Al Ain Oasis

The town of Al Ain, part of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, is a world apart from the other two cities I visited in the UAE.  While Dubai and Abu Dhabi are tall, bustling, economic centers; Al Ain is nothing of the sort.  It felt like a bit of a lazy backwater, dotted with interesting cultural sites and a nice oasis park in the center of town.

The oasis is a nice change of pace for the UAE, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi both a bit short of natural space to wander through. Aside from the excitement of being in a real-life desert oasis (!), I also managed to wander into the town’s castle shortly before sunset and have a poke around.

Unfortunately I arrived moments to late to go in for a look, but from the outside it sort of fills those Laurence of Arabia fantasies my generation still has some latent understanding of. I do sort of wish I’d spent a night in Al Ain, though, instead of coming on a day trip from Dubai and not really having enough time to properly explore the little town.

.Finally, at the end of the day, yet another delicious and cheap meal.  Pakistani and Indian restaurants are incredible everywhere I went in the Emirates, and the cost was usually around $3-5.  In Dubai, especially, this is far cheaper than anything else (and much tastier than the other foods I had as well!). In Dubai these restaurants are all over the place, but in Al Ain I had to look a bit harder. Check on the streets that radiate away from the large mosque in the center of town, and you should have some luck.

The main reason I went to Al Ain, though, wasn’t for the castle or the oasis or even (shockingly) the food.

It was for the Camels.

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I’m normally a proponent of independent travel where reasonable, but for a daytrip to the Al Ain Camel Market a guided tour might actually make sense. Leaving from Dubai, I arrived on a public bus a while after most of the action was done. GetYourGuide has quite a lot of partners in Dubai, so I imagine they’d have plenty of options.