Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AL GHARBIA
The desert is a land of contradictions: vast yet intimate, barren yet beautiful, searing yet
restorative. In short, it's a special, spiritual, almost mystical place that's often so whisper-
quiet it feels as though someone has pushed the mute button. So if you really want to get
away from it all, steer your pony south and west of Abu Dhabi into the Al Gharbia region,
which is all desert, all the time. There are two main areas, the Liwa Oasis and Sir Bani Yas
Island on the far western coast.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Madinat Zayed
En route to the Liwa desert, you'll likely pass through Madinat Zayed, the largest town in
the Al Gharbia region. Along the main commercial strip, you'll find ATMs, internet cafes,
a hospital, a petrol station, Al Dhafra Co-op supermarket and the brand-new City Mall.
Every December or January, thousands of long-legged, humped beauties descend upon
town to take part in
Al Dhafra Camel Festival
(
www.aldhafrafestival.com
)
, which centres on a camel
beauty contest along with heritage activities, auctions, crafts and merriment of all sort.
Madinat Zayed also has its own
camel race track
just south of town, with races usually tak-
ing place on Fridays between October and March. Overlooking the track is the spanking
new
Tilal Liwa Hotel
( 02-894 6111;
www.tilal-liwa.hotel-rn.com
; Million St, Madinat Zayed; r from Dh430;
)
, a modern and comfortable fort-style retreat where you can count the colours of the
desert through a giant arch spanning across the infinity pool.
Still further south, en route to Liwa, you'll drive past the
Shams solar plant
, which will
eventually be one of the largest of its kind in the world. Phase one should have gone live by
the time you're reading this; it is capable of supplying energy for 20,000 homes.
Madinat Zayed is about 180km southwest of Abu Dhabi via Hwy E11 west and E45
south. From here, it's another 45km to Mezaira'a, the main town in the Liwa desert. Bus
X60 from Abu Dhabi stops here en route to Mezaira'a (Dh25, hourly).
TOP OF CHAPTER
Liwa
