Abu Dhabi The Travel Show

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it's Breakfast with Charlie Stayt

and Steph McGovern.

But first on BBC News,

The Travel Show.

Is fill in but I had always reckoned

the oil-rich Abu Dhabi, the hear me

leave, it was never that interested

in attracting tourists is, unlike

its flashy neighbour Dubai, for

example. But on this trip, I think I

might have to revise that opinion.

Because Abu Dhabi seems to be upping

its game, especially in the cultural

stakes. On my journey, I am going to

experience world-renowned

architecture like the new Louvre

Museum, and find out how traditional

local musical instruments are being

revived. But I will also be

exploring both urban and desert

landscapes to get a sense of how

this emirate is making the most of

its unique environment.

Abu Dhabi is entering a new phase in

its breakneck speed development. Is

it really going to reach the heights

as must see tourist destination in

its own right?

It is hard to believe Abu Dhabi was

just a fishing village only a few

decades ago. In 1971, the United

Arab Emirates became a nation and

its dominant stakeholder has always

been Abu Dhabi, led by a family,

thanks largely to huge oil revenues.

And when it opened in 2007, this

impressive white marble edifice

became a spiritual landmark.

Abu Dhabi's grand Mosque, brands in

ambition, grand in scale, and grand

in design. And when it was finished

a decade ago, it became this

emirate's calling card to the rest

of the world. -- brand in ambition

-- brand. Now, when they made this

Mosque, they were making a

statement, Wednesday, about Abu

Dhabi?

Absolutely.

What were they

trying to say?

I think when people

think about the United Arab Emirates

and the Middle East, the first city

that comes to your mind is

definitely Dubai. I think after we

built this Mosque and it was the

vision of his late Highness, he knew

that this was going to be the icon

that would ring people to Abu Dhabi

and ensure the true message of the

Middle East.

10,000 visitors come

here every day. Inside, up to 40,000

worshippers can be accommodated on

key days in the Islamic calendar.

Just look at the details of every

single part of the Mosque. It is

absolutely beautiful. The carpet is

from Iran. You have the chandeliers

upper Baa-Baas.

-- up above us.

In fact, this is the largest

handknotted carpet in the world and

this cold chandelier is one of the

biggest in the world. Islam is

regarded here as a living, breathing

faith, with verses from the Koran

the inspiration for the design and

architecture here. What I wanted to

know from Imam is the grand vision

in Abu Dhabi really includes

everyone who lives here, like the

expat community and the migrants are

working relatively low paid jobs.

After all, them at his own in the

minority here.

Just look around you,

you find a lot of people from all

over the world in all different

backgrounds who come here and make

this place home. The US always sell

the American dream, there is the

Emma Rossi dream. Believe it or not,

the Emma Rossi dream is definitely

leaving a great quality standard of

life and, of course, living amongst

people from all over the world. This

is definitely the Emma Arty dream.

-- Emirati dream.

There have been other large-scale

construction projects, on Saadiyat

Island, art galleries and museums,

including quite possibly the most

prestigious art brand in the world,

which has just opened its doors. For

a decade now, the grand Mosque has

been Abu Dhabi's most popular

tourist location, and till this

astonishing creation came along. --

until. The Louvre Abu Dhabi houses

artefacts on loan from Paris, and

others bought and permanent. From

ancient pieces to African

sculptures, facing European

masterpieces from every era. While

contemporary Arabic at shares space

with Chinese culture. -- -- art.

It

is the universal museum, it is

museum that takes you through

different cultures and similar

stations in contact with each other.

To me, walking to the gallery is

walking to time and seeing what is

happening in different cultures at

the same moment.

There is a Medina

or Arabic Village feel to the layout

and as for the architecture here,

well, it is all about geometry and

light.

It is a dime, symbolising Islamic

architecture, but as you can see,

there are eight layers up there that

allows the light to filter through

and come down as you can see it,

with what the architect calls the

reign of light.

