Sunday 2 February 2014

Tradition Meets Modernity

One of the (very few) attractions in Abu Dhabi is the UAE Heritage Village. A small slice of what life used to be like. It's interesting to wander around, ducking in and out of the various areas to see 'traditional' Bedouin houses/tents. It's a little contrived, and also empty. The small museum is fairly interesting, housing various ancient tools, instruments and personal effects. However it's disappointingly shabby - water dripping into the showcases from the air conditioning unit, poor lighting and little care shown to the ancient artefacts. At the edge of the village, you can look across the water to the huge metal sky scrapers, another reminder of how far the city has come and how much has changed here.

I enjoyed wandering around, bought a few souvenirs from the ladies at the marketplace, and I suppose I would recommend visiting, but mostly because there is not much else to see and do in AD. Not really because of the quality of the place!

Also getting a cab back to the city centre afterwards proved to be difficult, most people come here on organised bus tours. I suggest asking the men at the entrance to help you out. I did this, after waiting around for over a quarter of an hour and within about 2 minutes I was enjoying the cool interior of a taxi heading back to meet Samantha for lunch!












Texting away while leaning on his camel!