After finishing the repairs at the Mercedes garage, we drove in the direction of Abu Dhabi, but it was getting late, and we were looking for a place for the night.
Gabor, a German expat, saw us and recommended Al Qudra, an area of artificial lakes, which is very popular with the locals for camping. We spent the night at the shore of one of the lakes and Gabor and his girlfriend visited us.
Even as camping is not allowed there, the area was dotted with tents, camp fires and loud music, but we also saw desert gazelles and many birds, many of them not native like the Black Swan, an import from Australia. In the morning, big groups of flamingos approached and landed at flamingo lake. How do they know?
Our aircon had finally given up completely and Gabor helped us find a place to fix it, even during the holidays. Finally, we were cool again and made our way to Abu Dhabi, just the weather didn’t cooperate.
It was Eid, the celebration of the end of Ramadan, and when we parked at the big mosque, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the parking was full, but we found an empty corner far away for the night. We were woken before six am, when cars streamed in and filled the parking to the last corner, everybody heading to the prayers.
We booked a visit for 10am, when the believers were already replaced by numerous tourists. The visit is free and well orchestrated, you just need the time slot to get in.
From our parking we had to cross a bridge over the highway, walk around to the entrance and find the entrance to the visitor centre, which is under a glass dome. We enjoyed the cool air underground, until we resurfaced next to the mosque.
From the outside, it was the prettiest mosque we had seen so far, like from 1001 nights, with its many egg shaped domes and golden tips. The inside was decorated with many ornaments, and especially the chandeliers were over the top for our taste. We always compared it with the mosque in Muscat, which we found more elegant in the interior, but not as nice as this one from the exterior.
On the way inland, we decided on a stop at a fun place for us – more soon!
wie im Bilderbuch!