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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Day 94-95: Dubai

Tuesday was a quiet day. Mike was still in Qatar, so Jackie and I spent the day with Sheila. After lunch Sheila took us to 'Barracuda', a large liquor store an hour outside of Dubai. The prices were more or less on par with what we would pay in the States, which makes it cheaper than Canada by a fair margin. They also had a good selection of beers and wines. Jackie and I helped to offset the dent that we have been putting on Mike and She's beer and wine stocks.

It was interesting to see camels and donkeys off the side of the roads on the drive out and back, though Sheila was disappointed that none were any closer. She was telling us that often times camels will be on the roads and traffic needs to accomodate. We did get to experience first hand some of the frustrations of driving in Dubai, with constant construction; roads that used to be direct are now either littered with traffic lights or torn up and drivers need to find other ways around. Also street signage is inaccurate and incomplete. Regardless we did make it back safe and sound. In the afternoon, Jackie and I went for another swim, and when Mike got back we made pizza for dinner.

Day 95, we went on a desert safari. We were getting picked up at the apartment at 2:15 in the afternoon so Jackie and I spent the morning swimming and kicking back. At 2:15 we were loaded into a Chevy Tahoe and introduced to our driver, Omar. 
*Apparently, we like to swim in sync

Omar told us some of the history of Dubai, and pointed out some of the interesting landmarks on our way out of the city. We drove about 45 minutes into the desert, stopping once to see the jockeys that drive the camels in camel races. Camel jockeys used to be 10-12 year old children that would ride the camels in the 4-10km races. Now the race has been modernized. Radio controlled whipping machines are now strapped into the saddles with the 'supervisory controllers' following alongside in their cars. The future truly is full of marvels.
*Robo-jockey

When we arrived in the desert reserve we stopped to deflate the tires. We were told that deflated tires help to get better traction in the loose sand. We took some photos while waiting:


*Ragtag band of wanderers

When we were ready to go again Omar took us to one of the largest dunes in the desert to go sandboarding. This was an activity that Jackie and I had been looking forward to since we knew we were coming to Dubai. It is essentially snowboarding down a sand dune. We got out of the car and took some more photos while waiting for the sand (snow) boards to be brought up to us.

*Jackie taking a GQ photo of me (below)




Sandboarding was a lot of fun. To prove myself I volunteered to go first. It was not as fast as snowboarding but it was still a challenge for someone who has only ever skied.

*Ready to go

*Sheila picking up speed

*Mike before flipping head over heels

We got a few runs in each. Jackie took to it right away and Omar even directed her down one of the most challenging dunes, a steep path between patches of grass. She nailed it.

After sandboarding we were taken to see a Falconry show. It was pretty entertaining. The Aussie who hosted the show finished every sentence with 'okay?', which was pretty annoying. Otherwise, it was fairly educational. He told us that the falcons are not domesticated, but instead see their handlers as an easy source of food. If the handlers did not take proper care of the falcons, they would simply fly away.
*Falcon whizzing by

Following the show we headed out in a large convoy of vehicles to go dune bashing. This was when we realized that our driver Omar was the man. We were the second car in a convoy of about 25 vehicles. The car infront of us was blazing the trail and we were following fine when the car behind us got stuck leaving the rest of the convoy struggling to find a way around. We swung back around and Omar got out of the truck:
*What happened to Omar?

Omar then took it upon himself to flag the following cars in a direction that would avoid the stuck truck. Getting back in the truck we overheard some razzing coming over the radio, with the assumption being that our vehicle was the one stuck. Omar picked up the radio and said to the whole convoy; "Omar does not get stuck... When was the last time you saw Omar stuck?". We laughed about that for a while.

We drove over the dunes for another 20 min or so until another car got stuck. Again, Omar got out and started directing the convoy. This time we got a couple photos of him.
*Omar directing traffic

*"Yes, I just saved the convoy"

Despite the fact the convoy was once again safely progressing through the desert thanks to Omar, we took more flack over the radio.
*Cars following us over the dunes

*Oryx grazing in the desert

We stopped to enjoy the sunset over the desert and again got a few more photos:


*Sheila jumping in front of other safari-ists

*GQ'ing in the air



After the sun set we went back to the main camp where dinner was to be served. Before dinner we had an opportunity to ride camels. The hardest part was staying on while they stood up. Fortunately, all four of us made it. Here we are once up:
*Yee-haw

After the camel rides we headed into the camp for dinner. The meal was traditional Arabic with falafels and rice (as well as Chinese noodles...). It was fun. The meal ended with a belly dancer, a larger Russian woman who really had the attention of the nearby Argentinean rugby team (who are in town for Dubai's Rugby 7 competition). During the meal there was also henna painting and shisha (a tobacco water pipe).


