Hot water!

It's been a bit chilly lately with the need for a warm blanket over the duvet and a jacket in the mornings. I've even taken to wearing leggings under my skirts to keep myself warm enough. Tonight there was no pilates, not so bad as I was still recovering my dignity from zumba. Joanne suggested we go up Jebel Hafit and then for a swim in the hot pools at the Green Mubazzara. Excellent idea.

It was trying to rain as we left and there was a very cold wind at the top of the Jebel. The gate to the top was locked so we piled back in the car to make a quick descent to the pools. Jane and I got chatting to some visitors from Mumbai, four ladies and their husbands all beautifully dressed. Jane took a group photo for them, they included us in another. One of the men lived in Al Ain and told us to be careful because the ladies were terrorists from Pakistan. There was much hilarity as we bantered.

The hot pools are my new best favourite place in Al Ain. The ladies at the door told us the many rules. Two were linked, no camera phones and we had to wear a shower cap. We purchased one from the shop, very fashionable and certainly not something I'd like to be photographed wearing. The water was bliss for my sore body, the heat going through to my bones. Very relaxing. The pool is indoors and is a rectangular one with a ramps and steps down into the neck high water.

And hot, man it was really hot. I managed a half hour or so, I was well cooked. I talked to a German lady who was there as we were wondering about the water. She told me that the water comes directly from the geothermal springs at the base of the Jebel and has to be cooled so we can soak in it. She said that it has been too hot to enter some of the times she had been out there. It's definitely a place I'll revisit, especially at this time of year when a hot bath is exactly what the doctor ordered.