Three in the morning is when the camel training strings go out. The tracks at Al Marmoom and the other racing venues work in the dark and the first light because that is the only time of year-round comfort for the animals, and the training season fills the small hours from autumn through to spring.
It is also the middle of the freight night. The cargo terminals handle a large share of their volume between midnight and dawn so that consignments clear and move onward at the start of the business day, which is why the industrial roads are busier at this hour than the residential ones.
For everyone else it is deep sleep, and a countdown to three in the morning is almost always tied to something specific — a departure, a shift, or an interval that has to be kept regardless of the hour. The count resets every day.
Common questions
Is anything actually happening at 3 am in the Emirates?
The freight terminals, the hospitals and the camel training tracks, which work through the small hours from autumn to spring.
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