Go to Liwa Oasis, it said on the little pocket map, and prepare to be blown away.
That, on the basis of one visit, is an overstatement.
Liwa comes at the end of a 235km drive towards the Saudi border from Abu Dhabi. You do not travel through the desert and expect to see lush valleys or snow-capped mountain tops, so it would be unfair to say the road is drab.
After Madinat Zayed, it perks up a little, as the sand becomes reddish brown in parts and more greenery, even the occasional farm, appears by the roadside.
The first impression is of a friendly little community. Asked if there is anywhere where my wife can buy a swimsuit for the hotel pool, an Emirati instantly beckons us to follow his 4x4 to a parade of shops where a one-size model, hardly the stuff of catwalks but functional (and available), costs all of two pounds.
Liwa is hosting its annual date festival, when people bring their produce to be judged in competition and all manner of craftsmen, spice merchants and perfume sellers set up stalls in a large marquee.
The atmosphere is good. People offer tea, coffee, dates, scent samples and - at the Western Province Police Department stand - a bag of goodies: T-shirts, a paperweight and the like.
Zeyad Musalam al Najjar, from the Emirates Heritage Club, encourages visitors to watch and photograph recitals by a group of small boys.
A charming lady whose business card reveals her to be a government sales supervisor for the Al Foah date farm (described as the world's largest of its kind) at Abu Dhabi's second city, Al Ain, showers us with hospitality: a sealed packet to take home, a large box of fresh dates to share around the office. Thank you, Sheikha al Dhaheri. Greedy colleagues devoured your delicious fruit.
But the high point of the trip ought to have been watching the sun setting. A Filipino working at the hotel led us to some dunes where, from two benches, the spectacle can be witnessed at leisure.
Too much leisure. The sun seemed to be on strike. In 10 minutes, it seemed not to have descended by the least fraction of an inch within our vision. This did not matter, since our room at the Liwa Oasis hotel had a balcony with a view only marginally less impressive.
It took perhaps five minutes to get there. And by then, the sun was gone. Blown away, at any rate from our immediate hopes. More seasoned desert dwellers will doubtless let me know if it's worth going back to fill in the gap in my Arabian experience.
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