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Walking Around Abu Dhabi... for 31 Miles? I worked late every night that week at Otak's office in Abu Dhabi, often until 10 p.m., then usually got dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant and went back to my hotel. The work week in Muslim countries, by the way, is Sunday through Thursday with the weekend being on Friday and Saturday. Friday is prayer day and entire families often go to the mosque to pray – separately, with men in one part of the mosque and women in the other – while Saturday is more for relaxation, sports, and family trips. Then the work week begins again on Sunday morning. That seems strange to Americans, working in the office on a Sunday, but you get used to it.
At the end of our work week, on Thursday evening, the Otak staff was treated to a luxurious banquet dinner at the expansive (and expensive) Shangri-La Resort on the mainland, one of the most luxurious resorts in Abu Dhabi and one of the ritziest places I've ever seen. About 20 of us Portland and Abu Dhabi staff from Otak sat outside on the patio that evening, dressed up in our coats and ties, having dinner and enjoying a spectacular view of the lighted Grand Mosque with its massive white domes, on Abu Dhabi Island right across the waterway. The fancy banquet dinner with the boisterous group was fine, but I much preferred the solo meal I had eaten in Caye Caulker less than a week earlier, a cheap (but delicious) lobster in a simple restaurant that overlooked the Caribbean.
Speaking of the mosque, before the Grand Mosque was constructed they planned to make it the largest mosque in the world. This sort of thing is typical in Abu Dhabi where superlatives like "world's tallest," and "world's largest" are common phrases. Like Texas, another place rich in oil, everything is bigger in Abu Dhabi. But the religious leaders in Mecca, the center of Islam, objected and told them that no mosque should be larger than the one in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. The developers of the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi finally relented and scaled it back a bit, thus making it the second-largest mosque in the world. Meanwhile, a few hours north in the city of Dubai, the world's tallest building is currently being built. Like I say, everything is bigger here – and if it's not, they'll certainly try.
The banquet dinner was nice, like I say, but the best part of my week in Abu Dhabi occurred on the weekend, when I finally got to see the city up close and personal. Early on Friday morning, after the grand feast the previous night, I left my hotel room carrying my daypack, camera and GPS and walked around the city all day and well into the evening. I covered 15 miles on foot while taking over 500 pictures, trying to comprehend this jaw-dropping, melting-pot city of superlatives. I returned to my hotel room around 11 p.m. exhausted from my hike, but I got up early on Saturday morning and hiked another 16 miles around the city, going the other direction, while shooting 400 more pictures.
Several things struck me during my long journey around the city that weekend. First, despite walking 31 miles around Abu Dhabi, I didn't feel like I really saw it; it's simply that big. I didn't have enough time to visit entire sections of the city that I wanted to see. This city is enormous and is growing at a phenomenal rate.
But more than the city's size, what really struck me was the friendliness of the locals – not the Emiratis, mind you, but rather the foreigners. As I explained in my Around the World in Eight(y) Days update, where I described my first visit to Abu Dhabi last summer, 90% of the people in Abu Dhabi are foreigners imported from poorer countries to do mostly menial labor, while the native and mostly-affluent Emiratis enjoy perks like free education, free housing, a guaranteed job, and early retirement.
Although foreign workers (who are mostly from India, Pakistan, the Philippines and other developing nations) here generally make little income by U.A.E or Western standards, they earn a lot more than they would in their home countries and most of them are very grateful for their jobs. Still, this situation creates a social stratification that made me uncomfortable during my first visit to Abu Dhabi last summer and still does. By the way, another result of this influx of foreigners, who are mostly male, is that Abu Dhabi has one of the most unbalanced gender compositions of any city in the world. About 80% of the people in this vast city are male.
While I met several humble and gracious Emiratis during the week that I was in Abu Dhabi, I also encountered several arrogant Emiratis who flaunted their wealth and power. During the weekend as I walked on the streets, however, I was much more comfortable, mixing with the lower-income folks from the Middle East, India, and southeast Asia. They weren't used to seeing a Westerner with a camera walking through their neighborhoods taking pictures, and I got a lot of curious looks and smiles as they tried to figure out who I was and why I was there.
I met scores of friendly and warm people during my 31-mile hike and, to a person, they were courteous to me, even after I told them I was from America. I talked to one fellow who was about 30 years old and was working in a rug store. He told me in broken English that he was from Iran and asked me, "Where are you from?" I said "America." He replied, "Oh, I love America! I want go to America some day but I never will." I told him, "Maybe someday you will go to America." and he said, "No, but I want to. I love America!"
That conversation summed up the dozens of encounters I had with foreigners during my weekend hike around Abu Dhabi. I loved it.
Above left: Abu Dhabi is a bustling city of a half-million people. It's similar to Dubai, its crazy sister city a couple hours to the north, but is a bit more restrained and low-key. This is in the ritzier part of downtown. Above right: And this is in the poorer section. Quite a difference, huh? The difference in salary between high-income and low-income wage earners is greater in Abu Dhabi than perhaps anyplace in the world.
Above left: Old and new high-rises in downtown. Above center: Sheikh Khalifa and his sons, the rulers of Abu Dhabi. You see their images everywhere. Above right: A sea of shoes outside a mosque at prayer time. Muslims pray five times a day and no shoes are allowed in the mosques.
Above left: These friendly Indian painters motioned to me as I walked by, wanting to have their picture taken. O.K. dudes, you're famous! Above right: Abu Dhabi is a real melting pot and, because of the oil money, attracts people from all around the world, especially southeast Asia and poorer countries in the Middle East. There aren't too many Westerners, though. In fact, these were some of the only Caucasians I saw during my 31-mile hike around the city.
Above left: Al Hosn Fort, which dates back to 1761, is one of the only historic buildings left in Abu Dhabi. Almost all the others have been torn down. Above right: About 90% of the people in Abu Dhabi are foreigners, including many low-wage laborers from countries like India and Pakistan. They earn very little by Western standards but much more than they could in their home countries. The treatment of laborers is an on-going political issue in the U.A.E.
Above left: A Turkish chef saw me taking pictures and eagerly spoke to me in broken English. As I walked away, he gestured to me, then he handed me some fried lamb dumplings. What a generous gift. Above right: After walking for 10 miles on Friday night, I was pretty beat, so I found a hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant and ordered chicken tikka masala. It was very spicy but delicious, and one of the best meals I've had in a long time.
Above left: Apparently $3 t-shirts are as common in Abu Dhabi as they are in Key West. Above center: Another sea of shoes, this one in a shoe store. Above left: Every foreigner I met in Abu Dhabi was incredibly friendly, even after I told them I was an American. Many insisted on having their picture taken, like these two gents on the corniche.
Above left: Meandering back to the hotel late at night with my camera, I encountered these friendly guys unloading rugs. Everyone smile! Above right: C'mon, smile Del. I returned to my hotel around 11 p.m. and was pretty wiped out, not just from walking 16 miles but from my various Belize ailments. But I had a great time seeing the city.
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