A Short Family Trip to Al Ain

Welcome back.

After a long hiatus, here I am back with my travelogues again.

I often wonder why do people travel, what makes them travel to different places. Some like traveling with their families, some with their friends while some simply like to take off on their own. Is it the same reason for all, is it the same thing that drives the younger generation and the older ones alike? Surely not I believe. 

Every individual has a different reason for traveling: for relaxation, for a change, for adventure, learn about a new culture or taste new food. Whatever the reason maybe traveling for sure is a great change. At least for me. I am happy even if I go for a small outing. Now, I say that to console myself, for deep in my heart I have this urge to travel more and see the world, to learn and discover, explore and just have fun.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

It was September and Eid Al Adha holidays had arrived and traveling was on the cards for sure. It was going to be a four days holiday period including the weekend. My husband was awaiting these holidays to relax at home. While, I was waiting to explore some new place. However, he had no plans whatsoever to take up an international trip. Knowing this, my daughter and I insisted we take a short road trip at least. Finally, we got a little reluctant nod. So while our friends and neighbors had planned and booked their trip in advance, here we were planning on the eve of Eid Holidays for places to visit near Dubai. 

Before I proceed, a little introduction to UAE is required here.
UAE is made up of seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. Each of these emirates has lots to offer in terms of sightseeing, shopping, leisure, adventures and more. We zeroed down to Al Ain.

The city of Al Ain  located in Abu Dhabi emirates, shares its borders with Oman, and is spread over an area of about 13,100 sq km. Al Ain is also known as the garden city due to its greenery and this was one reason we chose Al Ain over the other destinations. It is around 150 kms from Dubai by road and one of the closest too as compared to other locations. So if we could make an early start in the morning, we could return back home in Dubai by late evening atleast. 

Dubai to Al Ain route
Source: Google Maps

We marked the tourist destinations of our interest on the map and chalked out the route. Also we decided not to hop on and off like the tourists in the tourist bus from one destination to another, have a small glimpse and then hurry off to the next destination. That somehow leaves me very unsatisfied as we don't get to see and explore the place fully. We will move at our own pace, relax and then move ahead. Also, we weren't sure if all the locations would be open for public since we had planned our trip on the first day of the Eid holidays. But then we decided to take a chance. So that was our plan roughly.

Next morning, we gathered our traveling paraphernalia and started with our road trip. It was a bright sunny morning. My daughter was very happy and excited for the first 30 minutes of the trip, and then I had to engage her with stories, then some food and then stories again.... In short, I was kept occupied by my daughter on the entire road. The route from Dubai to Al Ain is not very complicated. We followed the Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed road and continued to E66 (Dubai-Al Ain road) till we reached Al Ain.

There is not much difference in the landscape as we proceed from Dubai to Al Ain. The only noticeable difference is the white sand dunes of Dubai which change gradually to a reddish hue in Al Ain.  On reaching the Hili district of Al Ain, we were nearing our first stop. Our first stop was the Hili Archaeological Park which lies on the highway itself. We passed two roundabouts and then reached our park.

Two roundabouts we crossed before the Hili Archaeological Park

The park is internationally renowned for its archaeological excavations which were conducted in the 1960s. It has a relaxed garden environment with benches, slides and swings for children. I liked the concept of the park that combines historical studies with a relaxed environment. So, while your kids are occupied with the swings and slides you can stroll around and explore the history of Al Ain. And for those who are not interested in the history, they can just relax in the green environs. 

Left Inset: Hili Archaeological Park entrance
Right top and Right bottom insets: Closeup of the entrance structure

Inset 1: The water fountain 
Inset 2: The Mosque inside the park
Inset 3: Sitting area covered with wooden trellis

Top Left: Hili Settlement
Top Right: Hili Grand Tomb
Bottom: Tombs - E and N

While my daughter enjoyed the slides and the swings in the park, I walked around to see the archaeological excavations. Hili is the largest Bronze age site in the UAE and dates from the 3rd millennium B.C. Here's in brief about the exhibits in the park:

• Hili Settlement was inhabited by a community which believed in life after death. This is indicated by the no. of stone monuments they built for their dead and buried along with personal possessions like pottery, stone vessels and copper implements. 
• The inhabitants in that era lived in buildings constructed of sun-dried mud bricks.
• The tombs are circular in shape made from carefully cut stones. The tomb shown in the top right inset has been rebuilt and is the largest in UAE in terms of the stones used. Observing minutely we also found some rock carvings on the tomb exteriors.

