Tuesday we had no plans so we looked through the "TimeOut Dubai" magazine which had a special dedicated to road trips. One of the recommended trips was out to Al Ain, the UAE's fourth largest city at 375,000 people. It lies on the mountain range separating the UAE from Oman.
We left a little before lunch and drove the hour and a half south out of Dubai. We stopped along the way to buy some camel chocolate from a farm that was recommended by Omar, our dune bashing buddy. The guy working in the shop was pretty liberal with the samples which worked to his advantage because we all stocked up with more than we had intended.
We arrived in Al Ain and found a place to eat a late lunch of traditional Middle Eastern fare. After lunch we went to the Al Ain zoo. The zoo was a reasonable size and focused on animals found in the Middle East and Africa. There was a large emphasis on large cats and the zoo even has some endangered White Lions and White Tigers.
*African Lion
*Jaguar
*African Tortoise
*Small cat exhibit
*Mike and Sheila infront of the Meerkat enclosure
After the zoo we headed back to Dubai and had a light dinner. It was a pretty easy going day, allowing us to gear up for the very busy next day we had planned.
On Wednesday, we celebrated Christmas again, redeeming our present of a 30 minute helicopter ride over Dubai. This would allow us to see a whole new side of the city, and add another mode of transportation to our list during our stay (so far we have utilized walking, running, swimming, abra, speedboat, car, bus, metro, camel, and airplane). We drove out to the Atlantis Resort on the Palm to catch the helicopter ride. After watching an instructional video and being fitted with a life preserver, we boarded the helicopter and took flight.
*My view of Dad and She
*Their view of me and Daryl
We started with the Burj Al Arab, continued onto the Burj Khalifa and city center, then looped back around and headed out into the Arabian (a.k.a. Persian) Gulf to check out the World Islands, an artificial archipelago of small islands designed to represent the world. It was a fairly clear day and the ride was outstanding. As per usual, we captured a few pictures of our view from above.
*The Burj Al Arab from the air
*Second angle of the Burj Al Arab
*Traffic heading into the city center
From the air, the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world standing at 830 meters, really stands out amongst the pack of other buildings. As a comparison for our Canadian readers, the CN Tower stands at 553 meters. For our American readers, the Empire State Building stands at 443 meters, including antenna spire. For all other readers, you will need to create your own comparison.
*The dwarfingly tall Burj Khalifa
Daryl, as per usual, enjoyed himself. He tends to be fairly amiable no matter the situation.
While the World Islands project was greatly impacted by the economic recession, some of the islands have sold. Richard Branson, the British billionaire, purchased England for 100 million pounds.
*The world islands with the Burj Khalifa in the background
*Part of the world islands
On the way back to the landing pad we got a great view of the Palm Jumierah and the Atlantis Resort, including its Aquaventure Waterpark that we might hit on Thursday.
*The Palm Jumierah
*The Atlantis waterpark, our potential stomping grounds for the next day
*Our posse
After the flight we headed back to the apartment, regrouped, and then trekked out to find a good spot for lunch. We settled on a Lebanese restaurant on the Marina walk, where we split some appetizers and a grilled meat tray. It was delicious.
*Lunch at a Lebanese restaurant on the Marina walk
Around 16:00, we headed North to Global Village, a cultural, entertainment, and shopping destination. The park houses over 25 pavilions, each representing a single country from Asia, with a few European and African countries thrown in for good measure. Each pavilion features traditional food and wares from that country. In addition, there is a carnival area with some rides and games. All in all, it is a pretty sweet spot. We started off in Spain's pavilion, where we had fun with some cutouts.
*I think Daryl likes what he sees
We continued on to Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Yemen, and others, picking up lots of goods along the way. Purchase highlights include a lamp from Turkey and a turquoise necklace from Yemen.
*The usual suspects
*Turkish lamps
*Jordanian clay pottery...we picked up matching coffee cups
After shopping we headed over to the carnival side. At this point in the day it was pretty windy and grey. Surprisingly, it started to rain, although it was very light and lasted only a couple of minutes. Obviously there was no accumulation...this is the desert afterall.
*Clouds rolling in
*View from the ferris wheel
We all rode the ferris wheel, then us braver souls (me and Dad) went on a more hardcore ride while Daryl and Sheila looked on. On our way out of the park, I snapped a photo of Daryl posing with the leaders of the seven Emirates (at least when they unified in 1971). This logo is currently being used all over the UAE to celebrate their 40 years of unity.
*Daryl, the 8th Emirati leader
As if we hadn't already done enough for the day, we stopped briefly at home then walked over to the restaurant in the nearby Marriott Hotel. The restaurant is on the 52nd floor and provides great views over the Arabian Gulf and Palm Jumierah. It was cool to see the Palm all lit up at night.
*Dinner at the Marriott on the 52nd floor
For more news from Dubai, check out the next post. On Saturday evening we will be flying home to Canada, officially ending our 3.5 month tour. It is amazing how quickly the time has passed.
No comments:
Post a Comment