a lecherous “guide”, an oasis, and technology

This Eid I had big plans. I was going to go to Ikea and have a wander round, I was going to have my car properly washed (inside and out), I was going to have my wheels balanced (yes this is important) and go to Pilates at least once, I even booked a session. Sadly it seems the universe decided I should spend 3 days flat on my back with a nasty tummy bug, so that is what I did Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I was even feeling too bad to watch TV the first day, how tragic! Happily though by Friday I was much improved and so Stuart, his nightingale skills stretched to breaking point, suggested we take a drive to Al Ain and find the Oasis there, which is very old and apparently worth a visit. I agreed.

Now when I think of an oasis the first thing that comes to mind is an island of green in the middle of an ocean of sand, seen through a shimmering heat mirage in the distance. On closer inspection you find a whole lot of palm trees, some quiet still pools of water, a few camels or goats scattered around and right in the shadiest, quietest part in the centre there are some large cushions scattered around where people are relaxing and having a glass of mint tea. Well let me tell you the reality is nothing like that.

We reached Al Ain after an endless hour or so of driving straight across the desert, happily on a tar road, a very good road actually. I am not sure why but a trip here of 90kms takes three times as long as it seems to in SA, probably the sheer monotony of the scenery makes it feel much much much much longer. I am not sure. But I digress. According to Wikipedia the area where Al Ain is situated has been continuously inhabited for the past four thousand years. In fact we visited the National Museum whilst we were there, and the archaeological displays certainly support this, I was amazed that such delicate and fragile-looking ceramic items had survived this long, and so well, some dating back to 2500 BCE. We discovered that Al Ain actually has more than one oasis, the main one is not that easy to find, but we eventually stumbled onto it and then it was fairly obvious. Wikipedia tells me that there are in fact 7 oases there, we saw 2 or 3 in our travels. And no, they are not romantic looking at all. In fact some seem to be working date farms, and I use the word working in the broadest sense as not a whole lot of activity was going on when we were there, but certainly the dates appear to be collected in some cases. Others appear to double as storage areas for chunks of concrete and broken furniture. All of them are littered with rubbish (I think the plastic shopping packet is also the national flower here). The Al Ain Oasis, which is the biggest, has many palms trees spread over a large area, the oasis itself is intersected by small walls, and alleys (large enough to drive down) and the “falaj” furrows which form part of the irrigation system. Once we had driven in and parked the car we were accosted by a local who wished to “guide” us into the oasis (well this we inferred from the grunting and hand gestures). He proceeded to feed us fresh dates (yum) that he picked himself (off the floor I later realised) and indicated Stu should attempt to climb a palm, which he thankfully declined to do. Stu wanted a picture of our guide, and indicated this to him. He happily agreed but insisted that I be in the picture with him. Obligingly I stood next to him and whilst Stu took the photo this smelly person groped my arse! I elbowed him off me, and was incensed, shocked and livid in equal parts. However not wishing to deck him and cause an international incident I merely said to Stu, from between clenched teeth, that he better walk behind me on the way back to the car, and that it was time to go. NOW! Luckily for him he didn’t argue 🙂 The rest of our visit to Al Ain passed without further incident. Needless to say I will not be posting that picture here or anywhere else, except in the trash. So the picture I have put here of the oasis is courtesy of Wikipedia.

The balance of the weekend was spent relaxing, we even went shopping for some clothes for Stu! And speaking of shopping I have noticed a very strange thing here. When I arrived in Dubai I expected to find a thriving modern hub of technology and commerce. This is true in some ways but not in others. And the one thing that is really almost non-existent here is on-line shopping. Actually a lot of companies don’t have an on-line presence at all, but even if they do its a static and absolutely useless website. It seems the banks charge a ridiculous fee for processing credit card payments from a website and the number of good payment portals is small, so its easier and much cheaper for the vendor if you go to the shop instead, so there really is no incentive for them to have a web based business. And so they don’t. Its crazy! Even the internet banking is somewhat archaic after what I am used to. Just to get registered and transacting on-line you need to visit the branch at least twice and fill in forms and sign things. Counter-intuitive? Yes. Frustrating? Yes. Going to change any-time soon? Probably not, but here’s hoping!

And can you believe that tomorrow (Tuesday) I will have been here 10 weeks on the dot! I can’t.