We made a very brief stop in Abu Dhabi on our way to India. It was long enough, however, for Pierre to take a very fast sports car for a spin on Abu Dhabi’s [relatively] new F1 track:

www.travelingbones.com/?p=1829

Here’s the flight path that we followed to get in/out of the UAE:

Our route through the UAE.

Budweiser? Whaaat?

As you can tell from the beer picture above, there aren’t any local breweries in the UAE. Well, we didn’t find one, anyhow, and since it’s a Muslim country that’s pretty conservative (unlike Turkey), we don’t think there are any to be found. We settled on a Budweiser at one of the Yas Hotel’s many restaurants…

LESSONS LEARNED:

• Cabs are extremely cheap in the UAE, so don’t worry if your hotel is miles away from the airport. It really won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
• If you’re staying in the Yas Hotel, be careful of the on-site restaurants. They are not cheap!
• If you’re planning on driving a car at the Yas Marina Driving School, carefully read the confirmation e-mails that you receive from the online booking system. Take a taxi to one of the main entrances. Do not believe anyone (especially the workers at the ticketing offices) that tell you to go to Gate 24 or Gate 25. This is most likely not correct. Go to one of the track’s main entrances, check in, then proceed to the driving school.
• Don’t expect some really cool, old-school middle eastern experience. Abu Dhabi, Dubai, etc. are kinda like Vegas without any of the “sinful” stuff.