*Jackie's hand after getting henna painted

Jackie and I agreed, today was one of the most fun days we have had this trip. It belongs in the top five along with the Fjord tour, the Budapest Baths, the trip over the Alps, and the food tour of Modena. We have definitely been enjoying our time in Dubai. Till next time.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Day 92-93: Dubai

Sunday was a bit of a slow day. We got up late in the day, struggling to get back in sync with the time zone. We ate brunch and then headed out to run some errands with Dad and Sheila. In the afternoon, Dad left for a business trip to Qatar, while me, Daryl, and Sheila went to check out nearby Jumeirah Beach. We continued on to a restaurant near the beach front to try some so-called Napoli pizza. It actually wasn't a bad attempt, but didn't quite match the pizza nirvana that we achieved in Naples. We grabbed a nightcap at the nearby Hilton Hotel and continued home for a late night swim. All in all, a nice day, and one that was very necessary in allowing us to regroup and reenergize after our very draining excursion through Europe.
*At Jumierah Beach

*Sheila's picture of us swimming (Daryl on bottom, me in lane above)

Monday was a horse of a different colour. We got started pretty early in the day and went from sight to sight to sight. We started at the Dubai Cultural Center where we had breakfast and a cultural lesson from two local Emirati. It was very informative and they were open about their roots, religion, food, and clothing. There was a group of about 30 participants, including Expats and visitors.
*Cultural Center breakfast group

*Breakfast, including chickpeas, rice, and yummy fried dough

*Participant dressed in traditional clothing

After the cultural center, we walked around a bit through the Bastakiya area of Dubai, an old historic district of the city that contains many old residential buildings. Today, most have been converted into art studios and shops. We stopped into a spice shop and purchased some locally made perfumes.

Next, we continued along the Dubai Creek to the Textile Souk (or market), a grouping of stores selling textile materials, scarves, shoes, etc. Sheila and I both purchased tops. The shopkeepers are very pushy, with workers standing on the street trying to convince you to come into their particular shop. Bartering on price is expected, of course.
*Sheila at the Textile Souk admiring some shoes

We wanted to continue onto the Gold and Spice Souks, which lay across the Dubai Creek. Luckily, there are water taxis that continually ferry locals and tourists between the two sides of the creek. These boats, called abras, are made of wood and hold about 20 people. Each ride only costs 1 Dirham, or about $0.30.
*Getting ready to depart on the abra

*Another abra in the Dubai Creek

*The three of us on the abra

The gold and spice souks were very similar to the textile souk, with workers standing in the middle of alleys trying to pull you into their shops. At one point I was told that one store was selling a "real copy" of a Louis Vuitton bag. Wow, how exciting. The gold was too expensive and the bags too fake, so we moved on.
*Gold Souk

We took an abra back across the creek to enjoy a lunch of hummus, tabbouleh (an Arab salad made of parsley, bulger, tomatoes, and a few other ingredients), pitas, and noodles. It was just what we needed to get our energy up.
*Enjoying lunch at a creekside restaurant

On the way back to the apartment, Sheila drove us out to the Palm Jumeirah, a manmade island in the Persian Gulf. I think this is one instance where seeing the view is better than being the view. The island itself was cool, but living on it would be a nightmare. We did get some nice photos with the Burj Al Arab in the background, the self-proclaimed only 7-star hotel in the world. It is designed to look like a boat sail. It really is a stunning building.
*Us in front of the Burj Al Arab

In the evening, we tucked in for some leftovers and watched a locally-produced movie, called City of Life. It was actually quite good...we would recommend watching it to see some nice shots of the city, at the very least.

Daryl and I finished the night by sitting on Dad and Sheila's patio and enjoying the weather and bustle of the Dubai Marina. We also captured some nice pictures of the buildings across the marina. While the day was not as relaxing as the previous day, it was highly enjoyable. In addition, we ticked off a lot of our to-dos in Dubai. Tomorrow, we plan to have another day of relaxation, followed by a desert safari tour on Wednesday, which will include sandboarding and riding dune buggies. Should be awesome.
*View 1 of Dubai Marina at night from balcony

*View 2 of Dubai Marina at night from balcony

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Day 89-91: Rome & Dubai

Before I begin, Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all our American followers. You realize you celebrate it about a month too late, eh? 

