Hello friends! As promised, here are some pictures from our Hari Raya / National Day / Stephanie's birthday vacation to Abu Dhabi! (Side note - Brian didn't send me pictures, so these are a few that I took on my iPhone.)
We flew out late on Wednesday night after work. The flight over is about 6.5 hours, and there is a four hour time difference, so we landed around midnight in the Middle East. It was 95 degrees in the middle of the night. It is hot in the desert!
We got to stay at the Hilton Abu Dhabi on Stephanie's points which was definitely a bonus! But.. I have to admit, that I was a little bit afraid because it is obviously a place where there are a lot of Westerners, and the "chatter" was saying that all Westerners could be targets! (Also, if you've seen Argo and you recall the scene at the Marriott... well, I just kept thinking about that.)
We spent some time just driving through the sand dunes. It's really hard to explain, but it was crazy! Definitely unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I feel like, in television commercials, you always see some random SUV cruising over a hill of sand - like, it just rolls up to the top and parks. So maybe that's what I thought we would do? But in reality, it was anything but that! We drove up and down, swerving, spinning, and sliding across the dunes. Our car was actually the lead car, which made me think that we had the best driver of the bunch :)
Totally crazy, but totally awesome! It felt like being in a roller coaster, but you were on sand the whole time. In the picture above, you can kind of see one of the other cars sliding down the side of a dune. I was happy to have seat belts and a roll cage!!
After a while in the dunes, we stopped at a camel farm for some pictures and some smells.
Then we headed off to a play area where we could ride camels, go on four-wheelers, and try sand boarding. I rode a camel, somewhat successfully, and tried to sand board, totally unsuccessfully!
Then it was time for dinner!! There was an enclosed area with areas for eating, sampling Arabic coffee and dates (a traditional snack), hookah, henna, and trying on traditional Arabic costumes.
Dinner was a delicious feast of kebabs, hummus, the best salad, rice, lentils, and some sort of traditional dessert that tasted like oatmeal? Anyway - it was awesome.
We spent all day Friday at the pool to celebrate Stephanie and Mike (who had just arrived) turning another year older!!
By the end of the day, we had basically made friends with everyone at the pool. It was great haha. The tab was not so great.
We ate dinner at a restaurant in the hotel called Hemingway's that served Mexican food (confusing?), and then we received yet another birthday cake for Mike and Stephanie! Woohoo!
Saturday, we went out on a boat into the Persian Gulf and got to do some swimming and some stand up paddleboarding!! It was a super fun day, but I have zero pictures of it! Oh, but it was super hot, even in the water. Warmer than bathwater in fact! I think Mike said it best.. "the breeze is like a blowdryer.. it's just hot air". Classic!
That night, we went to dinner at the Emirates Palace hotel, which was incredibly beautiful and fancy. We had a great meal of Lebanese food, and then wandered around the hotel property snapping photos.
We left the hotel early on Sunday morning and then had the worst flight ever. A long delay, 7.5 hours of screaming children, a poor movie selection, a slow flight attendant crew, and tons of turbulence. Not great. Then, because our flight had been so delayed, we ended up landing in Singapore at the worst time (the middle of the night) and had to wait forever to get taxis home. Sigh.
We flew out late on Wednesday night after work. The flight over is about 6.5 hours, and there is a four hour time difference, so we landed around midnight in the Middle East. It was 95 degrees in the middle of the night. It is hot in the desert!
We got to stay at the Hilton Abu Dhabi on Stephanie's points which was definitely a bonus! But.. I have to admit, that I was a little bit afraid because it is obviously a place where there are a lot of Westerners, and the "chatter" was saying that all Westerners could be targets! (Also, if you've seen Argo and you recall the scene at the Marriott... well, I just kept thinking about that.)
View of the Persian Gulf from the hotel
Anyway, the hotel was lovely, and Stephanie's diamond status and birthday status got us lots of perks! Free upgrade! Executive lounge! Celebratory champagne! Birthday cake every day!
Obviously the pool is a big factor in any hotel in the desert
Baskin Robbins stand at the pool! Stay cool!
Beachfront on the Persian Gulf
Thursday, we spent the morning at the pool, and then we headed out for a desert safari in the late afternoon. I wasn't really sure what to expect on a desert safari, and to be honest, I can't even articulate what I did expect, but what we experienced was not what I thought it would be!! Oh by the way - it was 120 degrees. So freaking hot in the desert.
We were picked up in a Land Cruiser and drove out to the desert, where we met up with a few other Land Cruisers that were part of the same tour company. From there, we let some air out of all of our tires, and caravan-ed into the sand.
We spent some time just driving through the sand dunes. It's really hard to explain, but it was crazy! Definitely unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I feel like, in television commercials, you always see some random SUV cruising over a hill of sand - like, it just rolls up to the top and parks. So maybe that's what I thought we would do? But in reality, it was anything but that! We drove up and down, swerving, spinning, and sliding across the dunes. Our car was actually the lead car, which made me think that we had the best driver of the bunch :)
Totally crazy, but totally awesome! It felt like being in a roller coaster, but you were on sand the whole time. In the picture above, you can kind of see one of the other cars sliding down the side of a dune. I was happy to have seat belts and a roll cage!!
So what did you see on the safari? Sand. Lots of sand.
Party people!
After a while in the dunes, we stopped at a camel farm for some pictures and some smells.
Then we headed off to a play area where we could ride camels, go on four-wheelers, and try sand boarding. I rode a camel, somewhat successfully, and tried to sand board, totally unsuccessfully!
Then it was time for dinner!! There was an enclosed area with areas for eating, sampling Arabic coffee and dates (a traditional snack), hookah, henna, and trying on traditional Arabic costumes.
One of the tour guys actually said to us.. "Pretend like you are his two wives!" Hahaha.
Dinner was a delicious feast of kebabs, hummus, the best salad, rice, lentils, and some sort of traditional dessert that tasted like oatmeal? Anyway - it was awesome.
This belly dancer was the after-dinner entertainment.
We spent all day Friday at the pool to celebrate Stephanie and Mike (who had just arrived) turning another year older!!
By the end of the day, we had basically made friends with everyone at the pool. It was great haha. The tab was not so great.
We ate dinner at a restaurant in the hotel called Hemingway's that served Mexican food (confusing?), and then we received yet another birthday cake for Mike and Stephanie! Woohoo!
Saturday, we went out on a boat into the Persian Gulf and got to do some swimming and some stand up paddleboarding!! It was a super fun day, but I have zero pictures of it! Oh, but it was super hot, even in the water. Warmer than bathwater in fact! I think Mike said it best.. "the breeze is like a blowdryer.. it's just hot air". Classic!
That night, we went to dinner at the Emirates Palace hotel, which was incredibly beautiful and fancy. We had a great meal of Lebanese food, and then wandered around the hotel property snapping photos.
I love interesting ceilings
An ATM that dispenses gold. UAE is obviously incredibly rich.
Fountains
City scape
Front of Emirates Palace
But all in all - a great vacation!! I wish that we had been able to see some more of the cultural stuff, but better safe than sorry!
These next couple of weeks at work should be fairly rough, so I'm not looking forward to that, but I am definitely looking forward to being in town and catching up on some rest!! Four weeks til I am in the US!
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