I’ve heard of Dubai, but where the heck is Al Ain?

Before I was offered a job in Al Ain, my wife had visited Dubai and I had read a lot about the many five-star hotels, the duty-free zone, the gold market, the hectic construction and development programs and many programs. cutting edge high cost of capital that are being implemented. in Dubai. I heard very little about the UAE capital Abu Dhabi and absolutely nothing about Al Ain, which is less than 200km from Dubai … the UAE, if not the world’s best kept secret.

When I was first offered a contract to teach at the Al Ain Women’s College Faculty of Business, I looked at a map of the United Arab Emirates and was surprised that Al Ain was close to the Omani border and appeared very far from Dubai. Thinking in Australian terms, I immediately thought I was at least a thousand kilometers from Dubai … a desert town with dirt roads, few shops, and nothing to do after hours. It didn’t seem very attractive at first, but when I realized how small the UAE is compared to Australia and typed “Al Ain, UAE” into Google, things started to fall into place.

Al Ain was less than 200 km from Dubai and was a modern city of 400,000 inhabitants. A little bigger than my hometown in Central Australia with a measly 25,000 people. The photographs I saw were of a clean, well-laid out city with wide streets, lots of greenery, and a pseudonym “Garden of the Gulf.” When I got here, I was surprised and pleased.

It was a charming city in which it was obvious that the municipality and the people had a great sense of civic pride. The many arterial roads are divided and well constructed with green cast iron fences that run along raised lawn medians. The Arabian-style architecture was very different from what he had experienced anywhere in Australia … palatial buildings with large windows, flat roofs, and huge, ornate fences. Building many of the fences would have cost more than my entire house in Alice Springs. Everywhere he looked, there were signs of great wealth.

Al Ain has 400 roundabouts, many of which are decorated with animals, an Arabic coffee pot, or a world atlas, to name a few. Therefore, we locals refer to a location as being close to a certain roundabout, for example the zoo roundabout or the camel roundabout. Street names tend to be long and confusing for us Westerners, so indirect language is easier.

Al Ain literally translates to “The Oasis” and the original oases can be seen nestled between parts of the city that are spread out over a vast, flat plain. With their overgrown date palms and open concrete waterways, they still produce dates as they have for thousands of years. Also, the souks or markets are open to the public. They are divided by product, for example, the camel souk, the vegetable souk, the animal souk, etc.

In the souks you can negotiate the best price for anything and usually get a much lower price. This is not possible in shopping malls, but it is sometimes possible within smaller businesses in the city.

There are two large malls in the Al Ain, Al Jimi and Al Ain malls and there are literally thousands of small stores spread across the city, generally grouped by product type. Interestingly, the word Saloon has been mistakenly adopted from the English Salon, which is why one sees signs for Saloons everywhere and initial thoughts are that there must be a lot of people drinking alcoholic beverages. Unfortunately, that is definitely not the case. But you can get your hair cut in any number of salons with varying results, especially if the employees don’t speak your native language.

As the United Arab Emirates is an Islamic country, there are limits on where and when you can buy or drink alcoholic beverages. Al Ain has three suburban hotels that serve alcohol and on top of the beautiful Jebel Hafit (Jebel mountain) that divides Oman and Al Ain, is the Mercure Inn that also serves alcohol. Other than that, sadly, you cannot enjoy a meal in any of the city center restaurants and have a glass of wine. Those with liquor licenses can purchase liquor in bulk at various “hole-in-the-wall” outlets.

If you are staying in Al Ain, it is much more relaxed and much cheaper than Dubai and there are buses that run frequently between the two cities and the cost of the trip is also ridiculously cheap. There are many places to see in Al Ain. Aside from the two oases, there is the Al Ain Museum with artifacts dating back thousands of years before the Islamic period, the Palace Museum, Green Mubazzareh (an expansive picnic area at the base of Jebel Hafit that is green and beautiful) , and it is always interesting to visit the industrial zone of Sanaiya. Sanaiya has a clear claim to fame of having 38,000 men and 365 women in its statistical district. But what’s most interesting are the thousands of small businesses that do anything anyone could want done, usually quickly and inexpensively. Most of the workforce is expatriate labor, predominantly Indians and Asians among the population. There are only around 2,500 Caucasian expats in Al Ain, most of the other Caucasians from the UAE living in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The UAE is a charming and progressive country even though it is mostly sand. The people are kind and friendly who welcome visitors with open arms and go out of their way to make one feel welcome. His version of Islam is tolerant of other religions and accommodates our need for pork and alcohol, even though they are alien to the culture.

If you’re visiting Dubai, do yourself a favor and hop on a bus to Al Ain. You could easily spend three or four lovely days here and it will add enormously to your experience of the Middle East and its people.

As our Arab friends say, “salam alaykom” (peace be upon you).

Copyright 2007 Robin Henry | Posted on March 8, 2007