Day 290: Abu Dhabi

Jan 18 - Our flight arrives after midnight in Abu Dhabi. No visa required here, just saunter on in, get stamped, and collect the bags. There are some high-pressure sales at the taxi stand, first quote is 150 Emirati dinar (AED), second is 100 dinar and sounds more realistic to me. The AED is on par with the Saudi riyal, so 1 dinar is $0.27 US. It is a long trip to downtown near the waterfront, even at this easy hour (1:00). Check in and collapse in bed at the TRYP by Wyndham Hotel.

When people think UAE, they normally think of Dubai or Abu Dhabi. In planning which city I wanted to visit, I asked a number of people who had been to both. Generally, people liked Dubai more, but I found that the reasons had more to do with entertainment than cultural or historical interest. In the end I decided that Dubai sounded too much like Disneyland. As far as cost, I never did attempt to compare them.

Up in the morning to take advantage of our included breakfast. It is a good spread, comparatively. We’ve seen enough of them that we have an informal rating scale. I would rate this one a 9.

I was told previously that it was nearly impossible to get around in Abu Dhabi without using taxis. The city itself is scaled like those of Saudi Arabia, with long blocks and huge distances between districts. I decide we will put this to the test and try the local bus system. We are directed to a machine that is supposed to spit out tickets that can be loaded with fare charge, but it only has a seven-day inclusive ticket for 40 AED (about $11). We buy two (Odette is free) and are off to the southwest corner of the city, a series of two artificial peninsulas jutting out into the Persian Gulf. Predictably, the buses are full of guest workers, and the occasional budget tourist. In fact, in walking around town, I see relatively few people in Gulf Arab dress. The vast majority are obviously South Asian or Filipino.

First stop is the Qasr Al-Watan (Palace of the Nation). This enormous royal palace, completed in 2017, was intended to serve as an official meeting place for the leadership of the UAE with foreign heads of state and other VIPs. After two years it was converted into a tourist attraction and is no longer used for government purposes.

Before getting into the specifics of Qasr Al-Watan, it makes sense to first explain what is the UAE is and how it came about.

The United Arab Emirates, as the name says, is a union of emirates. ‘Emirates’ can be read as ‘kingdom’, but using a term specific to the Muslim world. This particular union of kingdoms occurred in 1971 between Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Sharjah, and Fujairah, with Ras Al-Khaimah joining in 1972. All of these occupy a peninsula in the northeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

The history of these emirates goes back centuries, and each is based on loyalty to a particular Bedouin tribe, either on the mainland or on groups of islands. Their original occupations were fishing, pearling, and trading. Occasionally, they also partook in piracy, and in the 1800’s this began to affect the British (who were using the Persian Gulf as a trade route from Mesopotamia to the Indian Ocean). The British therefore invaded the various tribal areas and forced them into an agreement by which the tribes could do what they wanted EXCEPT piracy. In return the British would assure protection from foreign entities. This ended the matter, and from here, though there was some intriguing and low-level conflict between the emirates, there was generally peace in the Gulf.

In 1961, the British announced they were leaving, and hence, the protection was ending. Coincidentally, oil had just been discovered (in 1958) near Abu Dhabi. The various emirates, now on their own, were rightly concerned that their lack of military force and oil wealth potential might make them attractive pickings for adversaries (including each other). Hence, the proposal was put forth for them to combine forces into a single country, with representation from each of the emirates in a combined governmental body. This union finally occurred in 1971. Meanwhile, oil continued to be discovered, such that soon the combined entity found itself in truly immense wealth.

To be complete, the emirates under British protection also included Qatar and Bahrain (Kuwait was a separate protectorate and already was independent in 1961). However, there was disagreement among the emirates because of the power of Qatar and Bahrain and the fear that too many big players would make smooth union impossible. Hence, Qatar and Bahrain went their separate ways, forming independent countries (like Kuwait had already done).

So, the emirates under our discussion coalesced with Abu Dhabi as the capital city. While in Abu Dhabi, one cannot escape the significance of Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, who ruled as emir from 1966 to 2004. He is like a Simon Bolivar of the UAE. He is credited as the main force behind the formation of the UAE, and after 1971 served as its main spokesman and leader until his death. Sagely quotes attributed to him abound at historical sites. There are several memorials to him around town, and the Qasr Al-Watan seems to be an encapsulation of his presence, even though we was dead long before its construction. In this palace, one learns about his leading philosophy, which was that whatever wealth was generated in the UAE must necessarily belong to all the people.

It takes one bus and about 40 minutes to arrive at the visitor’s center for Qasr Al-Watan. There, tickets for the three of us come to about $43. Buses pull up to the visitors center to shuttle everyone to the palace itself. The process is efficient, with attendants all along the way to get people to the right spot.

The interior of this palace is broken into sections.

From here we go past the Emirates Palace and out to the Marina Mall. I intended to go to the Heritage Village today, but they are already closed. Eat at the mall instead. The buses are a bit slow in town, so rather than heading back to the hotel first, we go straight to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It is the largest mosque in the UAE and was completed in 2007. It is best to see this one at night, and it takes until dark for us to get there.

Another long bus ride back from the mosque, we are in the hotel by 22:30.