So, this whole display of the Museum

is in a way representing who we are,

because we have always been in the

middle of this region. The golf

resort has been a connection of

trade in different civilisations, so

going through this narrative allows

you to capture the essence of who we

are, the essence of who the UAE is

today.

And the museum is yet to

reveal its most publicised exhibit,

a 500-year-old painting of Christ

which recently achieved the highest

auction price for any work of art,

by the very same artist who created

this, Leonardo da Vinci.

So

basically, the chances are that the

world's most expensive painting is

going to be in this room, possibly

in this very spot.

At 400 million...

Exactly who bought the painting for

nearly half $1 billion has been

shrouded in some mystery. Reports

claimed it was a Saudi billionaire

Prince, the Louvre people tell me it

was the Abu Dhabi government. Either

way, it will be on display very

soon. Watch this space, literally.

Playing the cultural card here is

not just about splashing cash on

famous international brands and

collections, there are indigenous

art forms that are being revived,

like traditional Arabic instruments.

In this academy, 60 students of all

ages are learning how to play this

instrument. The ood. It is related

to the European route and has

origins as far back as the ancient

Egyptian Pharaohs. What is really

great about this place is that you

do not just learn how to play the

ood, it can watch one being made.

This is how the whole process

begins.

The craftsman he assessed by working

eight hours a day for a month he can

make two of these instruments. This

is partisanship of the highest

order.

-- artisanship.

Thank you so much. It has been a

privilege to watch you at work,

thank you. So, fresh from the

workshop. Now, let's see if we can

make any music from it. I'm not

going to find out more about the ood

from just anybody but actually,

quite possibly the most famous

female ood player in the world.

What is unique about it?

The

uniqueness, it has at the back, not

flat like a guitar. This gives a

deep as in the sound and also, we do

not have great, so that gives

richness.

-- frets.

Particularly in Abu Dhabi, I think

the ood is very important,

particularly for older people

because in every home, you can find

a ood.

Maybe they are playing it for

fun, not for a professionally, but

they like ood here.

OK, time for me to get a lesson from

the expert. His double strings are a

bit tricky for a starter. That is

relatively easy.

That is very good

for the first time.

Can you play

chords with this?

Yes, sure. This is

C, E, G.

Yes. And sometimes, we are using it

that technique.

-- guitar.

I just jammed with...

That is very

good for a first time. It was very

good.

I was lucky, I was just

playing one chord. That is amazing,

thank you.

Thank you very much.

Of course, culture is not only about

finite and classical music. Now, Abu

Dhabi is staking its claim as the

capital of sports in the golf, and

not just by owning the elite

football brand, Manchester City, or

by hosting Formula 1 races. Because

women like this are breaking new

cultural grounds by turning iconic

urban landmarks into concrete gyms.

Amal is the first woman to compete

and coach in park parkour.

There are so many things that you

are actually doing, you are just

doing outdoors in a different way.

You find a space and you start

trying to put things on that space

that you have.

When was the

epiphany, when you thought actually,

I can do this?

Since I was a child,

I was always the rebel in the

neighbourhood, I was the one running

around and... The way that we were

brought up was literally barefoot on

concrete. Girls play with boys and

we used to beat the boys, like the

girls were the stronger ones, you

know? I feel like we have created

these barriers for ourselves.

Especially when I first started park

or, I thought society wouldn't

accept me and I was so afraid and I

felt I was afraid of it -- parkour.

But when I started doing the sport I

had so much support and it surprised

me because that is contradictory to

what people might have thought about

a society, especially in the Middle

East and it being an Arabic country.

She has created such a stir, that

Nike Peter Robinson on the ship and

commercials.

Of course not everyone

is going to like what I'm doing but

I feel at if you are genuine, like

for me sport has shaped me since

childhood, that the super important

and the message I want to give.

From the restricted subways of an

urban jungle, my journey takes me to

the seemingly limitless desert, Abu

Dhabi's defining feature.

