On the Road from Abu Dhabi

11 November 2022

Adnoc Oasis, Um Laylah

Stopped here at what really is a service station in the desert to stock up on water. There is a mosque here also and they provide free, I assume, water to the populace, or at least passersby. Apparently it is customary for mosques to provide clean water. Good idea. Also had my first shot of Turkish coffee. Quite bitter but, IMHO, a lot nicer than Western style coffee. I might add a bit of sugar in future to offset the bitterneșs and bring out the flavour.

Lunch at Al Dhafra Mall

Stopped for lunch at another shopping mall. They had an amazing super modern hypermarket with a huge range of food and products on sale. Much higher standard than the best in Ireland. I got nuts, fruit and water. I also picked up a cheap camp chair.

I was thinking that these service stations or desert shopping malls are a bit like the old caravanserais I encountered on the Silk Road. They have huge SUVs now instead of camels.

Talking about camels, I need to be mindful of MERS. The CDC state: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is an illness caused by a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Most MERS patients developed severe respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath. About 3 or 4 out of every 10 patients reported with MERS have died. Hmmm. Sobering thought that. I’d better not ride any camels then….