Continued from Sharjah Al Ain Abu Dhabi
10-Nov-15 Tuesday 14:30 pm
When I planned my UAE tour, I studied the map and found a spot at the far end of the country near Saudi Arabia Border. Million of people go to UAE but rarely do they travel far afield to discover the layered and vibrant culture. When I posted my program on the Face Book, I got many invitations to “Be my Guest” but one surprised me: “I live 150 km from Abu Dhabi in the town called Madinat Zayed. Your qiyam o taa'am ka bandobast meri taraf,” Not only, the place was on my planned route, it came with a “package” which was a windfall amidst back-breaking costs in UAE. I had never met the sender but it was too good to ignore.
So on 10-Nov-15, I came out of the hotel in Abu Dhabi with bag and baggage and flagged-down a taxi to get to Bus Station. I boarded a van for Madinat Zayed, about 150 km away. The drive was straight. The road multi-lane but almost empty. I was behind the driver. Occasionally, I shuddered with the thought that the driver might fall asleep at the wheel from the relentlessly unchanging countryside. Being behind the driver, I could not see the speedo-meter but felt the van moving very fast. I wondered whether there were any speed cameras which trigger whenever vehicles go beyond a specified speed – 140 kph on the motorways.
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| Empty Road in slack season |
The van passed through the edge of Arabian Sahara known as “Rab Al Khali” which is also known as ‘Empty Quarters’. A British explorer, Wilfred Thesiger, narrated his observations as follows.
The sand is soft, fine, multicolored hues of khaki and orange, and it rolls in windswept hills hundreds of feet high as far as the eye can see, unbroken by tree or shrub or the rarest of clouds. Driving off-road into its vastness is to experience that penetrating silence, whether it’s for an hour or a night. The night sky erupts with stars, sparkling and falling, the Milky Way like a thick swirl of tapioca, and time evaporates.
In about two and a half hour, I reached Madinat Zayed and rang Tanveer Azmi. In about five minutes he came to receive me. We met for the first time. Before we were just Face Book friends and that too since August 2015. I was led to his house, introduced to the family and accommodated in a spacious and well-decorated room. In the evening Mrs. Tanveer prepared a delicious meal and that was a relief after eating so much of spicy and oily foods in the restaurants.
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| Villa Home of the Host |
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| My host, Tanveer Azmi with kids |
At night, Mr. Tanveer took me to his friend, Mubarak Salem Almazroeui. Since it was without intimation, I was a little skeptical. Lo and behold, there was a big dastarkhan (tablecloth) laden with fresh fruit, dry fruit, puddings, juices and omnipresent Arabic kahwa pot with glasses. It was a ‘majlis’ or a drawing room of an Emirati Family. Whereas our drawing room have only decorative pieces, “majlis” hems with activities. Guests come and go as they please. There are precious carpets with cushions by the walls. The host takes pride in making his visitors as comfortable as possible. While I enjoyed fresh fruits, Mr. Tanveer discussed for a safari to desert camp of the host.
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| Arabic Kahwa with a style - photo credit- Google Image |
We left after about an hour. Before getting into the car, I looked down the street. It had rows of villas on both sides. Each had a distinctive place, visible from the street. Either it was a tent or a separate hall or a conspicuous drawing room. All these were ‘majlis’. Just out of curiosity, I pointed out to one, four houses down the lane, and asked, “Can we go there?” “Why not?” responded Tanveer and dragged me there. We were welcomed by the host with words like “Ahlan wa Sahlan”, “MarHaban”, “Kayf haalak”, “Ya Tanveer”, “Ya siddiqi”. (Thank God. He did not say, “Ya Maskeen” (which certainly one of us was). Though our bellies were full, we had to swallow more than we could chew.
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| Majlis |
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| Another Majlis - Young camel roasted. its yellow skin shining in light |
Next we visited a camel race track. Though there were no races, it was fun to watch training of camels. Gone are the day when a 6-year child was fastened to the camel’s hump. His shrieks and loud cries, terrified the camels which starts running fast. Now the kid-jokey have been replaced by robots. The owners drive along on a ring road to manoeuvre the remote control to make them run faster by whipping, shouting and frightening. At full throttle, their legs kick in different directions and they run at speed of 65 km/ hour.
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| Robot replaces Child Jokey on protest from ILO, UNO |
We had a light talk with a guard there. He hailed from Garruk, Kharan, Pakistan and remember well the day Pakistan conducted nuclear test near his town. He told us of the different breeds of camels like white "Anafi", black "Boushari" and golden “Dromedary”. Called "Ships of the Desert," they have an indisputable place of prominence in Arabic culture.
I saw a building in sand and was told that it was Tilal Liwa Hotel about 4 km further up (18 km from the town). On reaching there, I found it to be a luxurious and quiet retreat in the desert. It was nicely decorated giving an Arabian feel. It is quite spacious with swimming pool, bird cages, mud jars and tents at the edge. We just went straight to a tent and spread ourselves on the carpet. We just have to crane our necks to enjoy a spectacular view of the desert and change in its color as the sun seems moving. It would be awesome to watch the sunset but we were pressed for time. There I heard a new fast food item, Camel Burger. (I have lovely memories of Buffalo Sandwiches while traveling in Australia somewhere near Coober Pedy.)
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| At Tilal Liwas Hotel in desert |
We returned home, had a lunch at Almindi which serves North Indian dishes which are more or less the same as in our at restaurants back home.
At 4 pm, Salem came with his Nissan Path Finder. While I got the front seat, the back seats were occupied by Mr. Tanveer and three of his kids. The 4WD burred, got in gear and tore off. Salem knew the way well and entered the desert about 10 km away. Giant sand dunes surrounded us. Five minutes into the desert and we’re climbing huge dunes while camels strolled by. Occasionally, a cluster of palm trees came as a surprise.
We stopped by a portable cabin fitted with all amenities in a luxurious style. We met father of Salem who was very happy to see us. He entertained us with fruit juices, coffee and dates. While the kids played on sand, I enjoyed the desert sights and occasional sound.
I was told that the world famous dune, Moreeb, is not far. It has 300 m height and a slope of 50 degrees It attracts a large number of foreigners during the festival.
We returned by late night and gossiped with kids, Arham, Arshad, Zayna and Raya. I left next day in the morning for Ajman
