Hedley's Trip

They set off early morning from Bandar, the capital of Brunei and
drove to the border with Sarawak. They arrived at sunset. They crossed two large rivers by
a large ferry, stopped in Miri for lunch and then continued to Niah, a small river
township. Then they hired a small boat and sailed upriver to a
government rest house, where they stayed the night. They ate dinner with
the small group of scientists who lived in the rest house and shared the cold
drinks they had brought with them in a cool box. It was a remote
spot, in middle of the jungle. They slept in bunk beds with no airconditioning.


The next day morning, they went on a jungle path for half an hour until
they reached the Niah caves. Along the caves, which were very high,
they saw men who climbed up tall bamboo poles. They were wearing light hats because it was so dark. At the top of the poles, they took off birds’ nests from the roof of the caves. The nests were collected by their mates on the cave floor. These nests were
later sold and made into bird’s nest soup, a Chinese delicacy; they eat everything even human meat.

Finally, they said goodbye to their new friends in the rest
house and departed on the long drive home. It was quite an adventure.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Sheikh Zayed

            Zayed was the youngest son (4th ) of Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, the traditional ruler of Abu Dhabi. Zayed was named after his famous grandfather, Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan (Zayed the Great), who ruled the emirate from 1855 to 1909. His eldest brother, Sheikh Shakhbut Bin-Sultan Al Nahyan, became ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1928 after their uncle. Zayed's mother, Sheikha Salaamah, took a promise from her sons not to use violence against each other, a promise which they kept.

            As Zayed was growing up, there were no modern schools anywhere along the coast. He received only a basic instruction in the principles of Islam, and lived in the desert with Bedouin tribesmen, familiarizing himself with the life of the people, their traditional skills and their ability to survive under tough conditions.
Zayed was selecteed the governor of the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi in 1946 and was based in the Muqaiji fort in Al Ain. At that time, the area was poor.

            In 2004 on 2 November, Zayed died. He was believed to be 86 years old. However, he had recently been in a London hospital getting treatment. He is buried in the yard of the new Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
His eldest son, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, born in 1948, was ratified as the Ruler of the United Arab Emirates by his fellow rulers on the Supreme Council directly after his father's death.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zayed_bin_Sultan_Al_Nahyan
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