Day 43 Abu Dhabi

This morning I woke up feeling just as terrible as last night. Stupid body letting me down! I decided to take it easy & rearrange the plans for the day. I left at 10.30am and headed for Abu Dhabi. It is 110km/1.25hrs so not too far. I went straight to the Emirates Palace for lunch. I had read an article about this place and their signature meal. It is a burger made worth camel meat and sprinkled with 23 karat gold flakes. They also serve a camelcino, cappucino made with camel milk. This is what I had for lunch. Amazing! The burger was so good!

I had a quick wander around to take photos then headed into the city for a drive around then went out to the Grand Mosque. The mosque is not normally a place I would visit but the Trip Advisor reviews told me I should. It is huge! They have super strict dress code rules and if you don't meet them you must wear their abayas. Fortunately I planned ahead & I was fine. They had separate doors & xray scanners for males & females (seriously, what century are we living in?!). I heard the place is big enough to hold 40,000 worshippers at the same time. There are guards everywhere & they enforce each & every rule. No shoes are permitted so it is a barefoot place. I have to admit, the architecture is stunning. They have flowers made from marble set into the floors & 7 very elaborate & expensive chandeliers. It is mostly white and covered in marble. It is quite beauriful if you try to forget where you actually are. One family were taking a photo, man put his arm around the wife & kid while holding 1 kid & he got in trouble by the guard for touching! There were so many people there, including dozens of tour buses. Clearly it is a popular tourist attraction!

Then I headed back to the hotel to rest. Tomorrow is my last day in Dubai before flying to Hong Kong tomorrow night.