Sunday, October 7, 2007

Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” Psalm 50:15

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Al Ain

I thought it gonna be a short romantic trip for 2 of us, minus out all those wrong turn we took- Al Ain (The Spring) is 140km from Dubai. Sitting at the foot of the mountains and also the border lines of Oman, the historical city of Al Ain is known for its lush of Green in the heart of the Desert, green beautiful public parks and decorated Round About. Here are the most important agricultural centres & archaeological sites of the Emirates, where the UAE actually is planting and producing a lot of the Vegetables for the local market.
It’s belib that Al Ain has it inhabitants for almost 4000years largely because of it Oasis. There are numerous underground water springs in the area, which explain its attractiveness as an area for early civilization settlement.

It’s hard to believe that this is the birthplace of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the UAE. Not that it’s in dire state but it’s rather “Kampong” style makes you feel is some kind of forgotten town. But Al Ain do has a higher proportion of Emirati nationals than elsewhere, but however the majority of its residents are still expatriates from the Indian sub-continent.

The only “Tourist Destination” we manage to visit is Jabel Hafeet, 1340m height Mountain - this craggy mountain rising steeply from the surrounding desert. It can be accessed by excellent roads which wind its way right up to the summit, providing a scary but magnificent view. The strong wind and hot rays makes you feel being blown away.

The cute things about Al Ain are that they got this brown signboard with white wordings all along the road “TOURIST DESTINATION”. I think is an excellent ideas to show the way for tourist. Even blur bunny like me wont get lost in this well marked spot… but we did miss a FEW interesting spot I suppose:- Hot springs at the foot of Jebel Hafeet, The Forts/Al Ain Museum, Al Ain Zoo and Aquarium and Qattarah Oasis just to name a few :p