Trip to Al Ain

This photo of Mercure Grand Jebel Hafeet Al Ain is courtesy of TripAdvisor

There are three main parts of Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi city, Al Ain, and the Western Region.  When I first got to Abu Dhabi I didn’t know which one of these areas I would be teaching and luckily I got Abu Dhabi city, which I believe is the best fit for Natova and I.  The other two areas are said to have their pros and cons.  The Western region is first and for most very remote.  It’s what you think of when you think desert, rolling dunes and sparse vegetation.   Now the upside to ending up out that way is that you don’t spend as much money because you are less prone to hop in the car and go to an expensive restaurant because you have to ride a couple hours to Abu Dhabi city.  I am also told that the quiet of it all can be quite profound, as opposed to the hustle and bustle of the city. 

Al Ain is the second largest city in the Abu Dhabi Emirate.   I had heard stories of its oasis and lush greenery, even more so than the city of Abu Dhabi, which does have pretty decent amount of plants.  It is also well known for its zoo, which is supposed to be one of the best in the whole country.  Most of the teachers that don’t get placed in Abu Dhabi city end up in Al Ain, so there is a good number of teachers spread about there.  Natova and I had been wanting to take a weekend in Al Ain ever since we have been in the country, just to see a different area of Abu Dhabi. 

We found our opportunity when Natova picked up a Cobone coupon for a one night’s stay in the  Mercure Grand hotel, located at the top of the Jabel Hafeet, the third and probably the most notable of the three major attractions of the city (the other two being the oasis and the zoo).  It is the mountain that overlooks the entire city of Al Ain and at the top sits the hotel we will be staying for the night. 

We took a bus provided by the city out to Al Ain, a two hour ride on a pretty nice chartered bus that only set us back $6 USD per person one way.  Since we travelled as a “family” we got to sit together in the front (men in the back, family/women in the front) which had a bit more space, though there weren’t that many people on the bus anyway. If there is nothing else I can say about the UAE I can definitely say they have an outstanding bus transportation system that runs throughout the entire country with very, very reasonable prices.   

It became pretty immediate the second we got within Al Ain that this place is a different animal than Abu Dhabi.  The most striking difference were the amount of people on the street, or lack thereof to be more accurate.  Granted it was a weekend, but there was very limited activity on the streets of Al Ain and even less taxi cabs, which I didn’t expect at all, and hence led to our first dilemma once we pulled into the bus station and grabbed our things (also the Al Ain bus station took us by surprise too.  We weren’t expecting the Taj Mahal but I didn’t think it would be a hole in the wall; I mean this is the second largest city in the Emirate).  There is normally a line of taxis at the bus station in Abu Dhabi just waiting for customers, but here, there wasn’t one in sight.  Luckily Natova was able to flag one down while I got our luggage (I have heard that the taxi drivers are more prone to pass over guys to pick up ladies, particularly Western women).

The drive through the city was nothing to write home about, but it did get interesting the closer we got to the mountain.  It was clearly visible anywhere in the city.  The terrain became less soft and green and more red and rugged.  As we ascended there were some free standing rock formations and other smaller mountains.  The road became ridiculously winding and steep, not that our Taxi Driver was going to let the threat of flying clear of the mountain affect his need for speed.  Taxi drivers all over the Emirates are notorious for driving what most would consider recklessly, this guy was no different.  I had to remind him a couple of times that there was no trophy waiting for him at the top of the mountain and that he would not be penalized if he slowed down to a speed that did not have us trying to recall whether we had all of our affairs in order on every turn. 

We finally did make it to the hotel.  Upon first glance we were not overly impressed, though that’s not to say that the hotel wasn’t a nice one.  It just wasn’t the best, or worst, that we had stayed in. The exterior was fairly modest for Abu Dhabi standards and it was only 4 or 5 floors high.  What was really nice, though, was the view overlooking the city that we had from the small balcony in our room.  It actually oversaw the pool area the café restaurant in the foreground, and beyond that over the cliff was an expansive view of Al Ain, every inch of it. 

The view went from great to amazing after the sun went down.  We were already advised earlier by the taxi driver to check out the city at night on one of the many observation points carved out in the mountain on the side of the road heading up to the hotel.  We didn’t expect to have one such view right outside our window. Lucky for us we did, because it really was something special.  I wasn’t expecting such a varied collection of colored lights to illuminate different parts of the city.  The mixture of them across the landscape were like lighted paint strokes across an infinitely dark canvas.  The main roads served as the strongest strokes with their yellow and white lit light posts prominently carving out it is presence in the night, while other obscure clustered colors of blue or red only offered curious suggestions as to their purpose or origin.  Other restaurants and hotels let their neons randomly dance throughout the darkness.   It was one of those scenes you could let your eyes wander over aimlessly for an entire night…with or without a beverage of your choice. 

The coupon package included a dinner at one of the three restaurants in and around the hotel.  We decided on the one inside the hotel, the other two were outside overlooking the city.  The restaurant had a lounge feel to it: dimly lit with a candle lighting our small table.  The best thing about it though, and the main reason we chose this restaurant, is that it had it also had a singer, accompanied by a piano, singing some of the great American classic standards like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Girl from Impanema”, two of my personal favorites.   It was a great setting for an intimate meal.  Although, the food itself let us down slightly the combination of everything made the dinner experience great. 

We moved outside to the other restaurant overlooking the city at night.  The closer we got to it the more engulfed we became in festive Arabic Music.  A few family and friends were dancing in front on the patio near the DJ while the surrounding tables watched in delight and clapped along.   The space wasn’t very large so it was easy to get everyone involved. The night was a good temperature with lots of good cool breezes, enhanced no doubt by the higher altitudes.  A table outside would have been great especially with the atmosphere but as you would expect it was already packed and there were no seats available.  It was a Thursday night (the equivalent of our Friday night) and the beginning of the weekend so we expected a good amount of people.  We had no choice but to sit inside, which was more like a tent/room.  The music was still very clear and I could see through the door the people dancing.  We got ourselves some shisha and a couple of drinks.

Shisha is something that I was against at first. I erroneously thought that it was the same as smoking a cigarette, but it turns out it much cleaner, in that there is no tobacco involved.  Natova tried it first with one of her friends and I later gave it a shot.  It is now something we do occasionally at certain settings like this one.  For those unfamiliar, it’s a long fancy looking pipe like bottle with a hose coming out of it from where you suck the smoke out of.  At the top of it there is a small grill where you set little flavored cubes.  The smoke produced from this is mixed with the water contained towards the base of the bottle, mixes with the water fumes, and is sucked out of the hose.  It does get you light headed based on how much you inhale.  Your buzz can last a few minutes up to a half an hour, based on how much you take and for how long you had been doing it.  

We ended our night just kicking back enjoying the ambiance and smoking shisha, talking about how amazing it is that we are even here, something that comes upon us from time to time.  It helps to reconfirm our decision to come out here.  There were only a few other couples in the room with us so it was pretty comfortable stretching out on the couch and pillows.  Our table area was designed for a group and since it was only us two so we had plenty of space to relax.  

At the end of the night we negotiated our way back to the hotel room and were sleep within a few minutes of hitting the bed.  The next morning we took advantage of the breakfast that was included in the package (I had already been up struggling to get Wi-Fi so I could watch my Miami Heat win a championship in a game 7, and she eventually conceded to the disruption of me coming in and out of the room).  After breakfast Natova got some time by the pool to write out some ideas and relax, and then it was time to check out. 

Overall, even though it was only a one night stay it was very memorable. 

I can’t say I fell in love with Al Ain, but we may end up at that hotel again for another long weekend.