Fun on the roads

I'm nearly done with all the paperwork and bureaucracy now (hopefully I haven't spoken too soon), all I think I'm missing is my alcohol license. I was issued with my UAE driving license last week. A very quick process in comparison, which involved a letter, translation of the UK license, more photos, an eye test, about 220 dirhams, then actually having a separate photo taken for the license. However, less than one our later I was the proud holder of a 10 year UAE driving license.

We ordered a new car straight away which we should get any day now, but hired a car till then. Getting mobile is good, though taxis are cheap, it's nice to have that bit of freedom to just not have to rely on lifts into work and taxis to shops etc. As it turned out I needed to be in Dubai twice this week, so just jumped in the car and hit the E11 from Abu Dhabi to Dubai.

First time on the roads is a bit scary, 4 lane motorways, where under taking is as common as over taking, tailgating is constant, and if you can't move out of the way for someone to pass, they will just slip onto the hard shoulders, and literally squeeze past! I don't think it's taken me long to get used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road, and being able to do u-turns at every traffic light junction. Hopefully I won't pick up too many of the bad habits the drivers have over here, but I'm not so sure.

Driving in the UAE seems to follow Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution and is very much a case of "survival of the fittest", so to get ahead on the roads, it is a case of if you can't beat them, join them!