Green, Green Grass, Hot Springs and Top of the Mountain

Day 6 - Wednesday, December 26^th

I love vacation – I get to sleep late and have fun with my family.  We are creating wonderful memories.

Today we are planning to visit Al Ain Oasis, Jebel Hefeet and Green Mubazzarah - More fun in the round-abouts and the crazy traffic.  This traffic is crazy.  They all seem to know what they are doing and where they are going – only wilder and faster.  We have seen very few accidents – Only by the Grace of Our God.

I think I’ve mentioned this in an earlier post – Al Ain is a very clean city. Trash cans (or small dumpsters) are everywhere to discourage littering.  At Nicole’s apartment, there is a trash chute on every floor – just walk out your apartment door and drop your trash into the chute. At Andrea’s apartment complex, the dumpster is right behind her building.  We saw trash dumpsters about every other block in her neighborhood. Even the construction sites are clean – wall barriers are put up so construction site will not be visible from the street.  I thought this was funny – the orange construction cones are pink from being bleached out by the sun.

There doesn’t seem to be a large police presence but we surmised it wasn’t necessary – crime rate seems to be relatively low. 

Oasis

• There are seven oasis in Al Ain
• Al Ain Oasis is the largest; Al Jahili Oasis is the smalles
• We visited Al Ain, Hili, Al Qattara and Al Jimi
• Al Ain and Al Jimi were our favorites.

Green Mubazzareh

• Lush, green valley at the base of Jebel Hefeet
• Natural hot springs
• Didn’t go into the bath houses – one for men and one for women
• We parked on the side of the road and played in the small feeder streams to soak our feet.  Oh my goodness, it felt so good – nice and hot.

Jebel Hefeet

• Second tallest mountain in UAE; most well-known since it has a great drive  to the very top – “among the world’s greatest driving roads
• Forged out of craggy limestone that has been weathered over millions of
• years
• Jebel means mountain
• Small play area for children
• Views were amazing – we planned our day so we would be up on the top just about sunset time

This is one of the palaces for Sheikh Khalifa - on top of Jebel Hefeet

Watched sunset at the Mercure Hotel on top of Jebel Hefeet 

The ride over the mountain at Mercure Hotel - We weren't brave enough to ride this - it goes out over the edge of the mountain

You know the old adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”  Andrea and Christine noticed this cute little restaurant, the Venicia Café, by the post office and always wanted to visit because it smelled so good.  We decided to check it out.  Well, it was more like a shisha (water pipe for smoking flavored tobaccos) bar than a restaurant.  It had a very limited menu – we ordered hamburgers and fries. They were tasty but not what we were hoping for.  We just marked it up as “just another adventure”.

Home to rest and get ready for another adventuresome day!  I’m like a kid in a candy shop – loving every minute of our visit!