hold 40,000 people), and magnificent. They insisted on using only marble of the purest whiteness, and had to search the entire world to find it. Money was no object. They refuse to say how much it cost, but obviously a great deal.
Some people don't read instructions. We were repeatedly told what to wear to visit a mosque. See Peggy for the proper attire. See the other two tourists on our bus who had to borrow outfits from the guide so they could go in.
The size of the mosque and the intricate detail were amazing.
The other buildings in Abu Dhabi were pretty fancy also.
Many were curvy, by design, like the new Marilyn building in Mississauga. One leans 18 degrees off vertical, which is more than the leaning tower of Pisa.
The arabs have come a long way in 50 years. Here is how they used to live; a tent in the desert.
And here is how they used to travel.
I considered taking a ride until I saw one local lad clinging on for dear life and looking like he was going to fall off at any minute. It did not inspire confidence. However, I was up to holding the Harris Hawk, who was actually quite tame, it seemed, and surprisingly light.
Tomorrow we are off to Dubai, our third and final Emirate.
P&G
Abu Dhabi is the largest geographically and wealthiest of the 7 Emirates, and is the captial city of UAE. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi has a population of almost 3 million, while the city is almost 1 million. Only about 20% of these are citizens, however, the rest are expats from all over the world, mostly India, who do all the heavy work.
The city of Abu Dhabi is located on a group of large islands along the shore of the Arabian Peninsula in the Persian Gulf. The islands are connected to the mainland, and some to each other by bridges and tunnels. The infrastructure here is amazing. The roads, bridges, tunnels, subways, buildings, parks, etc. are all new, shiny, clean, and in mint condition. There are no slums, and no poor people. The signs are all in English and Arabic, and everyone seems to speak English, and quite well.
All of this is an amazing change in just 50 years. Before 1958 when the oil was discovered, nobody lived here except poor fisherman living in huts along the shore of the Persian Gulf, and nomadic Bedouin tribes who moved about the Arabian desert with their flocks of animals and their camels. Now Abu Dhabi is one of the fanciest and most modern city in the world, and the country has the third highest per capita income in the world; the equivalent of $90,000 per person per year. And their are no taxes. Moreover, if you are a citizen, pretty much everything except food is free. Education, health care, housing, electricity, telephone services, etc. are all free to citizens. So, the citizens seem to wander about all day long in their white robes for men, and black ones for women, doing not much. They live in luxury. We are told that fifty years ago, the Arabic language had no word for "luxury". It wasn't needed. The downside, however, is that the lifestyle is catching up to them. The prevalence rate of diabetes is 25%; i.e., one in every four citizens has diabetes. They even have a special hospital just for the disease.
Here is the Abu Dhabi skyline seen by Peggy having breakfast on the stern of the ship.
And here is the same skyline as seen by George from the veranda of the stateroom where he was sleeping in (just kidding!). Notice all the construction cranes.
Abu Dhabi is an architect's delight. These twin towers have an interesting feature whereby the strange looking window covering rotates around the towers throughout the day to block the direct rays of the sun.
The Great Mosque of Abu Dhabi is considered one of the top 10 mosques in the world. It is new, very large (can hold 40,000 people), and magnificent. They insisted on using only marble of the purest whiteness, and had to search the entire world to find it. Money was no object. They refuse to say how much it cost, but obviously a great deal.
Some people don't read instructions. We were repeatedly told what to wear to visit a mosque. See Peggy for the proper attire. See the other two tourists on our bus who had to borrow outfits from the guide so they could go in.
The size of the mosque and the intricate detail were amazing.
The other buildings in Abu Dhabi were pretty fancy also.
Many were curvy, by design, like the new Marilyn building in Mississauga. One leans 18 degrees off vertical, which is more than the leaning tower of Pisa.
The arabs have come a long way in 50 years. Here is how they used to live; a tent in the desert.
And here is how they used to travel.
I considered taking a ride until I saw one local lad clinging on for dear life and looking like he was going to fall off at any minute. It did not inspire confidence. However, I was up to holding the Harris Hawk, who was actually quite tame, it seemed, and surprisingly light.
Tomorrow we are off to Dubai, our third and final Emirate.
P&G
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