Little wonder it was one of the

locations for the most recent Star

Wars movie. 3.5 hours south-west of

the big city is the vast expanse of

desert. It is the UAE's driest

region. It is remote but beautiful.

It is a world apart from the big

city. At this annual sports

festival, there are camel and horse

races. But basically this is party

time for petrol heads, attracting

tens of thousands from all over the

Gulf region.

When you just enter

this area, it's like the feeling of

excitement. The adrenaline? Yeah.

And truth be told it's very much a

male domain. Supposedly respectable

grown-ups and boys bring their

buggies for a romp on the dudes and

you don't get much bigger than this.

300 metres high at an incline of 50

degrees. It's crazy here! It's

madness! Almost panicky. All of this

race is getting it out of their

system! But I'm going to meet at Guy

now who's a bit of a seasoned

campaigner here. Muhamed, hi. Can

you show me some skills? By date,

Muhamed is the director of his own

business, while also studying for a

Ph.D.. But this is his real passion.

I think I was born with this thing

in my blood. So I remember when they

used to wake me up for school, when

we were kids, like, I want to sleep

little more and they would say,

Mohamed, here are the keys. Go and

start your brother's car and I would

just jumped out of bed, just for

that, you know?

So tell me, how long

have you been coming to this

festival for?

I recall I came the

first time here in 2006. It has been

going so fast. Initially I recall we

used to come and find only a few

things. Right now it is like a

complete festival.

Can you show me a

few other that you do?

I can.

Wow!

Fantastic.

This car is like as it

came from the factory. So from a

factory it has around 250

horsepower. It will not be enough to

take us to the top.

Yeah.

But I refuse to give up. You know

what? I spend looking at one of the

world's highest and steepest sand

dunes for a while now. I really want

to reach the top and, luckily, I've

got myself belief to. -- a lift.

Whoa!

Whoo! We are getting to the top.

Meanwhile, it turns out, my man

Mohamed who took me for a spin

earlier isn't just an average punter

here. He is a serious competitor in

the nightly races between teens.

This is one of the world famous car

races. Around 30- 40 cars per day at

the event. So imagining two days you

have around 50,000 competing.

And he

is back after a lengthy gap, when a

mechanical failure put him in

serious peril.

I had a smooth race,

to be honest, until the top and all

of a sudden the car stopped. On the

way back, I lost the brakes.

Seriously.

Actually they didn't

work. They didn't work! Mohamed

wasn't injured, but it has been

three years since that incident.

Maybe before that time I was almost

easy on safety measures and now...

Now you are different man? Yeah.

The

engines alone in some of these cars

cost up to $80,000 each and royal

families and famous names sponsors

invest in the teams. Mohamed's team

has been working for six months on

this machine alone.

This is

custom-made and obviously all of the

materials that we have the prepare a

car for, 1000 plus horsepower.

It

may be a different kind of

horsepower, but there's something

timeless about the prerace rituals.

Gladiators coming out to test their

nerves and keep their vehicles.

Spluttering like boxes of

firecrackers against each other.

What the hell? It's like a crazy box

of fireworks, storming up the hill.

They don't care if the whole car

blows up, as long as they get to the

top. Now it is Mohamed's big moment.

The car didn't make the distance and

engine problems mean it is now a

write-off and not able to do its

second trial. But Mohamed didn't

seem too downhearted.

I'm super

excited. Seriously, under that dune,

you just aim for the top and that's

it. You forget about your fears,

those butterflies in your stomach,

nothing, seriously.

Fantastic. Well

done.

Take care.

A glorious fireworks display to

match the fitting and popping of the

souped up cars. 20 years ago this

extravaganza would have been

unimaginable here. But these

emirates still has quite a climb to

sell itself as a tourist destination

with its power they'll -- power

neighbour Dubai. It is attracted to

people who want something unique and

off the beaten path and that's as

true of the desert festival as it is

of the new buildings. The hope is

that by taking this route Abu Dhabi

becomes a must see destination in

the Middle East.