Abu Dhabi - A drooping nose, a high hump, a slim neck, long legs, big eyes. Those are the features that over 10,000 contestants will be strutting in a pageant for the Arabian Gulf's most beautiful camels.
The eight-day competition will begin Wednesday in the typical grandiose style of the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Which contestant will win the pageant, in which 9 million dollars in cash prizes and 100 cars will be given away. Is it Asayel with the good lineage or Mahajim with the dark complexion?
The pageant is organized by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage to remind people of their heritage.
The "ship of the desert" is still celebrated in the oil-rich rapidly modernizing Gulf Arab states as the symbol of the traditional nomadic life of the Bedouin.
Historically, Arabs used camels as an indispensable, efficient transport and sometimes as war machine and food.
Contestants should be pedigree camels free of contagious diseases and serious defects.
Camel racing is a popular sport and a lucrative business in the Gulf region.
Abu Dhabi is one of seven emirates that make up the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.
