ARCHAEOZOOLOGY OF SOUTHWEST ASIA AND ADJACENT AREAS

9th Meeting of ASWA
15-20 November 2008
Al Ain, Abu Dhabi emirate, United Arab Emirates

organised by:
Marjan Mashkour (Muséum national d'histoire naturelle / CNRS, Paris, France) &
Mark Beech (Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, Abu Dhabi, UAE)

sponsored by the:

Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH)
French Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Bank of Sharjah
Dassault Aviation
Thales
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Mercure Hotel - Jebel Hafit

ASWA IX - Final Announcement

Dear All,

We the organisers of the 9th ASWA conference would like to welcome all the delegates / guests to the wonderful city of Al Ain in Abu Dhabi emirate in the United Arab Emirates. As most of you will be arriving by the end of this week, we would like to give you some basic advice which you may need when you get here:

1. Should you be stopped for any reason in immigration at either Dubai or Abu Dhabi airport, please explain that you are guests of the “Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage” (ADACH), and that you are attending the 9th ASWA conference at the Mercure Hotel – Jebel Hafit in Al Ain.

2. The delegates, who will be arriving from the Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports, please refer to the file containing respective route maps to Jebel Hafit and the Mercure Hotel. For more information about the respective airports, see either:
http://www.abudhabiairport.ae/index.asp
http://www.dubaiairport.com/dia/english/home/

3. If you are taking a taxi from the airport to Al Ain please do the following:

In Abu Dhabi – once you walk through to the arrivals area, turn immediately right and you will see a special queue for taxis. If no-one is there simply walk out the nearest door and turn to the right. There should be a line of limousine style taxis waiting in line. They all belong to the company “Fast Taxis” (tel: +971 2 6220000), or “National Taxi” (tel: +971 600 535353). Usually one man is standing there with a clipboard co-ordinating the taxis. Just tell him that you want to go to Al Ain (to Mercure Hotel on Jebel Hafit). The fare is a fixed price of 275 DH payable on arrival.

In Dubai – the taxi company is called “Dubai Transport Corporation” (website: http://dtc.dubai.ae/en.portal). You come outside the airport terminal and you should find them. Dubai Transport taxis operate on a meter basis. You may be able to negotiate a fixed price with other taxis operating at the airport.

4. For those delegates who would like to do some sightseeing in Dubai and Abu Dhabi before or after the ASWA conference, please refer to the maps of the cities provided below.

5. Please do bring pull-overs and warm clothing for the slightly chilly nights up on Jebel Hafit.
The hotel is located at around 1000m so sitting outside at night may require a bit of extra
clothing because of the cool breeze.

6. If you like you can bring modest swim-wear to use in the swimming pool at the Mercure Hotel.

7. It is advisable to have sun hats, sunglasses and sun-cream protection for the
post-conference excursions as the sun is still quite strong this time of year. Current average daily temperature in Al Ain is 34 degrees C (18 degrees C at night).

8. In case of any emergencies please contact:

Dr. Mark Beech: Mobile +971 50 7527407
Dr. Marjan Mashkour: Mobile +971 50 1251473

kind regards

Mark and Marjan

P.S. For those of you who have a GPS here are the important co-ordinates:

GPS (decimal degrees, WGS84)

Abu Dhabi International Airport
54.645898° E, 24.427209° N

Dubai International Airport
55.358102° E, 25.250229° N

Mercure Hotel – Jebel Hafit
55.768488° E, 24.077731° N

See also the following maps:

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