In addition to that, we managed to (yet again) land in the Middle East smack bang in the middle of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar in which strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset. It is expected that non-Muslims do not eat or drink in public areas during the time of fasting as this may be offensive to those abstaining and so after leaving our hotel Antony and I endured FOUR whole hours without food and drink.....(the longest four hours e.v.e.r.!!) Partly to see if we could do it, partly because every coffee shop and restaurant was closed :) Man oh man, it was hard in that heat! Not so much going without food, although I am a firm believer in little and often (did I say little, I meant lots!!), but not drinking was a killer!
I now have massive respect for people who fast in any region, but especially out here in these temperatures. It really is a huge sacrifice, but they do it and don't complain. To them it is a time of spiritual worship and reflection.
So due to a combination of fasting and the overwhelming heat, sadly we didn't achieve very much during our stay. We did attempt to visit the Grand Mosque, not the largest as initially I thought, but the third largest in the World and it was very impressive and very beautiful. Unfortunately we were not able to enter the mosque as visiting hours were over for the day, but we did get a few nice pics:
After the Mosque we visited the Marina Shopping Mall and yes....Ant made a beeline to the Man City Store, which after travelling several thousand miles to see it, was closed and about the size of a toilet anyway. Ha!
The trip to the mall wasn't a complete waste as the views of the Abu Dhabi skyline, were quite something.
The architecture out here is crazy! The more modern skyscrapers are either completely curved or top heavy and just look like they could topple over with a help of a brisk breeze. They are without a doubt an absolute architectural triumph.
It never cools down out here, so after 'Iftar', the breaking of the fast when the sun goes down, with four hours to kill before we could check-in at the airport, we (ashamedly) went to the cinema, just to avoid the heat really - There was no way we could walk around the city even at this time without passing out and melting into a puddle, and as Abu Dhabi is a 'dry' city (or Emirate) we couldn't sit in a bar to pass the time. So with nowhere to go and a lot of time on our hands we watched a very mediocre film in a lovely, cool, air conditioned cinema.
Eventually the time came to leave and we met up with Gaz and Claire for the first part of the adventure!
To Kuala Lumpur!
Location:Abu Dhabi
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