The Wild Wild Western Region

The Western Region (or Al Gharbia in the local speak) of the Abu Dhabi Emirate is my 1/2 home for the last month and the next couple of months. This area, commonly known as the Empty Corner, is a land of surprises. You never know what might pop up from behind a tremendously large sand dune...

Before we get there, I have taken a couple of pics of the amazingly beautiful and hazy Autumn sunrise that can be experienced around these parts. This is on the road out of Abu Dhabi...



This is our home for 1/2 of the week...the Liwa Hotel...a lovely hotel, though a little bit spoiled due to some architectural misgivings...the poolside has amazing views of endless miles of sand dunes (which are possible to see in this pic)...the design is roughly based on a traditional Emirati fort...


Another sunrise...this time from the hotel balcony of a morning...



This extraordinary sight was spotted on our first drive to Liwa, the town of our hotel in the Western Region. Despite this being the middle of the desert, you can see lots of fodder farms and hay baling...with huge sand dunes just hundreds of metres away...the reason being that the Liwa area is surrounded by an oasis allowing the local to grow fodder, tomatoes and lots of other horticulture...


The highway into Liwa...


A typical series of enormous sand dunes, symbolic of the area...


Sunset in the Empty Corner...


The place is also dotted with camel farms...with camel racing being a hugely popular local pastime...






One of the roads into a mountainous sand dune area...




An absolutely glorious desert sunset...the sunsets and sunrises here are amongst the best I have ever seen (well, on a par with southern Tasmania)...


A favourite photo...


A farm outpost...a common sight among the desert dunes...a closer look will show the presence of sheep, goats, camels, horses and chickens...


In all, this is an amazing place which gives a facade of nothing-ness, but is actually rich with excitement and surprise.

Across the Gulf...Qatar...

Next stop on my Gulf travels was a weekend across the bright blue waters of the Gulf in Qatar...this was actually my first trip outside of the UAE back in July...I just forgot to post the pics...Doha, the capital is much like a mini Dubai, striving to attract the world's investors through uniquely designed buildings and off-shore suburbs...here is a sample...


Doha's Islamic Centre viewed from the bay which lines a great deal of the city...


Part of the skyline with one of its unique....though not quite finished skyscrapers...


Another fabulous tall building...this one with a very large golden ball joining the two towers on about the 20th floor (I am told that there is a meeting room within the ball)...


Some colourful spices at the Doha Souk (market)...



The Doha skyline...


The new and yet to be opened Doha Museum of Islamic Arts which lies on the bay...



Two more superb looking buildings...believe it or not, these, when finished, will be the tallest zig-zag buildings in the world!!! Wow!...


Inside the souk...


Outside the souk...




A closer look at the soon to be anointed tallest zig-zag buildings in the world...


Looking out towards the Arabian Gulf from a Doha beach...


A former royal palace which has been converted into the Diplomatic Club...a place for the expats to act like gentlemen...




Some snaps of the a short trip to a fishing village north of Doha, the village of Al Khawr...

On the way up, I was constantly distracted by the busy-ness of the landscape...


A fishing boat 'rego plate' as we might call it back in Oz...




...and so I returned to AD as we locals call it now all ready for the next journey...(which is not far away)...