United Arab Emirates Photo Essay

Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is the most opulent place I had yet been, but what impressed me the most when wandering through is the beauty and sense of serenity the place inspires.  Everything is made from gold and marble, but designed with such exquisite taste it truly inspired and introduced Islamic architecture to me.  The only mosque I’ve visited so far but surely one of the most beautiful and opulent in the world.

A wall inside the Zayed Mosque depicts the 99 names of Allah.

A beautiful skylight in the ceiling of the women’s prayer room in Zayed Mosque. Flowers are represented everywhere throughout the mosque as Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan apparently loved them.

This shot of the skyline of Abu Dhabi with cranes in the foreground and half-constructed buildings in the background I thought typified the city as there’s so much construction going on there in 2010.

Exquisitely wrought gold jewellery for sale in the gold souk, Dubai. The style comes from traditional Indian jewellery. Not for me, but a feast for the eyes nonetheless.  Many street vendors kept trying to sell me “genuine fake watches” but I was after a fake fake watch. Oh well!

When in Abu Dhabi you can go and do a “safari” where they take you out to the desert for camel riding, dune 4WD’ing and shisha smoking.  Emiratis love their camels and they are as well looked after and bred as any racehorse.  This man was extremely proud of his camels, which were very beautiful.

View from our hotel room in Cairo.  I was struck by the profusion of satellite dishes sprouting like mushrooms from every rooftop. The call to prayer is an ear-bashing cacophany of conflicting voices here, unlike the peaceful single voiced call in Abu Dhabi!

Fullfilling a lifelong dream of visiting the pyramids at Giza! Not the amazing and wonderous experience I’d imagined, for, as the seasoned traveller knows, it’s hard to feel a sense of wonder while being constantly harassed on all sides by hawkers, beggars and other tourists! Still, I was suitably awed, they are very big old piles of rock.

This shot reminds me of how we Sydneysiders feel about the Opera House.  We don’t notice it anymore really.  I imagine this man feels the same way.  I really wanted one of his cat statues though..