Born and raised for most part of my shelf life, at Alain in Abu dhabi, UAE gave me a casual outlook of the Middle east. Yes, Petrol, Oil, Camels, Dates, Shawarma, Sand & Sun - all sum up the middle east and UAE is no exception! But, the modern architecture continues to daze any single soul who's been based at UAE for the last 20 years or more! Every time I go to Dubai- the business capital, I find new roads and new complexes sprouting up in record time!!
Alain is an oasis city, quite an inherent part of Abudhabi-the capital and very different from the other emirates of UAE.An hour and half drive from Dubai and Abudhabi, through dunes, farm; cattle rearing takes you to the destination. Alain is surrounded by picturesque, Rocky Mountains and sand dunes. It also forms the eastern border of UAE separating from Sultanate of Oman. Known as the Garden city of UAE, Alain attracts UAE Sheikhs & Expats to enjoy the parks, springs, history.
Visual Attractions at Alain include Alain National Museum, Jebel Hafeet , mineral springs, restored forts, oasis’s all around, Zoo and numerous parks and amusement park ‘Fun city’. My favourite spot include a mineral spring named ‘Green Mubazzarah’ . This was late His Highness Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan- the late President’s pet project which saw acres of desert converted to greenery and springs are channelized to form streams which in turn leads to a lake. A glimpse of this place in the night would often tempt people to think they were holidaying at the never ending green pastures and mountains in Vienna or Czekh Republic. The springs are at the foot rest of a huge mountain called the ‘Jabel Hafeet’ about 1250 m and form a beautiful view from any part of the city.
Modern day huge malls and leisure developments have given impetuous to accessibility. Alain is also home to Alain FC- football club which plays at National and Asian level. Alain also has an go-karting track which has been opened to the public since 2008. Camel racing is also a common sport which the Sheikhs indulge in! Duning, Desert Safari are very common.
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