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Entry

  Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Sunday, September 11, 2005

After a two hour delay on the ground in London, first because of a late incoming plane, and second, because of an electrical storm around the airport, we landed in Dubai an hour and a half late, making up some time in the air. Clearing immigration at the airport was way easier than I had imagined it. The officer asked Tamalyn and I where we were staying, and we gave him the details of Leo's & Tracey's house. The officer stamped our passports, and we were off. He didn't even ask if we had our onward tickets on hand. I can't believe in this day and age, that we are not being asked to prove that we have onward travel tickets. They didn't ask us in Egypt, nor in Spain nor in London. And now here in Dubai we didn't have to prove that we had onward transportation. Maybe we'll decide to stay in one of these countries just to test their immigration policies. OK, maybe not!

When we walked outside, we felt the familiar feeling of muggy weather

Burj Al Arab

. It was 39 C and the humidity was around 65%. Now those of you back in Bermuda will say, 65% is dry, but when it's 39 C, it's bordering on the unbearable at 65% humidity. It didn't feel this uncomfortable when it was 45 C in Aswan, Egypt. The other familiar feeling was having our sunglasses fog up when we walk outside. This used to happen in Bermuda in the summer.

We hopped a in a taxi and headed to Leo's and Tracey's. We were not expecting to see them as it was their daughter Hanna's orientation day for the first day of school. Imagine our surprise when we drove up to the house and the door opened up. What a surprise. Our first familiar faces on our adventure.

Hugs and kisses were exchanged, and even Aiden, their 14 month old son seemed excited, even though he had never met us before. We gave Leo and Tracey a housewarming gift of two bottles of Bailey's and two bottles of Malibu, all duty free of course! The significance of this is two-fold. Firstly, they just moved into their apartment a week ago, moving to Dubai from Muscat, so this deals with the housewarming part of the gift. Second, as Dubai is a Muslim country, they have implemented controls concerning alcohol sales. Ex-pat residents need special liquor licenses to purchase alcohol at liquor stores, and only being here a week and a bit, Leo & Tracey haven't yet been issued/granted the licenses to purchase alcohol.

We pretty much laid low for the rest of the day, having flown all night. Leo returned to work and we unpacked our bags. Our room is spectacular. Now it may not be at the seven star Burj Al Arab, but based on the rooms we have had in the last 4 weeks, we are sleeping in the lap of luxury

Dhow with boxes

! A queen sized bed, two end tables with reading lamps, a digital air conditioner that works properly, an ensuite bathroom, with a shower, a bathtub, and even a bidet. Hell, maybe we'll extend our stay here for a few more days. Just kidding Tracey!

We did venture out in the afternoon to a local mall. Tracey picked up some groceries, we picked up some items, and then we all headed to Starbucks. Yeah! Our first time in a Starbucks in over a month. Don't worry Joe, I didn't order a Pumpkin Spiced Latte. Besides, it's not even Thanksgiving, so it's not on the menu!

Dinner this evening was also the best meal that we have had since we left home. Leo threw a few steaks on the BBQ, Tracey had made a couple of salads and some garlic cheese potatoes. What a meal. Kicks butt on Tuna pizza in Aswan by a country mile! Maybe we will actually move in here.

September 11 - Our first venture out on the town

Getting going today was a little difficult. After flying all night the previous night, we both had a sluggish start to getting going this morning/afternoon

Dhow with cars

. We finally did venture out mid-afternoon to run a few errands with Tracey. We returned to Ibn Battutu Mall. This place is incredible. It should be called a global architectural visit. Ibn Battutu was an explorer who visited countries such as Persia, Tunisia, Egypt, and more. In honour of him, this mall was created in each of the architectural styles of the 5 countries he visited. For example, the Egyptian section (which is at least as long as a city block) has sandstone coloured walls, hieroglyphs, bronze and gold statues, arched window frames, you name something Egyptian and it is there. As for the stores, about 50% of them were stores that we could find in either North American or Britain, however the rest were locally branded and owned stores. Very cool!

Instead of returning to the apartment, Tracey dropped us off so that we could head out to take a scenic cruise in a boat on the Dubai Creek. Unfortunately, upon arriving, we discovered that the boat we were hoping to go on was out of commission, having its floors refinished. We figured we would try again either Tuesday or Wednesday.

