Abu Dhabi

We arrived in Abu Dhabi at 5.40am and were instantly sweaty messes when we stepped out of the airport into 26 degree heat. I must add though, it is the most relaxed and clean airport to come through, welcoming and super quick. 

Now here comes the biggest thankyou to Sophies uncle, Wayne, who had organized for us to be collected from the airport and dropped at the hotel, Al Maha Arjaan by Rotana, he had also organised! We were even bumped up to a larger suite! We’ve been dealing with the bellboys mostly and they are incredibly helpful especially Solomon, so friendly and helpful!! We didn’t realise until we went on an excursion for food that the shops don’t open until 10am…. 

It’s pretty hot here; reaching the late thirties while wearing dark clothing and jeans is pretty sweaty work. During the day it is too hot to be outside so you have to dive into your taxi from the hotel and get dropped out right outside the shops entrance.  We were there as it was cooling down but a few months ago it was ranging in temperature from 45 to 55 degrees.

We visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque for 11am tour. (It took us a while to become human again!) It is breathtakingly beautiful. The 22,412 square metre Mosque site is equivalent to around the size of five football fields, and can accommodate 40,960 worshippers. The main prayer hall features the world’s largest chandelier under the main dome, being 10 metres in diameter, 15 metres in height and weighing over nine tonnes. The Mosque’s seven gold-coloured chandeliers, from Germany, feature thousands of Swarovski crystals from Austria and some glasswork from Italy, and cost about US$8.2 million.

The main prayer hall can fit in around 7,126 worshippers and also features the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet. Consisting of 2,268,000 knots, the Mosque’s carpet is estimated to be valued at US$8.2 million. All women are given black abayas (long sleeved dress) and a (shumagg) Arab Headdress to cover hair; males are given a dishdasha, an ankle-length, collarless white gown, if they’re wearing shorts. 

You’re not allowed to wear shoes inside the Mosque and the carpet is in the best condition. Actually we have to add, Abu Dhabi is the cleanest place ever. There are people cleaning everything, everywhere. The streets are spotless! No gum, cigarette butts, nothing. The cracks between the huge marble slabs at the Mosque are spotless too. 

After the Mosque we taxied to the Abu Dhabi Mall. By this time food and airconditioning were the only things on our minds.  There aren’t many good authentic restaurants around (even people that have lived there for years didn’t know of any), so we resorted to some Greek and Indian takeaways, which were actually really good.  KFC is everywhere but the menu is a bit different, you can get a prawn meal and the twisters are only 6 durham which is about $2.40NZ. Taxis here are super cheap! It’s the best way to get around. When they’re waiting at traffic lights or in cues the meter goes into ‘waiting’ mode so it only charges 50cents after 5mins of waiting. It’s really great! Also it costs about $10 NZ to fill up their new rides! CRAZY talk. The mall was very clean. We ate lots of hot food, ice creams smoothies, wandered around a bit then back to the hotel for a rest. Simon slept forever (15-16 hours) and Sophie went swimming in the rooftop-heated pool, drank tea and managed to stay awake until 7.30.