I made the daytrip out to Al Ain mainly because I’d read about the Al Ain camel market and thought it sounded amazing. I tend to enjoy markets of all kinds in most of the countries I’ve visited, so one devoted exclusively to camels as a difficult notion to turn down.Camels of all size, sex, and use were indeed in abundance at the Al Ain market.Some meant for breeding. Some for, apparently, cuteness.Some meant for eating. (And he didn’t seem to appreciate it!)The salesmen were from all over the Middle East. I met a ton from Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well a handful from Sudan. The camels were of similar provenance, though I didn’t speak much with them for the language barrier.I arrived in the early afternoon, when most of the business for the day is long finished. Some of the vendors were busy playing volleyball (and a few playing some hacky sack).A good number, though, were really interested in chatting and showing me around through the various camel pens.While a handful just hung out and looked friendly.I did manage to find a few sections devoted to other animals. This guy really got my goat, for example.And then, on the way out, the trash dump for the market’s discarded items. Apparently… this sale went bad?
Also, if you’ve ever wondered what a really angry camel sounds like, this is for you:
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I’m normally a proponent of independent travel where reasonable, but for a daytrip to the Al Ain Camel Market a guided tour might actually make sense. Leaving from Dubai, I arrived on a public bus a while after most of the action was done. GetYourGuide has quite a lot of partners in Dubai, so I imagine they’d have plenty of options.