From the docks, we walked to the Gold Souq. Dubai is known as the City of Gold. After walking through the Gold Souq, we can see why. It looked like the front windows were painted a bright golden yellow

Dubai Development

. The display cases were filled with rings, chains, bracelets, bangles and watches made of gold. There must have been hundreds of shops in the souq, all selling gold. It's a good thing that Tamalyn & I have agreed to a budget trip, otherwise, there might have been a little bit of negotiating and haggling over a few pieces of jewellery. Items for me just as much as for Tamalyn!

After many, many streets the Gold Souq became a Junk Toy Souq, many streets later it transformed again into the Clothing Souq and yet again, it evolved into the Pharmacy Souq. It seemed to have no end! We could have even had prescription glasses made to order!

As always, we were soaking with sweat. Walking for the past couple of hours was taking its toll on our weary feet. The small "shwarma" restaurants (a storefront with seating for 10 on the sidewalk) were becoming more and more difficult to walk past. Finally, we gave in and stopped for supper. One chicken and one beef shwarma hit the spot. A shwarma is essentially a gyro, with the meat cooked on a vertical spit.
We did stumble across the municipal bus depot, which is the main depot for the public transportation buses here in Dubai. Well, this is a budget traveller's dream come true

Duty Free

. Public transportation. We asked a few questions, found out which bus went the closest to Leo & Tracey's and we were off. The bus took us about 90% of the way to Leo & Tracey's, from where we hailed a taxi to get us across the Sheikh Zayed Freeway.

Our first venture in the night in Dubai was successful. We made it home with our wallets in tact, and a good feel for the layout of the city. Tomorrow would see us venture out again on our own and try to tackle some more sightseeing.

September 12 - Getting a vaccination shot at the Iranian Hospital

One thing that Tamalyn did not complete before leaving Alberta was her vaccinations. For one reason or another, she still needed to have her Hepatitis B shots just before leaving. Her first shot was administered in Edmonton a few days before leaving, but she was still in need of her follow up booster shot. Mentioning this to Leo yesterday, he offered to find out at work which hospital would be the best one to get her follow up Hep B vaccination. This morning, Leo referred us to the Iranian Hospital. The Iranian Hospital, you say? Even with an American Hospital and the Dubai International Hospital available, the consensus resulted in a recommended for the Iranian Hospital

Emirates Towers

.

Our plan today was to head for the Burj Al Arab, then the Iranian Hospital, followed by some sightseeing. Tracey dropped us off at the spot where we hailed the taxi cab last night. From there, we were able to get on the bus to head to back towards the main end of town. The bus followed the shore line from the west end of the city where Leo & Tracey live, along past the Medinat Jumeirah, the Burj Al Arab (the only seven star hotel in the world), and Wild Wadi (an extravagant water park) into the main downtown core on the East banks of Dubai Creek.

We stopped at the Burj Al Arab to see what hoops we would have to jump through to get either a tour or to go in for a drink. The security at the main entrance was pretty tight. There were four or five security guards all manning the gate, and stopping all pedestrians and vehicles. We were told that the Burj Al Arab does not offer tours at all. The only way in was to book either dinner at one of the restaurants, or to book a cocktail in the Skyview Bar. We were handed a pamphlet which had a phone number to call for reservations. We were also told that there was a strict dress code, and that sports shoes, jeans, and T-shirts were not permitted anywhere in the hotel. I guess that rules us out for later today

Fish Market

!

Conveniently enough, the Iranian Hospital was just a little further along the same bus route. We jumped back on the bus down the street from the Burj Al Arab and continued a little further along the route. Once at the stop for the Iranian Hospital, we wondered what type of facility this would be. We entered the main entrance, and walked up to the information desk. Tamalyn asked for directions to go about getting a vaccination shot. We were pointed in the direction of Room #14. After a quick discussion with the nurse in Room #14, all that was needed to secure the vaccination shot was for Tamalyn to go back to the main entrance, pay the 50 Dirhams (about $C17) and to return with the receipt. Upon showing her receipt as proof of payment, the nurse would administer the shot. Easy as that. In a grand total of about 15 minutes, we had entered the Iranian Hospital, Tamalyn was given her vaccination, her immunization card was updated, and we were back on the street. Maybe Canadian hospitals could learn a thing or two from the Iranian Hospital!

