Museum Emir-Style in Al Ain

So, being on the theme of museums, I remembered one such in the United Arab Emirates. It is located in the second big city of the Aby Dhabi Emirate – Al Ain, about 170 km by car into the desert. When I say ‘desert’, I mean the real thing, with the sands, dunes and the whole itinerary. The 170 kilometers are taken along a modest (in Arab-Emirates standards) highway with only 3 lines in each direction, inlike the one through Dubai which has 6. All hughways are surrounded by a cordon of 2-3 lines of greenery, maintained via drip irrigation, an that is all standing between the dune and your car.

It is very important NOT to visit the United Arab Emirates in the summer but, if it happenes nonetheless, it is very important NOT to oversleep and leave from Abu Dhabi for Al Ain after 09 PM. You will see, while traveling, how the numbers on your car display showing the outer temperature climb slowly above 40 degrees Celsius, and when you get to Al Ain, it will already be somewhere around 50. It is also very important NOT to show any of your body parts in the sun; it is up to you to decide how to take your photos. To visit the palace museum, I recommend that you hire the small electric bus at the entrance to Al Ain Oasis – it drives you around the gardens, leaves you in front of the museum and when you finish, comes to take you back to your car. It also has small fans on the ceiling, for those who didn’t listen and went to the sight at noon during the summer.

Please pay special attention to the colour of the arm – for all who, again, didn’t listen and went to take photos outdoors in their short sleeves. So, it is time for the museum itself which is called ‘palace’ but is more like the family mansion of Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the United Arab Emirates. He is an extremely popular and loved person in that part of the world and, I would say, quite rightly. Palace or not, the place was very pleasant for my taste, clean, tidy, well-arranged; and the colour combination of sandy buildings, green trees and bright blue sky appeared to have quite an effect on me.

There is a bit of a problem with the passing between the different parts of the palace museum. A three-fold temperature deifference exists between the air-conditioned rooms, the shady terraces and the sunny passages between buildings. In the rooms, the air-conditioners keep a temperature around 25-26 degrees Celsius which would be nice if it wasn’t around 50 outside. A wonderful feature of Emirates’ museology is the existence, in every site, of a small room with soft pillows and sofas, of course air-conditioning, but also tables with tea, clean glasses and bowls with dates. And no limitations as to how long you stay there. That doesn’t save you from the temperature shock when you go outside but is definitely very, very pleasant.

That is not exactly the tea-and-date room but why couldn’t a tired tourist take a rest? Expecially when there’s no other living soul in the whole complex, due to the reasons above? The last photo below was chosen by me because it shows several things. Firstly, it is clearly visible what the contrast sun-shadow looks like and where does the viewer prefer to stay. Secondly, it gives an idea of the inner life of the palace and especially the female and children’s part of the family who used to communicate mostly via the connected by terraces second floors of the buildings. And thirdly, it shows my favourite stone filigrees on Arab terraces and fences. Definitely worth the sun-baking.