Accountant Adventures: Layover

With my cab driver

My flight from Delhi arrived in Abu Dhabi at 7am and I don’t leave for Casablanca until 2pm, so I decided to see if I could see the city. Once I got to Abu Dhabi, I was half hoping that they wouldn’t let me leave the airport without a visa so that I could sleep. I have been up since 6am on Monday and neither the bus nor the plane were very conducive for getting any sleep. Once I got off the plane and saw the opulence of the airport, I knew I had to try to go to the city. I went to the duty free shop, grabbed a red bull, a snickers and some sour gummy worms and headed towards immigration.

When I walked up to the window and explained to the customs officer that I wanted to explore the city, he confirmed that it was possible and he would just need my passport. While he was looking at my passport I could see a monitor over the officers shoulder that was a camera pointed at me with a box around my face and as I would move the box would adjust to always be over my face. Pretty cool technology, as long as it’s not connected to some kind of gun!

I was quickly approached by a very pleasant taxi cab driver. I told him I needed to get his local currency and then we could talk. He agreed to drive me around to all of the local attractions, take me to a place to eat and drink tea and then bring me back.

This city looks brand new and everything looks expensive and so clean. Our first stop was a brand new gigantic mosque. We were there shortly after 7am and they didn’t open until 8am, so we could walk around some places but others weren’t open yet. Next we headed to the city, where there are a ton of brand new high rise buildings with many more being built right now. Recession, Resmession, when you have lots oil money. We ate breakfast at a Pakistani restaurant that was really good. We had 2 types of bread, two fried (dippy) eggs, ground beef (that tasted like Taco Bell), and chick peas (garbanzo beans). We sat at a table with strangers and ate with our hands and shared from the same plate. It was fun and the food was amazing.

I am so used to India where $1 equal Rs 48 whereas in Abu Dhabi $1 is only 3.65 UED. That really messes with my mind when I think something is really cheap like a sandwich that was 24 UED and I was thinking, $.50 and it’s really $6.50! I never even stayed in a hotel that cost that much in India, let alone eating a sandwich.

Next we went to the beach, then the mall, which has to be close to the size of the Mall of America, with an indoor ice skating rink and everything is state of the art and fashionable. Then we drove by the 7 star hotel in town, and I went in and looked around, not to shabby looking for $5000 a night. Then we drove by the Presidential Palace and back to the airport for my flight.

The cab driver was a really nice guy, who very much loves his city. He kept telling me how safe and wonderful it was. “You can sleep anywhere, you can go to the beach, you can leave your doors open and unlocked. All no problem”

I really like this town, it is so different from India, people drive on the right side of the road, stay in their lanes, its clean, its new, its expensive. The people here have had exceptional English and have been beyond friendly, I would like to come back and spend some more time here, once I find myself a sugar mama!