Abu Dhabi - Feb 02, 2013

Abu Dhabi (Father of Deer) is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates. It lies in the emirate with the same name of the largest of the seven member emirate. The city is called the richest city in the world due to its impressive architecture and the wealth displayed. It is a deeply Islamic city with over 400 mosques of which the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the most important. It features the worlds biggest carpet and biggest chandelier. Abu Dhabi has a multi-cultural society similar to Dubai and was established in 1760 when the Baniyas tribe found water on the island. People of the Arabian Peninsula have long looked at the rest of the world and wondered at the lack of respect for water. In the arid climate, it is the most precious resource and people are painfully aware that without it, there is no life. Oil has brought prosperity, but water is the only true treasure. Our day in Abu Dhabi was also enjoyed on the Big Bus company, hop on hop off experience, here there was one, two and half hour loop (there were two loops in Dubai) where we hopped off at the Emirates Hotel - a former palace and hopped off again the the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, beautiful and simply amazing. BTW - if you ever wondered what happened to our former fast cat ferries, they are here in the same port where we docked, all three of them are sitting here fading and rusting out - I only hope that they were stripped for some useful parts but it doesn’t really look like it. Some pictures of the day...