I left off last yesterday afternoon saying we were going to go off on the Big Bus Tour. Well we got over to the Deira City Mall where the bus leaves from to find that the last bus had left about ten minutes ago and there was a two hour wait till the Night Tour started at 7.15pm. So Narms went off to get her hair straightened and I went searching for souvenirs, but decided against buying any in case I found just what I was looking for at the Women’s Heritage Centre in Abu Dhabi. The bus trip was great – very informative, but the bus driver didn’t stop or even slow down so we could get any decent photos, except for a stop at Atlantis The Palm. WOW it looks fantastic. Can’t wait to get there!!!!!! The bus trip included a stop at the Wafi Centre for the Sound and Light Show which was pretty amazing. The city looks incredible at night – so many huge buildings and the Burj Al Arab looking pretty stunning in the colour purple, but unfortunately the photos I got really don’t do it justice. Hard to take good photos from a moving bus. The tour ended back at the Deira City Mall, so we had a very late dinner (10pm) in the food hall. I opted for New York Fries where I had fries and an Arabic Salad. Not quite the traditional food I was hoping for, but yummy all the same. Today we were on the Day Trip to Abu Dhabi. Our Sri Lankan tour guide was waiting for us when we came out from breakfast. We were expecting to be in a bus, or a mini-van at least, but we came outside to find that there was just the two of us and we were to spend the day in a very luxurious car. Way to go girls!!!!! Thank you Kylee. We headed out of the city on a 7 lane highway at about 120 kph and passed all the huge buildings we drove past last night. Good to see them in the daylight. Abu Dhabi was quite different from Dubai, but again very luxurious – the place is just money money money. The buildings here are huge as well, and the gardens are beautiful. We visited the Emirates Palace – well that is we drove in the drive, to the foot of the stairs for a photo stop and then back out the drive. The property is beautifully maintained and the garden has 9000 trees planted in it, and all fed by underground irrigation. We visited the Mosque – the third largest in the world ( the largest is in Mecca, and the second is the Blue Mosque and I can’t remember if he said Pakistan or Iran, but I know I have been there) We had to put on an abaya before we could enter and of course take off our shoes. The mosque is built of marble from Italy, Thailand and Indonesia. Inside there was a 5,000 square metre hand woven carpet from Iran and the hugest and most beautiful chandelier. It can hold 5000 people for prayer. Surprisingly we were allowed to take photos inside, although it felt a bit wrong to me, although I did take lots of photos We went to a very up-market place selling genuine Arabic art, clothes and jewellery and we had a personal tour through here by a charming young man who did his best to sell me some more pashmina. You will be pleased to hear that I resisted the very very expensive Kashmiri pashmina, but I was very impressed with the quality of the goods. Had to buy something so bought a table runner - now have one from Italy, Vietnam and Abu Dhabi. From there we visited the heritage centre and then the date market before starting on the journey home. Here I got to try about five of the 168 varieties of date and learned that there are 52 million date palms planted in Abu Dhabi alone. The tour guide said that the very best dates come from Saudi Arabia, but the ones I have had here taste pretty good. Our guide on the Big Bus Tour and the one today filled us in with lots of statistics - Won’t bore you with them all but here are some to think about. Population of the UAE is 9 million and of that 1.5 million are Emirati; 4.5 million Indian/Pakistani/Bengalese; 1 million Filipino and the other 2 million are “others” and altogether there are 156 nationalities represented in the UAE. Wow and I thought we were doing well with 41 in Tauranga. And get this – water is more expensive that petrol which costs 7 Dh ($2.86 NZ ) per gallon and Deisel is 10 Dh per gallon. There is no tax here and the government gives an Emirati couple (that is local marrying local) 70,000 Dh for a wedding present and a house. There is free education but everyone must have medical insurance. Working Emirati’s have their insurance paid by their employers, but others have to pay their insurance, which is compulsory. Non-Emirati coming to the UAE must have jobs. No job – no stay. Abu Dhabi is the richest of the emirates, because of the oil – 1460 oil rigs (mostly offshore, but some onshore) producing 2.6 million barrels of oil per day. Last night on the tour we drove past the court house, and the tour guide told us that the courts are kept busy with recording births, deaths and marriages and handling divorces. There is very little crime – a little white collar embezzling, buy no violence or murders. Phew, what an amazing place. No wonder people want to come here to work.