Getting to know Al Ain

I've been here just over two months, and am living through my second bout of head cold. It feels good to just stand in the sun to dry out. The weather is still warm, but very pleasant first thing in the morning. Mum and Dad called in for a weekend on their way to London, we took the opportunity to be tourists in Al Ain while they were here. We took them to Jebel Hafeet, the mountain we can see from the lounge room window. It is about 1200m, with a Mercure Hotel part way up. From the hotel you get fantastic views of the oasis (when it is clear, a lot of the time it is dusty because of the sand). We took them to the palace museum, which is a large compound/house where the sheik used to live, and is now preserved for all to wander through. We took them shopping to see the amazing range of goods we have available for pretty cheap prices, and we took them to the Golf Club for lunch. The best thing though, was actually driving through the Oasis itself. We got to the gate, where a sign reads that you can only come in if you are a farmer or a tourist. Not for locals!! With our Australian accents, we easily passed as tourists, and headed on in. From the outside, the Oasis is fenced, and all you can see are the tops of the trees. From the inside, you see a warren of narrow roads, with meandering turns, so you don't know which way you are going. There are irrigation channels, as under all the date palms is where local farmers grow the fruit and vegetables that are sold very cheaply in the local supermarkets. We eventually found the exit gate, and were amazed at how large the Oasis is. There are a few more oases around the town, but not as big as this main one. Their visit was over too quickly, and now we just talk to them on Skype while they are visiting my sister. Mark and I will be heading off to London on December 17, for Christmas.