You might think of Ruwais, an industrial hub 240km west of the capital, as a maze of petrochemicals plants and isolated workers' camps, punctuated by a couple of Adnoc petrol stations.
This is only half true.
Drive 15 minutes outside the centre of Ruwais and you'll find the Danat Jebel Dhanna Resort. White-sand beaches, very few tourists and water so clear you can see your toes. Who needs a private island when you can find such an idyll a two-hour drive from Abu Dhabi?
The water is shallow and blue-green for what seems to stretch for half a kilometre out. No oil tankers or drilling rigs were in sight on a recent visit. A few visitors from the UAE were gathered around the pool but the beach was largely quiet. Hammocks wide enough for two people dot the green resort grounds.
Towards dark, shisha and other refreshments can be enjoyed at Gazebo, a tranquil spot near the beach. If smoking isn't your thing, the fitness centre has a few basic spa rooms offering massages.
The hotel has one feature you can't find in Zanzibar or the Maldives. Thanks to it being the only refreshment outlet of its kind for 240km in any direction, L'attitude bar has unique charms echoing perhaps the Wild West.
Inside, a belly dancer in a silver costume entertained an international audience hailing from the Levant and East Asia. After she and her cane twirled off the stage, traditional dabke music - the kind of celebratory musicheard at Arabweddings - came on. Some men taught others how to throw their arms over each other's shoulders and stamp their feet. Outside the hotel, amenities are few - just a couple Adnoc Oasis stop-n-shops and the Adnoc workers' complex referred to as Ruwais Housing - so you might want to bring some personal supplies, just as if you were heading to the frontier.
ayee@thenational.ae
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
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The biog
Favourite book: Men are from Mars Women are from Venus
Favourite travel destination: Ooty, a hill station in South India
Hobbies: Cooking. Biryani, pepper crab are her signature dishes
Favourite place in UAE: Marjan Island
PFA Team of the Year: David de Gea, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Alonso, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Aguero
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Five films to watch
Castle in the Sky (1986)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Pom Poki (1994)
The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)
