I stayed with Australian friends in Abu Dhabi and they showed me some of the more unusual and interesting parts of the emirates.

In terms of land, Abu Dhabi makes up almost 90% of the Emirates, and has by far the most oil.  Dubai got more international attention by using Emirates Airlines as a hub to attract more international tourists and by building gigantic hotels.  But then the global financial crisis hit and the money ran out.  There are abandoned construction projects all around the outskirts of Dubai, which has fallen on hard times.

Abu Dhabi doesn’t want to be outdone and they set up Etihad, built some gigantic hotels of their own and are embarking on a series of new building projects, such as a new Guggenheim and other museums.

The Emirates Palace has a vending machine catering for all your gold purchasing needs.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is an amazing building.

Enough pork products to satisfy even Homer Simpson wait behind these supermarket doors.

The most interesting tourist attraction in the UAE is not very well known and is difficult to visit.  The Emirates National Auto Museum doesn’t sound like a particularly interesting place to visit, but in fact it is one of the strangest places I’ve ever been.

Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan (also known as The Rainbow Sheikh) is a member of the Emirates royal family.  He has billions of dollars and has collected over 200 cars.  He built a gigantic fibreglass pyramid in the middle of the desert to house them.  The opening hours of the museum are extremely erratic and of around the dozen or so times my friend had visited, it had only been open once.  I was lucky enough to get a chance to go inside.

There are lots of ordinary cars, some very tacky cars, and the largest car in the world – a Dodge Power Wagon, eight times the size of the original.  It is simply enormous.  We could walk through the car which has a staircase and different levels.  There are four bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom.  They all decorated in a very tatty style.

The Sheikh even had his name (Hamad) written in kilometer-high letters on his private island so it appears on Google maps.

There’s a video interview with the Rainbow Sheikh himself and a tour inside the car.

Some of the terrors I witnessed in North Korea.

In 1968, the North Koreans sent a team of commandos to kill the South Korean president.  They reached the presidential residence, but failed to kill the president.  Only two of the commandos survived.  One escaped back to North Korea and became a general, the other became a Christian minister.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/battle-lessons-from-a-reformed-assassin-20101218-191ej.html

We visited an orphanage when I was in North Korea.

We had been told beforehand we would be visiting and brought along pencils and pens as presents for the children.

The orphanage that is shown to foreigners is presumably a lot better than other orphanages in the country.  This orphanage receives donations from the Red Cross and on the outside the building reminded me of a Japanese kindergarten.  The children all looked well enough and put on a performance for us.

Outside the orphanage there was a colorful mural depicting animals at play.

But if you look closer, what is the animal (fox?) on the left doing?

That’s right.  He’s videotaping.  Everyone is watched in North Korea.

Many North Koreans believe the stories about their leaders – that Kim Il Sung was solely responsible for saving them from the Japanese (the American bombings had nothing to do with it) and that miracles such as a double rainbow signified the birth of Kim Jong Il.

They are told that North Korea is one of the greatest countries in the world and workers everywhere else are brutally exploited.  When Kim Il Sung died, many North Koreans were genuinely distraught.

Guy Delisle’s graphic novel, Pyongyang, details his experience of living and working in North Korea.  He discusses the question of how can so many North Koreans believe that Kim Il Sung was so great and that life in North Korea is so much better than other countries.

There’s a question that has to be burning on the lips of all foreigners here.  A question you refrain from speaking aloud.  But one can’t help asking yourself.  Do they really believe the bullshit that’s being forced down their throats?

For those isolated in the countryside, where a simple trip between two villages requires a visa, the propaganda must be convincing.  But for my companions, it’s different, because they are among the privileged few who are able to leave the country. Every animation contract is an opportunity for some of them to get themselves invited abroad to “start a project.”  In fact, those who visit Paris or Rome are not necessarily the ones who wind up working on the production.  And only married men with children are authorized to travel.  If they’re not fooled, they never let on.

In fact, they live in a state of constant paradox where truth is anything but constant.  It’s like their permanent fear of landing in one of the re-education camps.  Officially they don’t exist, but everyone knows they’re there.  And a Sword of Damocles hangs over every head, waiting for one false move.  Striking both the “guilty” and their entire families.  At a certain level of oppression, truth hardly matters, because the greater the lie, the greater the show of power.  And the greater the terror for all.  A mute, hidden terror.

Almost everything the great leader did, has become the stuff of legend.  All North Korean adults are expected to wear pins with portraits of Kim Il Sung.

Of course people in Australia are far too clever to fall for talk of supposed miracles…

A couple of days after I returned to Australia, Mary Mackillop was canonised as Australia’s first Catholic saint.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/what-was-said-about-mary-mackillops-canonisation/story-fn6rlm9d-1225939883268

… I now think of Mary as a friend. I feel very close to her and the relationship means a great deal to me.”
– Kathleen Evans, the woman who received Mary MacKillop’s second miracle.

“How does a miracle feel? I feel very fortunate that I was given the opportunity to live my life, have a family, have grandchildren, so that’s a miracle.”
– Mary MacKillop’s first miracle, Veronica Hopson, told Seven’s Sunday Night program.

“The entire Australian nation should be celebrating in her canonisation. It’s just an enormous buzz, but it’s a buzz about something real – this woman who lived a life of charity.”
– Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.

“I’ve prayed to her and she’s helped me with my problems. That’s why I’m here, I wanted to thank her.”
– Sydney woman Emilia Mourani in Rome.

I purchased a Korean phrase book in North Korea.

As most travel phrase books do, it starts with basic greetings.

Then it starts to cater to more important concerns for your average tourist visiting North Korea.

With all of these handy hints, I’m surprised foreign diplomats haven’t already solved all of the problems with Korean reunification.