Arabistan

Aroon is from Kerala, southern India. I tell him that I need to get to Abu Dhabi, 180km down the coast and he offers me a lift. I can't afford a taxi but no problem, he will make a special price for me. The price he offers is so special I find it hard to resist and ask him what his secret is. Aroon stares at me, looks around him and whispers conspirationally, "I have private car, no taxi licence."

Jebel Hafeet – The Golden Mountain of Arabia

Thirty kilometres south of Al Ain, a small oasis on the Omani border, Jebel Hafeet mountain rises 1200 metres from the desert floor. A four-lane highway leads from the city to the foot of the mountain. From the desert floor to the summit, it’s about fifteen kilometers. There’s almost no traffic. As far as the eye can see, there are no trees, no bushes, no nothing. Sand-dunes, shifting golden mountains of dust meander off towards the dusty horizon. Large predatory birds circle lazily on the hot air currents above, their giant wing spans the only blemish on a perfectly blue sky. This is classic Arabia.

This feature was published in Farang Magazine

The Desert Lives

Al Ain rises out of the golden wasteland, the featureless shifting sands. Thirty years ago, we would have found a camel train, a couple of date palms by a waterhole, a group of fierce, hardy, poor and honorable men, sitting around a fire, reading the Koran. Today we follow the luxury automobiles into a clean town inhabited by poor Indians, Pakistanis, Afghanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans. None of them have money for a car, not even a Mazda. They are poor, living in paradise. Some rarely go home. They get paid a pittance and are often treated poorly by their employers. Still, more enticing than living in a slum in Kabul, Lahore or Delhi.