The park was deserted except for a few tourists here and there. We moved ahead after exploring all the exhibits there. Also, the weather was still hot and a leisurely walk in this heat was not a good idea. After all, it was September only and the heat was still on.

As we proceeded towards our next destination, we reached the town centre of Al Ain. The next tourist spots that we had marked on our map were all nearby within 5 to 10 kms distance of each other. Unlike Dubai, which has its skyline dotted with skyscrapers, we found low-rise commercial and residential establishments in Al Ain. 

Next on our list was Al Ain Oasis but it was already 12:00 in the noon, and we weren't ready for another walk in the sun. We decided to explore the Museums. Unfortunately, it was the first day of Eid and all the Museums and forts were closed. So we were not left with many options. The guard at the gate of the Al Ain Oasis advised us to visit the oasis around 4:00 in the afternoon since it would pleasant by then with the sun lowering down.

Al Jahili Fort - viewed from the main road as we proceeded towards the Palace Museum

Sheikh Zayed Palace Museum, Al Ain

It was not lunch time yet and we had stuffed ourselves with snacks on our way, so we decided to explore the Al Ain Mall. Al Ain Mall like the other Malls in the emirates is a premier shopping and leisure destination. The food court on the 2nd level has it all: Fast food, tea, roastery and so on. After a walk in the sun at the Hili Archaeological Park, the Mall was a cool reprieve. We headed to the Royal Mughal restaurant which was the only Indian restaurant we discovered. I was impressed by the menu card. It was a pretty booklet with details of the menu interspersed with highlights on the Mughal food and culture. We had a sumptuous meal comprising of dum pukt Biryanis, followed by refreshing cucumber raita.

The Royal Mughal Restaurant at Al Ain Mall

Thereafter, we explored the mall a bit more. My daughter was happy to discover an Ice-rink and her buddy Olaf (from the movie Frozen), and hidden behind the skating rink were life like mannequins of Snowhite with her seven dwarfs. The mall interiors were quite impressive; perhaps will post pictures of it in my later posts.

We waited for the sun to go down a bit for our next destination was Al Ain Oasis. The gateway to the Al Ain Oasis is visible from the main road itself. Spread over 3000 acres, the farm has internal roads shaded with rows and rows of palm plantations. The palm trees were laden with ripe dates ready to be plucked. We also spotted some lime trees and banana plantations. The farm area is divided into many grids and irrigation is done using the traditional 'Al Falaj' irrigation system. Tourists from all over the country as well as from abroad seemed to have flocked here by this time. The Oasis provided a shady respite in contrast to the Hili Archaeological park. Also, since we had waited for the sun to recede, it was cooler here in the Oasis. 

Al Ain Oasis

After exploring the Oasis for an hour or so, we decided to head back to Dubai. There were lots of other places to be explored but then maybe during some other holidays. For now, we had enough of walk in the sun. Such trips, where long walks are mandatory, must be planned sometime in the months of winter. The heat somehow saps and drains your energy. 

Am getting a little lyrical here and quoting from the lyrics of 'Walk in the Sun' written and sung by Danny Jones:
Such a long, long way to go
And where I'm going I don't know
I'm just following the road
For a walk in the sun
For a walk in the sun....

To listen to the original song you can click on the link here. I loved the song..hope you guys out there enjoy it too.

At the end of the day, we were glad to have made it home safe and on time, to just jump on to our bed. Nothing could be more cozy or comforting than your pillow and bed at this time. This made me realize that one of the reason why people travel is perhaps to discern and acknowledge the importance of home!

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old familiar pillow" Lin Yutang