Emirates Trip. Day 3: Al Ain

- April 02, 2017

At one of the Jebel Hafeet stops,

On the second day in Al Ain, we supposed to visit the 5000-year-old Jebel Hafeet . It said that the tombs were excavated by Danish archaeologists and found artifacts such as ceramics and vessels. However, it can be difficult to navigate the desert with the sedan car. We did stop at one of the camel farms and asked the local for the direction. To no avail, he drew the direction on the sand, as he doesn't speak English. Hesitant, we continued to drive about 5 minutes in the desert, in the middle of nowhere. Then, we decided to turn back.

Nonetheless, we had to stick to the plan. We moved on to visit Al Jahili Fort, one of the oldest historic forts, erected in 1891. Since we hardly saw any tourists flocking to this attraction, we took advantage of the situation to fully enjoy the fort's austerity and picturesque qualities. Built to protect the palm groves, it was also the former headquarters of the Oman Trucial Scouts. The palm grove was now a castle park. There was a permanent exhibition by the traveler with the name of Wilfred Thesiger, or Mubarak of London. It's quite interesting to see how he explored the places that no one has ever been.

Jebel Hafeet, from the distance.

The tower is the fort's landmark

The fort's entrance

The grandfather of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, the founder of UAE

The south wing is the information center of the fort and Al Ain itself

It was the largest castle in Al Ain and a prime example of local military architecture.

This round tower was actually separated from the castle.

Some aspects of the architectural design in the castle depict the existence of the prehistoric Bronze Age.

Restoration has been carried out to preserve the historical significance

A permanent exhibition devoted to Wilfred Thesiger

He was the English explorer and traveler, who had been accommodated in Al Ain

About 5 km from the fort, Qasr Al Muwaiji was another restored historical building, the birthplace of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE. The royal family has lived here since 1946 before moving to Abu Dhabi in 1966, where they once became rulers. Interestingly, the exhibition was housed in a glass-walled structure within the courtyard. In fact, every room in the palace has been equipped with air conditioning. We felt really comfortable and we didn't feel the scorching sun.

Inside a Qasr Al Muwaiji's mosque tower

The Qasr Al Muwaiji's entrance gate offers a splendid view

This house was the home of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his family

There was supposed to be a square window to provide access to the light (Read description below :P)

One of the room to host the royal guest

Walked through the magnificent glass-wall corridor

If you want to get more details about Qasr Al Muwaiji, go to their site, where you can book a guided tour, which we didn't opt for. Closed for the afternoon, we headed to Remal Mall, looking for lunch. There are a bunch of local food restaurants in the food court situated at the top floor; we had our biryani rice while Nu'man enjoyed his burger. Then, we headed back to our hotel to rest, as we planned to have a picnic dinner at Mubazzarah Park.

Later in the evening, we made our way to Hili Archaeological Park. It was a combination of the archaeological site and public park, where tourists and residents flocked alike. The Bronze Age site dates from 3 million years ago, before the century. Remains, including settlements, tombs, and 'falaj,' were scattered inside and outside the park, while most of the artifacts were kept at the Al Ain National Museum. We rented a 3-wheel bike to stomp around the park.

Each bike was 30 dirhams per hour

Hili Grand Tomb was built in a circular form with a diameter of up to 12 meters.

The archaeological sites were numbered accordingly. This was Hili 10.

I'm not pretty sure what exactly it was...

Another tomb dating from the Iron Age

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at Green Mubazarrah, probably the greenest place in Al Ain. Upon checking the web, there was a hot water bath next to the park. Ahhh, we missed it! Anyway, we had our KFC meal picnic and Nu'man had fun at the small theme park.