Abu Dhabi Day

Our time in UAE is almost over. Monday we arose bright and early for an all day excursion to Abu Dhabi. Located 100 kilometers away from Dubai, it took about 2 hours to get there by bus. We traveled on a well maintained multi-lane highway all the way, often times with some construction. Our guide, Tony kept us well informed along the way with interesting facts about Abu Dhabi and the UAE as well as history about the Sheik Zayed Mosque we would be visiting.



The building of the mosque began in 1996 and even though construction is completed, they are still working on the landscaping. Some statistics about the mosque that I learned were: there are 80 domes, 1097 pillars in total, wit 97 of those pillars directly inside the main prayer room. These 97 pillars were made of marble and inlaid with mother of pearl. All of the marble used in the mosque was imported from Macedonia. The main dome of the mosque measures 35 meters in diameter on the outside. The turrets around the mosque are each 107 meters tall. The walls of the outer room are marble with beautiful inlaid mosaic floral design. Inside the main prayer room a handwoven Persian rug spreads from one end of the room to the other and is the largest handwoven Persian rug in the world. The large Swarovski crystal chandelier hanging in the center of the prayer room is reportedly the largest of its kind. There are two other smaller Swarovski chandeliers in the side rooms as well. The 99 names for Allah are calligraphed on a Kibbah wall inside the mosque. The Kibbah wall points in the direction of Mecca. In our hotel room there is an arrow on the ceiling which also points in the direction of Mecca. Sheik Zayed Mosque is the largest machine made mosque built is comparison to the Taj Mahal which was man-made. The mosque was built at a cost of 3.6 billion US dollars.

Quite a sight to see! The rest of the day we spent driving past Presidential palaces, and the Emirates Palace Hotel. The Emirates Palace is a 7 star hotel and a lot of the rich and famous put in frequent visits to this hotel. Abu Dhabi was a fascinating city, even larger than Dubai, and with even more construction cranes than Dubai. We made a quick stop at a date market as well where we made some purchases.

Later that evening was our OSSN farewell dinner, which we followed up with a walk to the Old Souk. This was a very authentic feeling souk and we got some unbelievable deals. The little pathways we took back to the hotel were crowded with people, adults and children even at the late hour of 10PM. The shops were still open and the area seemed more alive than during the day. One thing for sure... we have felt TOTALLY safe walking around Dubai. With a 1.5% crime rate who wouldn't feel safe. This has been a wonderful experience and we are so glad that we had the opportunity to make this trip. Tomorrow we pack up and head home, but not before going to visit the Palm Jumeirah island and take a tour through the Atlantis Hotel.

Stayed tuned for our next adventure....