Let's go Snowboarding!

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Had a great day in Kobe yesterday - enjoyed the sunshine, had a look around the shops and then finished off the day in a bar, where we had a good laugh at the adventures of the last few weeks. Those big lockers in the train stations are extremely handy! From there it was on to the coach to the airport, where I sat at the back and enjoyed a nice can of Asahi beer while reflecting on the experiences of my trip.

The flight to Dubai wasn't at all bad, but at 10hrs30mins, it's the longest one I've ever taken. I was fortunate enough to have a 2-seat row to myself; or at least at the time I thought it was fortunate. At 5'11" i'm not exactly a giant, but try as I may to get comfortable accross the two seats, it wasn't happening. So while having a double row to yourself does sound good in theroy....the reality in practice is that you probably can't take advantage of it unless you are either quite small, or are a contortionist.

I arrived at Dubai airport to face a very long, very slow moving queue. There was also arabic music playing rather loudly. As it was around 5am, the combintation wasn't at all welcome - as I am sure you can imagine! Eventually got through customs after a brief explanation to the immigration officer, and once again collected my bag without incident. There seemed to be a little bit of confusion when I checked in at Osaka so I was a tad worried about my bag not turning up!

I booked a taxi through the hotel before I left Japan to ensure it would be easy going when I got there. The desk was empty but it didn't take long to get sorted. This service cost 50dirhams and to be honest isn't worth it at all - my advice would be to go outside and get into a yellow cab which would cost less than half the price. When I arrived at the Traders hotel in Deira, the clerk would not budge on letting me check in early for no charge, so I reluctantly handed over some more money - I was far too tired to debate any longer! On top of that, they wouldn't let me have breakfast that morning, even though I would miss the breakfast on the day I checked out due to leaving early to get to the airport. I thought this was pretty rough, but again, I just got on with it. My bags were taken to my room, and after a quick shower to freshen up, I went straight to bed.

The next thing I knew it was midday, and looking out of the window in my room, I immediately became aware of quite a big issue in Dubai - traffic. It's seriously bad! I foolishly booked a taxi through the hotel to take me to Creek Park - again this was expensive at 45dhs - lesson was certainly learned after that. Took quite a while to get to Creek Park due to the traffic, so you can imagine my slight dissapointment to find everything inside closed and the park all but deserted. Even so, I still had a good wander about and it gave me a chance to sit in peace. You're not supposed to drink in public during Ramadan - I did my best to observe their customs but in 45 degree heat this isn't exactly easy, so I had to keep drinking, but I made sure I was discreet.

Creek Park

It didn't take long for me to run out of water, and with convenience shops closed, I was faced with quite a dilemma. I began to walk for a bit, but it was getting a bit too much so I flagged down a taxi and headed back to my hotel for a spot of lunch and several gallons of Diet Coke and water. I initially opted to go for the lunchtime buffet, but once I realised that it was £15 I promptly changed my mind - I wasn't THAT hungry. I already miss the sub £5 delights of Japan!! I ended up opting for a Ceasar salad; which was actually great. It was strange using a knife and fork again!

As it was mid afternoon I decided to wait around the hotel for a few hours. During Ramadan, stuff happens after 7pm and continues until the early hours. Traditionally, this period is known as Iftar and it's when the fast is broken. There are many culinary delights to be had as a result - or so I have read in my Lonely Planet guide...I will find out soon enough.

So at around 6.30, after enjoying relaxing in the hotel's health club, I got myself dressed and this time hopped into a yellow cab to head accross to the Mall of the Emirates. Fortunatley, the yellow cab rate is far more desirable than the "executive taxi" the hotel booked for me. Even so, it all mounts up. The taxi driver was very chatty and took great interest in my trip, and told me lots about Dubai while were were stuck in traffic. As it transpires, Dubai is home to the biggest and the best of everything the world has to offer. Or at least that's how the taxi driver saw it! We went past the Burj Dubai - the world's tallest building. And it's TALL...yet very thin at the top. Quite a bizzarre structure.

The Mall itself is quite amazing. Very impressive architecture and it's utterly spotless. The first thing on my mind however was food! There's a great food hall in the mall, I went for a pizza - lovely. After that I had a good wander around the shops. The mall was operating extended opening hours during Ramadan, so at 10pm I went to Ski Dubai - the world's biggest indoor ski park. Before this, I had only been to Xscape in Castleford (near Leeds, England) and Ski Dubai utterly dwarfs it. Xscape has a little draglift. Ski Dubai has a 50 car, 4 man chairlift! The price was very reasonable; around £25 for 2 hours including equipment hire. The snow was good and I pretty much had the place to myself.

Ski Dubai

So now I am back at the hotel - tomorrow i'm going on a Desert Safari which should be great fun. I will no doubt report back tomorrow!