Day 8, December 30: Camels, Forts, Mountains

To better comprehend today's journey, it's better that I provide you a map, a visual of our travels. Bear in mind that we begin the morning in Dubai (upper right) and ended the day in Abu Dhabi (lower left). However, as you can see, it was not a straightforward trip from here to there. Rather, we took a big swing to visit the city of Al Ain ("Al Ane" rhymes with pain) first. So now that you know the route, you will better understand how a 90-minute trip became and all-day affair.

We checked out of the Paramount Hotel about 9am this morning, loaded our van and headed for Abu Dhabi. Now, for further enlightenment, Abu Dhabi is the name of both the emirate and its capital city. We were headed to Abu Dhabi City, but first we traveled southwest toward Al Ain, which is in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and the emirate's second most populous city. There is also an important cultural legacy that we would see, On the way out of Dubai, but long before reaching Al Ain, we stopped at a camel racing track. Horse racing has long been a beloved sport in the U.A.E., and Formula 1 auto racing has become popular in recent years: but camel racing is in the blood, the history and the culture of the Emirati peoples, especially the richer ones. So Marshall insisted that we stop at the camel racing track.

Personally, I found it fascinating and exciting. We watched a race in progress on a big screen. Then, we saw the very end of that same race, as it passed right by the section of track where we were standing. We witnessed the trainers taking camel to and fro, preparing them to compete in an upcoming race or preparing them to cool down from a race.. Of course, we did not understand 1/1000th of what we were watching, but it was interesting nevertheless. Some facts we learned about camels and camel racing:

• Younger camels fetch a higher price, because they run faster than older adults. (I think this is a basic fact for most creatures, maybe.)

• Camels sold for meat can be purchased for as little as AED 500-600, or $135-$165 dollars. By contrast, camels bred for racing can be sold for a much as AED 1,000,000 or $270,000-$275,000. (By the way, AED is the acronym for the Emirati Dirham, the UAE's currency. Currently, the exchange rate between dirhams and dollars is 3.6 or 3.7 AED for 1 USD.)

• The camels are typically trained by Pakistani and Bengladeshi men.

• Camel "jockeys" are actually small mechanical dummies with electronic whips. The jockeys used to be young boys; however, for the sake of safety and faster speeds, the boys have been replaced by these mechanical dummies.

• The Bedouin used to hobble the front legs of their camels, to prevent them from running or wandering far, when resting. They carried their "hobbling" ropes around the scarves on their heads. That is how they (Arabs) derived the male fashion of a head scarf with a round, typically black ring on the crown of their heads.

• There is no large audience attending camel races. The races are broadcast, but the "action" comes from the camel owners betting one against the other(s) about the outcome of races.

• BTW, betting between owners is allowed, but gambling is not allowed. (You work that one out. LOL)

And now the moment you've been waiting for, some camel track and camel racing photos. Ta dah...

3rd row: the last camel to cross the finish line. Note the dummy "jockey" and whip on its back. The center photo is the Dubai Camel Racing Club sign. The photo on the right indicate the direction to the camel hospital. This is all very serious stuff.

Marshall holding a camel "jockey" and explaining to us how it works.

We left the Dubai Camel Racing Club and continued on our way to Al Ain. The primary reason for going to Al Ain was to see the historic Jahili fort, established in 1898 by Sheikh Zayed Bin Khalifa, grandfather of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the UAE. A family line of leadership, it seems. Inside the fort was a museum dedicated to Sir Wilfred Thesiger, also named Mubarak Bin London by the Bedus who greatly admired him. Thesiger was a British adventurer who was born and raised in Kenya. He spent time in Arabia, and crossed the "Empty Quarter" of the Arabian desert with two teenage boys as his companions. (If this sounds like Lawrence of Arabia, T.E.Lawrence, you're not imagining things. Thesiger greatly admired Lawrence.) Thesiger lived like a Bedouin and took on their ways, thus earning their deep and abiding affection. And so, a sultan -- don't remember which one -- had this museum established at the fort, to honor him and memorialize his life and journies among the Bedu of southern Arabia. After visiting the fort and museum, we briefly visited a real oasis and learned about the Arab system of al faraj or irrigation without pumps.

Here are some photos of the landscape on the way to Al Ain.

Here are photos of the Al Ain fort, the Thesiger Museum, and the oasis.

Leaving the oasis, we went to a local hotel to have lunch. And after this, we went up into the Jebel Hafeet mountain range, to look down on the city. From there, we drove two hours to finally reach Abu Dhabi as dusk was settling in. Here are a series of photos from Jebel Hafeet, the road to Abu Dhabi, and views from our hotel room in Abu Dhabi.

Enough for December, it's time to talk about December 31. However, that story and the amazing pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. For now, good night!