34 degrees Celsius. Hard to find the Persian Gulf waters refreshing, even if they are nearly ten degrees cooler than the surrounding air. My lungs have a hard time to adjust, and the sand dust in the yellowish sky doesn’t help either. But this is where I am – the UAE, in the heart of summer.
Back at my hotel room – a fridge compared to outside – I decide to brave the heat and visit the Grand Mosque. As soon as I hop off the taxi, my sunglasses get blurred and my shirt gets an instant unwrinkling. I naively walk a few hundred meters towards the blue-lit monument, until someone tells me I actually should have gone through the mall under my feet.
Past the Zara, McDonalds and Starbucks, I manage to get the QR code for the visit. A few travelators later, I make it back to the surface and stop in awe in front of the jawdropping yet sober edifice.
Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is often described as more laid-back and safer than its exuberant neighbor Dubai. Although the two emirates have many things in common (a certain passion for cars, an ever-changing skyline and an impressive political determination) I can feel the difference indeed.
Abu Dhabi is about meeting people. A Srilankan bartender at the 62th floor of the Conrad. An Indian taxi driver taking me to the dates market. A group of Brazilian pilots working for Etihad. A South African photographer working for an Oil & Gas CEO. A British trader, an Egyptian logistics expert, a Nigerian risk manager. And the French connection is very much alive – I figure out several of my friends have recently moved here.
My camera refuses to take any more pictures: the lens is covered with condensation. The muezzin starts his evening chant. Time for me to head back to the fridge.
Photo © Jean Heintz 2024
Wideangle LNG 