The United Arab Emirates, a group of 7 separate regions that were joined together by Sheikh Zayed in 1971, is the playground for the Middle East. The vast oil reserves and the need to be the biggest and the best have led to them building a repertoire of nearly 150 world records. Some of them are really ridiculous... like most hanging baskets in a garden and most nationalities washing their hands simultaneously. But some of them are actually pretty impressive. A few weeks ago we visited two of the emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and saw some of their world records first hand.
Our first night in the UAE was a really long one, and we didn't get to our hotel in Abu Dhabi until 5 am... and we were without our luggage, which was set to arrive in the evening on the next flight. We had planned to go to Ferrari World, an indoor amusement park, to take on the world's fastest roller coaster. However, we were exhausted and decided to sleep in, get a tasty lunch, and relax in the mangroves on cool donut boats instead. Unfortunately, we packed our carry on bags thinking we would be inside, not out on a boat. So first, we had to go buy some clothes, swimsuits, and shoes. We ended up with the world's cheapest and ugliest clothes, but they worked until we got our luggage back!
Captain Brian driving our donut boat
A shot of Brian's oddly long new swimsuit.
Me in my cool new swimsuit driving the donut
Also in Abu Dhabi is Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in the country and an architectural masterpiece. Over 7,000 people can worship inside the main prayer hall, and there is enough room for over 30,000 more in the courtyard.
Gorgeous!
From the courtyard, a view of the main prayer hall
The details in the design were amazing
This building had beautiful marble inlaid with semi-precious stones
With clear reflecting pools on all the sides!
The carpet inside the main prayer hall is a beauty. It is the largest hand-knotted carpet in the world, with 2.2 BILLION individual knots. It's bigger than a football field and took 1,200 people nearly 2 years to make.
Persian carpets aren't my most favorite, but this one was amazing!
The chandelier is the 3rd largest in the world and the 2nd largest inside a mosque. Luckily other Arab nations besides the UAE have seized some records as well--we saw the world's largest chandelier the following week in Oman.
Though not really our particular taste, its size was most impressive.
Also in Abu Dhabi is the world's first and largest falcon hospital. Yep. An entire hospital devoted to falcons. Falcons are used by Bedouins for hunting in the desert climate, and now they are also quite a status symbol for wealthy Arabs. Falcons that get hurt or sick or lose/break feathers can be brought to the hospital for treatment. They can also house falcons in the off-season (the peak of summer). The hospital takes in around 6,000 falcons a year for check ups, surgeries, and housing.
In the examination room, they had close to 20 birds hanging out on these low perches. Falcons don't like being around other falcons too much, so when they're together they have to wear their "falcon hood" which makes them calm.
They anesthetized one bird to show us a small procedure. Each hunting season they have to sharpen their nails, and then in the off-season, file them back down.
The wingspan of a falcon is bigger than I realized!
Then it was time to hold the falcons! This was a relatively small one.
And he was quite curious about what was happening across the room (another group holding a different falcon).
Then I snuck in to the other group because I wanted to hold this big girl. She was noticeably larger and heavier than the other one.
Brian got brave and decided to pet her. We didn't know at that point that when they feed on their prey, they eat not just the meat, but the bones too! This one was nice and not hungry.
We stopped by the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi to check out what has been dubbed a "seven star hotel" (though that's not even a real thing, this WAS a really nice hotel). That's where I had the world's most ridiculous cocktail... it came with gold flakes in it!
Brian in front of the Emirates Palace
My cocktail which came with gold flakes! I was afraid it might taste like Goldschlager/freshman year of college, but it was actually pretty tasty.
Hanging out at one of the many bars in this hotel... beachfront!
One evening we met up with one of Brian's high school friends, Frances, and had a really great dinner. She's a teacher in Abu Dhabi and it was interesting to hear some of her experiences. Thanks for the hospitality!
Then we headed over to Dubai. A trip to Dubai wouldn't be complete without a visit to the top of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. With more than 160 stories, it also boasts having the highest number of stories, the highest occupied floor, the highest outdoor observation deck, and the tallest elevator in the world. It was fun to visit, though unfortunately it was a bit dusty outside that day so it wasn't the clearest view.
The top of the world on a very dusty day
Out on the highest outdoor observation deck in the world!
Official Burj Khalifa jumping pic
Official Burj Khalifa selfie
It is so tall, it was hard to get a photo of the entire thing!
At the base of the Burj are the Dubai Fountains, the world's largest choreographed fountain system. Made by the same designers of the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, the Dubai fountain performances were awe-inspiring and magical.
The fountains from the deck of the Burj
There were 2 shows during the day, then every half hour in the evening and night.
The evening performances were especially spectacular.
Also in Dubai is Ski Dubai, an indoor skiing adventure. Though not the first of it's kind or the largest, it does state that it has the world's first indoor black run (though I FOR SURE didn't go on that one!). I mostly stuck to the ski school area... with one attempt at a beginner slope that I immediately regretted. But now I can say that I skied inside a mall in the summer in the Middle East!
Feeling pretty confident at this point! (I hadn't started yet.)
As long as I didn't go higher than half the beginner slope, I was good!
Though clearly this was my favorite part of indoor skiing
Brian is much better at skiing and did the big slopes!
We got a package deal for both Ski Dubai and iFly Dubai, an indoor skydiving experience. This was super fun and a must-do for anyone who wants to experience flying without actually jumping out of a plane. Though each person's flying time was only 2 minutes, those were the longest two minutes of my life! I was very sore the next day.
The pictures they took during the flight were stupid expensive.
Our last big adventure in the UAE was a trip out of town to the desert. It had been on my bucket list to visit a desert with sand dunes as far as the eye can see, and these dunes did not disappoint. We did some dune bashing for half an hour, which was really fun (special shout out to Dramamine for making this trip possible). The excursion ended with a buffet dinner that was surprisingly delicious, and a very touristy show. Overall it was a fun evening in the desert before heading back to the city.
You have to let some air out of your tires prior to dune bashing for better traction on the sand.
When you get car sick, you get to claim the front seat... and the best view! The cars go in groups of about 5 or 6, just in case someone gets stuck in the sand.
It wasn't the world's biggest desert, but it was really cool to see miles and miles of nothing but sand.
Another group of dune bashers headed for the dinner site.
The desert landscape is awesome (and windy!)
Somehow Brian managed to jump incredibly high in the soft sand.
Hooray for the UAE!
After dinner was the show... first act was this guy who did a lot of spinning. More impressively, he wore the world's coolest light up vest.
Second act was a fire show that was actually pretty great.
The third act was a belly dancer who balanced swords on her head and boobs. This was my least favorite, but I don't think this act was designed for me anyway.
And with that, our world record adventures in the UAE ended. We left Dubai and headed back to the airport... onward to a few days in beautiful Oman!
