Raffles Dubai

DUBAI! Like Vegas, only WAY more expensive.<br>The cheapest hotel within 5 miles of the Dubai Airport? $550 a night! The minibar might as well be a safe. The airport terminal is like a gleeming, brilliantly lit movie set. Dubai is home of the world's best hotel, the Barq el Arab, the only 5 star hotel anywhere. Brunch is $150, plus drinks, even alchohol! I managed to crash ...

... small whale shark. The whole tank is decorated with ruined thrones, sunken ships and all sorts of Atlantis style paraphenalia. As cheesy as it was, it was certainly an easy way to kill 10 minutes and beat the heat from outside.<br>This big tank which was available for public viewing is part of a larger marine exhibit in the hotel complex call the Lost Chambers. It was a collection of a variety of marine life, including jellyfish, eels, clownfish, and even a ...

... cruise though (which was part of the big bus thing). This was actually really good. just sat off on a boat going slowly down the river. it helped that they sold alcohol. so my last bit of money went on a can of bud (about 4 or 5 quid i think!). was nice and relaxing though, and a good way to look at some of the sights down the creek.<br> <br>i then had a chinese (again) and sat around for a bit until my flight, which was at about 2 in the morning. I'd ran out of ...

... voit pas souvent. Après 20 minutes de route dégagée à bord d'un sympatique cabriolet Volvo (on est à Dubai bon sang, c'est un minimum) et un passage à proximité du Burj Dubai (ce qui doit être le plus haut grate-ciel du monde, en fin de construction), nous arrivons à la plage. Là, petite déconvenue : à part les plages privées de certains hotels, ce n'est pas folichon. Les abords ne sont pas particulièrement entretenus et le lotissement qui longe la plage ...

... t a nice expereince. Although you know that you have nothing illegal on you you start to worry anyway. Like what if someone hid something in your bag etc. They wouldn't care, it would be straight to prison for a long long time. <br><br>In the end we only stayed one night as our minds were set on getting home and starting to build our life again. Maybe we will come back to Dubai on holdiay in the future when we look respectable.

... the airport is without question an odd silent place. I've never seen it before. The Atlanta airport always seems to be a buzz, but here everyone seemed to keep their conversation quite, even in the food court. Strange. Then, I walked out to the ground transportation area... People every where - people waving signs, calling out names, trying to get you to take a taxi, etc. It was the exact opposite of what I ...

... etc etc... I then went and got some takeaway food - a chicken masala. When i bought it back to the hotel room I realised they didnt put cutlery in so i dived in and made a great mess.... It was an early night so i could get some good zzzz's in preparation for my water park trip tomorrow... cooooool !!!

... tubes and very powerful water pumps! A fantastic day out. Next door is the Burj al-Arab hotel, I suppose the symbol of Dubai. It was real fun watching the nice cars pull up to the gate, as well as the numerous visitors arriving by Helicopter. We spent the evening on the public beach next door, before heading to a few malls to see why they are so popular. I still haven't found out. The third day was spent out on a Sand Dune "bashing" day, arranged with a ...