Sorry we have delayed this post. Jackie and I have made it safely to Dubai and enjoyed a bit of R&R and did not get around to writing (until now).

Day 89, Thursday, was our last day in Europe. There were other guests checking in to the apartment so we were asked to leave before 10:00. Our flight left from the airport at 16:10, so we had a few extra hours we needed to kill with our baggage. We debated over locking it up at the railway station, but in the end decided to make straight for the airport.

After a cappuccino, we flagged down a cab and had him take us to the train station. We caught the train and sat in the airport for a few hours. With the extra time we got our VAT refund straightened out (tax back from the bag Jack bought) and kicked back in the airport lounge. I think Jackie makes fun of me a bit, but I am going to miss having Gold Status with Star Alliance next year.

The flight to Dubai had a stopover in Doha (we were flying Qatar Airways). The first leg of our journey went off without a hitch. Landing in Doha was a bit of an unwelcome adventure though. The terminal appears to have no gates, so every flight is loaded and unloaded on the tarmac and passengers are bussed back and forth. Between that, the redundant security checks, the dirty washrooms, and the throngs of people milling around waiting for their flights (at midnight), we did not leave Doha with a good impression.

We landed in Dubai and lined up for customs and immigration. This was a real trial in patience. As anyone who has driven across the border between the US and Canada knows, no matter which line you pick the line beside you will move faster (Jackie and I know a trick in Queenston ON which breaks this rule). Waiting in line, Jackie counted that the next line over was processing 4 people for every one of ours. You can imagine how frustrated she was getting. After a good 45min of this we got through unscathed.

Jackie's Dad, Mike, and Sheila were waiting on the other side (despite it now being 4:00AM) and drove us back to their apartment. We had a couple beers and caught up until it started getting light out, then we finally called it a day.

Jackie and I slept until about 1:00PM that day. After lunch we went for a walk around the neighbourhood. Jackie's Dad and Sheila lives in the neighbourhood of the Dubai Marina in a really nice apartment. There are pools and gyms as part of the complex and all around the marina are restaurants and shops. Below are some pictures:
*Nearby building, almost done construction

*Me and Mike critiquing the gelato

*Dubai Marina


After heading back, Mike and She made a surf and turf dinner for us which was delicious. We also started working on a 2000 piece puzzle of the worlds tallest sky scrapers (3 of which are here in Dubai). We also had a chance to show off a bit of the swag Jackie and I have collected through Europe (though I must warn the following is rated 18A, viewer discretion is advised):
*Form fitting aprons

Saturday morning Jackie and I got up a bit late but went down for a run. Jackie's endurance isn't what it was, but on the bright side her hip did not bother her at all. I felt it was a very positive sign, though Jackie was disappointed with how 'out of shape' she feels.

Afterwards we headed off to visit the Burj Khalifa, the worlds tallest building. The building took just over five years to build and clocks in at 829m. It took the record from our own beloved CN Tower, which is 'merely' 553m. The observation deck, the worlds highest in open air, is on the 124th floor at 452m. The elevator, the worlds fastest, made the trip in less than 30s. Below are the photos we took from the top:



*Palm Islands off to the distance on the right of picture

*Huge fountain area


After seeing what we wanted to see, we headed back down and wandered through the attached mall. See photos below:
*Fountain in the mall

*Ice rink in the mall

*Aquarium in the mall

It was nearly time for our dinner reservation so we walked over taking a few more photos:
*Our camera does not come close to capturing the whole tower


We ate at a very good steak house, though neither of us ordered steak. Jackie had the red snapper and I had the first hamburger I've had since our wedding week at the cottage. Both were delicious. After dinner we watched an artistic fountain show which was timed to O Mio Babbino Caro (see clip of the song performed by Mr. Bean at 1:00 mark of video); the fountain (shown in a previous picture from the Burj Khalifa) was designed by the same guy who did the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The show was quite beautiful. Naturally we got some more photos of how the area looks at night:



Tomorrow we have no major plans. Jackie has scheduled a hair appointment, hoping that a real hair dresser will do a better job than I did last month!