We also stayed at the refurbished InterContinental Hotel
The InterContinental had also undergone a revamp recently, and had a stunning lobby with backlit Onyx marble lobby and crystal chandeliers.
There was also a very friendly Egyptian assistant manager, Mr Khalid (you need to make a throat-clearing noise to pronounce his name properly) who was immediately summoned to greet us and show to our pristine room.
It was the size of a large hotel room and very modern, but with traditional touches like Arabian-style cushions on the seated area. Gemma was up early through a touch of jetlag and had a tour of the hotel with our obliging throat-clearing Egyptian friend before breakfast.
At 7.30am, we were the second and third guests to breakfast. We took our time wandering past the huge breakfast buffet which included camel’s milk sourced from nearby Al Ain, and various other items chilled on a slab of ice.
Then afterwards we headed out to explore. Though it was feverishly hot outside – temperatures regularly hit the mid 40s in summer, with soaring humidity – both the taxis and most buildings have air conditioning, so we spent a morning switching between the two.
We visited the cultural centre, which had a photography exhibition and local crafts being made by women in the all-covering burkhas. We went to the fruit markets near the port, where there was produce from seemingly everywhere, including Lebanon, Syria and even Iran. We also stopped in a shop which sold dates presented in every way imaginable. The UAE is the world’s top producer of dates, which drip from clumps high in the ubiquitous palm trees.
The seaside promenade, called the Corniche, whooshed past on our way back to the hotel.
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