Dubai - 2010
I stopped in Dubai on my way to India, in November 2010. I had flown through Dubai numerous times before, but I had never stopped over. When I arrived, I went to the taxi stand, and was directed to the 'ladies' taxi queue. These taxis are driven by ladies and are apparently meant for ladies travelling alone. After freshening up at my hotel, I went to the Dubai Creek, and took a ride on an 'Abra', or water taxi, to the other side of the creek and back. I had dinner at one of the cafes near the creek. At the cafe I tried the 'shisha' which is a water pipe.
The next day I went back to the creek, and crossed it using the Abra. I visited the Dubai Museum, which offers a very interesting look at life in Dubai before the oil-boom. From there, I walked to to Grand Mosque, and the Bastakiya district. The Bastakiya has some well-preserved houses with wind towers. The wind towers were a way of cooling houses before electricity and air-conditioning. The more wind towers a house had, the more prosperous it's owner. I then walked to the Gold Souk and the Spice Souk. The Gold Souk has an unbelievable amount of gold ornaments. Walking through the souk, you find many vendors openly offering all kinds of fake designer watches, handbags etc. I had lunch at a local cafe, and returned to my hotel.
I had made reservations for the Desert Safari, for that afternoon. They picked me up from my hotel at 3:00, in a Land Rover. After picking up some more people, we were driven to the desert. There we joined a convoy of other Land Rovers. The drivers deflated the tires a little, and then showed off their skills 'dune bashing'. This is where they go up and down the sand dunes at wild speeds and crazy angles. After about 30 minutes of this, we drove to a 'Bedouin' camp. Camel rides were available at this place. This was my first time on a camel. The camel knelt and allowed us to mount and dismount. Sitting on a camel when it kneels and gets back up, is a very unique experience. The camp had several tents arranged in a large circle. One of the tents was for the buffet table, and the others had different activities, like henna painting, shisha (water pipe) smoking etc. I tried the shisha again, and dressed in traditional Arab clothes. Then it was time for dinner. There were two lines for the buffet, one for men and one for women. Low tables and cushions were arranged in the form of spokes, around a central stage. During dinner, dancers performed on the stage.
The next day, I bought a day pass to the Dubai Metro. I took the Metro to the Dubai Mall. I went to the top of the Burj Khalifa, which is now the tallest structure in the world. I watched the musical fountains in the Mall. I took a taxi to Jumeirah Mosque. I then went to Madinat Jumeirah, the Wild Wadi water park, and the Burj Al Arab, a 7-star hotel in the shape of a Dhow's sail. Standing at the gates of the hotel was the closest I got to 7-star luxury. By then it was time to go back to the hotel, check out and go to the airport.
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