Camel Souq

Today the social club here at the hospital took a bus load of us girls to the local camel souq.

I think we were more of an attraction than the camels!!!

Cute little camel

This camel is being restrained - mmm by the mouth....as he gets shaved.

Notice my clenched fist - I am so worried that he is going to kick me or bite me...

A bowl of frothy "fresh" camel milk...

Still can't believe that I drunk it - it tasted like watered down frothy milk, so not as bad as I thought it would be. We had been told when we first started here not to drink fresh camel milk as it can make u really sick - so we are all waiting for the sickness to come on!!!

We only had a small mouthful.

Swallow it girl..... yes I did...

Full of men and camels

Cute fluffy baby

This poor camel has obviously been bought by someone and he is being loaded up onto a truck - hence his legs being tied up - so cruel.

Getting ready to hoist him up.

Up he goes

Feeding time

Some cute little boys

But not so cute when they beat the camels with their sticks

Does my bum look big???

Camel accessories for sale

Me holding on for dear life

Not quite comfortable being up this close to a camel with teeth that look like they could take a huge chunk out of you.

As I had my photo taken with this man - he brushed his elbow across my boob - dirty bugger.

At least I did not get a helping hand onto the camel by my boob (like my friend Teri)

He grabbed her boob and said ok up you go!!!

Gotta laugh these poor men probably don't get to see women all that often.

Kiss me....

Maria, Teri and me

And off they go .....

Hashing in a Sand Storm - Feb 26th 2010

Decided to go hashing today as have not been for a little while - it was quite windy while we were waiting for our rides - but by the time we got out to the desert there was a really bad sand storm happening.

My friend Annina from Finland and I

When we arrived we could actually see the landscape quite clearly but within a very short space of time we could barely see anything.

Because it was getting so bad we decided not to do the Hash and go home - it would not have been pleasant trying to find our way out in the dark - it was hard enough seeing on the road in the daylight.

But I did stay long enough to get my members tshirt - yay!!!

Our visibility in the car on the way home.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

On our last day in Abu Dhabi we decided to join the public tour of one of the mosques - it was well worth it and if you are ever in Abu Dhabi it is a must do!!!!

(click on the images to see them larger)

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is one of the world's largest capable of accommodating 40,000 worshippers. It is absolutely incredible inside - u must go to see it if you are ever in Abu Dhabi. It is the only mosque in Abu Dhabi that non muslims are allowed inside.

One of the many chandeliers in the mosque

This is the main prayer hall which holds up to 5,000 worshippers. It contains the worlds largest hand woven carpet measuring 5,700 square metres and was created in Mashhad, Iran by 1300 weavers

There are one thousand gilt topped, marble columns, designed to represent the cherished date palm. They bear intricate floral patterns meticulously hand crafted from semi-precious stone and mother of pearl.

Close up of the columns

At the centre of the main prayer hall is the world's largest crystal chandelier - one of seven. It measures 10 metres in diameter, stands 15 metres in height and weighs around nine tonnes. It contains over 1 million crystals.

Design of the marble tiles

This is also an area where they pray. The marble is non heat absorbent and reflects the heat - so the marble always stays cold. As when they pray they place their foreheads on the ground.

Mother of pearl on the wooden doors

The mosque has 82 domes, gold-topped with 24 carat gold- one of which at 32.7 metres in diameter and 85 metres high is the world's largest of its kind according to the Turkish Research Centre for Islamic Heritage and Culture.

The main entrance to the mosque contains no less than 87,000 stunning glass mosaic pieces - all were hand-blown in Murano, Italy and precision cut before being shipped to the UAE.

I joked that I should take my own abaya to the mosque. But info just said that you had to be covered - which I was. But all ladies had to wear an abaya regardless and cover their heads.

The mosque has minarets at each of its four corners. Standing 107 metres high, the minarets are topped with 24 carat gold.

Inside one of the many domes.

The design on the ceiling mirrors the design on the floor.

The women's prayer room holds 1000 people

The "White Room" in the Koran it talks about a white room with flowers in it. Sheikh Zayed designed a room which represents the white room in the Koran (holy book)