Dubai to Abu Dhabi - Carpet Market and Shisha

I woke up at 6:30 when Veronica left. She had an 8:55 flight this morning to JFK, so she had to leave early.

I woke up again at 8:15. I cooked eggs for breakfast and packed up. I checked out around 9:45 and got a cab to the water taxis. Today's goal -- Persian carpets.

I spoke to my parents a few days ago, and they gave me a budget to work with for Persian carpets while I'm here. This may be the last time in a long time we'll have an opportunity like this -- Obama just signed a law banning Persian imports from Iran after September 28 of this year.

I took a water taxi to Deira before I figured out that the carpet souq on the map in my book was in Abu Dhabi, not Dubai. So I took a water taxi back across the river and then a taxi back to the hotel to figure out where the hell the Persian rugs were.

I found out where to go and got back on a water taxi to Deira at about 10:45.

I made it to a cab and asked for the Carpet Souq on Naif Road. He laughed. He said there's no such thing as a carpet market - if I want that I'd have to go to Sharjah, which is a while away, though still in the Emirate of Dubai.

"Screw it," I thought. My only goal today is a carpet, and I know for a fact there's a carpet souq in Abu Dhabi. So, as much as I'm loving Dubai, I'll have to go to Abu Dhabi.

So I went back to the hotel; again. Got stuck in horrific traffic and only got back at 11:30.

I left the hotel and went to the bus station. I got there at 11:58 and the bus left at noon. I bought my ticket, threw my bag under the bus, and boarded.

I slept the entirety of the bus ride. We got in a bit after 2 and I went to Novotel to leave my bags while I shopped.

I left and got a cab at 2:30 towards the Carpet Souq, praying I'd find it this time.

Found it around 3. Immediately something was abundantly clear -- I was the only person in the market. The ball was in my court.

But despite this great bit of luck, I couldn't seem to find a handmade carpet to buy. Well, I could, but none with good enough quality. I was looking for something Persian, handmade. All I got was Afghani handmade, and not well made at that. A good rug will have at least 600kpsi (knots per square inch) and the Afghani carpets were topping 144 at their best.

I must have stopped in, without exaggeration, 20 shops, all with the same result. I looked, they threw down several carpets (with one shop it was more like several dozen) on the floor, I asked again and again for the finest possible handmade carpet, and nothing came.

At 4:30 I left for the hotel. When I got back I used the business center computers for a while -- you need to pay 15AED if you're a non-guest, but I just walked in and starting computing, so they assumed I lived there and let me use the computers for free.

At 6:57 the call to prayer (or some equivalent) was broadcasted throughout the city to announce Iftar, the fast-breaking meal. I left to get dinner.

I found myself at Special, a little three-restaurant/café chain in the Corniche area. In an hilarious oversight of franchising, all three Specials are within a mile of each other, and two of them are virtually next to each other, separated by a parking lot.

I sat down at 7:21. Food service didn't begin until 7:30, so I waited.

The food was alright, but the shisha was amazing. I had orange Sisha, and the taste wasn't overpowering, but wow was it strong and delicious beyond anything I've had before.

Like yesterday, as the room filled up, everyone had their own shisha, a 2.5 foot tall hookah with a 1.5 foot handle at the end of the tube. My coals were changed by the designated coaler, the man who carries hot coals in a giant ladle and whose sole job is to replace coals. He takes his job seriously, too; he would spend five minutes (literally) before he found the perfect four little coal pieces to replace my hardly-used ones.

I ate and then relaxed with my shisha for two and a half hours. A little after 10 I headed back to Novotel.

I relaxed for over an hour in the business center. I even took a little nap on a couch. It's funny, I think, to be using the hotel services without being a guest, but oh well. I survive.

At 11:30 I sauntered to the lobby, where I picked up my things. I rested in the lobby, fighting sleep by the minute.

At midnight I got into a hotel car and drove to the airport.

Nothing of note happened at the airport.

I boarded my Etihad Airways flight to Brussels at 2:05 and fell asleep as soon as I was settled.