So the camel races are pretty much where you would expect: in the middle of the desert. The track's in a little place called Al Marmoom, on the road between Duabi and Al Ain--pretty much a vast expanse of desert. You have to be a V.I.P. (it wasn't clear to me whether that means you have to be Emirati, or you have to me a club member, or what--definitely didn't include me) to sit in the plush part of the stadium, which has nice cushions and a constant flow of hot (!) tea. Everybody else sits off to the side in regular stadium chairs and a guard keeps watch to make sure non-V.I.P.s don't photograph the VIPs or even their section. Odd. On the up side, it's free and guys walk around with trays of dates and baby-sized cans of soda.
Okay, the races. No jockeys. I guess until a few years ago, most of the jockeys were little kids brought in from South Asia and kept skinny for maximum speed. Luckily, that's no longer the practice. Instead, the camels are ridden by little remote-controlled robots. "Drivers" race on an inner track in big SUVs, leaning out the window with remote controls and cheering for their camels. The races run constantly. One ends and the next one starts moments later. I stayed for a little over an hour and saw untold numbers of camels race. Farms and camel pens surround the track, pretty much filling all of Al Marmoom, and I spent a few more hours just walking around the desert (I'm like Moses with a sunburn).
No comments:
Post a Comment