Jebel Hafeet

Al Ain which is another city in the UAE is about a 2 hr drive from Abu Dhabi and our destination for Wednesday. Not an overly exciting drive, but as you get close to Al Ain you're traveling by some large red sand dunes which were pretty cool looking. Al Ain has a few "attractions". One is their Wildlife Park which houses a white tiger another is a number of old fortresses and the biggest attraction is Jebel Hafeet, a "mountain" which rises 1260 meters off the desert floor. So close to 4000 feet.

Now this really wasn't big compared to what Kathleen sees out her window in Longmont, CO, but it would have to do. The ride up was typical with switchbacks, paved roads and lots of other tourists. Jebel Hafeet also borders Oman.

I got a nice panoramic shot too. One thing we did see on our little trip were alot and I mean alot, of the male workers from places like, Thailand, Singapore, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries in Asia who come here to provide the labor force. You might see some of them in our pictures.

So we drove up as far as we could to a huge parking lot and then hiked the rest of the way to the top. I want to point out that often in these pictures I share I'm wearing a long sleeve blue shirt. I actually have two of them, but I also wear them to protect my arms from the sun, just the safe thing to do when I know I'm going to be in the sun for extended periods of time.

Kathleen is on the left, I'm on the right, oh wait a minute that's a guy who had a little too much to drink at the Rugby 7's.

After the hike to the top we headed back down and stopped at the Mercure Hotel for lunch. The hotel sits on the side of the mountain and offers its own fantastic views of the area including a strange ride pictured here.

We did try to stop at the Zoo on the way back to Abu Dhabi, but it was simply not possible to get in. A strange sight to see is hords of single men waiting to get into a zoo. Kathleen and I stood and watched the chaos for about 45 minutes before we left. If you go to a zoo in the US you'll see families, maybe just a Mom or Dad with their kids, but I can't imagine the circumstances where you'd see a bunch of single men going to a zoo together. It's not anything that ever crossed my mind to ask my friends to do with me on a weekend or holiday.

QOB: "It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it." Comedian Steven Wright

A side note is that Steven Wright is from my hometown of Burlington, MA. He was 2 or 3 yrs ahead of me in school and I worked with him one summer on the paint crew for the Burlington School Department. It was considered one of the best paying jobs in town at $2.83/hr. He was a very funny guy then and also a pretty good artist.

Stay Warm

Wayne