Leaving the Iranian Hospital, we decided to head towards the Emirates Towers. The Emirates towers are sort of twin towers, although one is about 45 stories high and the other is about 55 stories high. One is a hotel, catering to business travellers, and the other is an office complex

G and T

. We were of the impression that there was a bar on the observation deck of the taller of the two complexes.

Upon entering the main entrance of the complex, we immediately felt out of place. Can you picture two backpackers in closed sandals, wearing t-shirts and zip away pants, walking into a hotel lobby where every single guy is wearing either an Armani or Hugo Boss suit, and every lady is in a tailored business suit. Although we didn't feel comfortable, we were not about to leave just because we didn't fit in. We went to the concierge to enquire about going to the bar for a drink. The concierge mentioned that the bar was only open at 6:00 pm, but the dress code for entrance was smart casual. To his credit, he didn't look down at our clothing with a demeaning look, but he maintained eye contact with us the whole time.

Once again, our selection of comfortable and functional clothing over fashionable and chique clothing might just prevent us from experiencing a drink in an exotic bar. Oh well.

At this point, we called Tracey to see if she wanted to join us later in the afternoon. She mentioned that Leo was getting off work early, and that we could meet at the Dubai World Trade Center to go the observation deck

Gerald PI

. The observation deck would open at 4:30, and it was open to the public for a nominal fee. Tamalyn & I were even appropriately dressed as there was no strict dress code.

Meeting Leo, Tracey, Hannah & Aiden at the World Trade Center, we all climbed into the elevator to go up the 37 floors to the reception for the observation desk. Upon paying our 10 Dirhams per person, we were guided to a second elevator to take us up the last three floors.

Getting out to the observation floor, we could see out to the East, the North, and the West. Because of the humidity, the distance that we could see was not as far as we would have liked. We could barely make out the Burj Al Arab, which was only about a mile and a half away. We did a great view of the Emirates Towers and the Fairmont Hotel to the west, and the Dubai Creek and the Dubai Creek Golf Course & Yacht Club to the East.

Leaving the World Trade Center, we headed for our requisite stop at the local Hard Rock Café. The six of us had dinner, and I was able to get the souvenir pilsner glass to add to my collection. We went back to Leo & Tracey's where we dipped into their rum and Malibu for a nightcap

Gold Souq

.

September 13

Again, our morning had a nice relaxing slow start. We quite enjoyed taking our time with breakfast, playing a bit with Aiden and visiting with Tracey. Today would be our last day to explore Dubai.

We made our way along the same bus route, still craning our necks for another glimpse of the Burg. We disembarked at the first of the two main bus stations and headed off to find the Textile Souq.

This proved to be quite simple. The fabrics were rich in color and variety and were being sold in bulk. We saw many men leaving the shops with large bundles of fabric slung over their arms. Interested in a few patterns (though not very Arabic traditional in design), we did stop at a few shops. We could have definitely purchased a couple of meters of fabric, but to our chagrin, all of the material was made in India! It seemed kind of silly to buy imported fabric from India and cart it around for the next couple of months when we'll get the chance to buy it directly in India in December.

Hannah and Aiden at the Hard Rock

Next, we walked along Dubai Creek in the blustery heat. The views of the other bank were beautiful. Dripping in sweat, we finally arrived at the Dubai Museum. Entrance was 3 Dirhams (less than $1CDN) and we both agree that this is, by far, the best 3 Dirhams we spent in Dubai! At first, we wondered if we'd been had. We walked through the tiny entrance into a courtyard that had a few maritime type artefacts. We did see entrances to 2 other small buildings. Both appeared to have A/C. At this point, we were bordering on heat exhaustion (me more than Gerald) and were prepared to spend as long as we could in these 2 little buildings. They'd have to kick us out...

The first little building had a small video playing and had some artefacts in cases. Honestly, I don't even remember what they were. My body was now sweating so profusely that I had to continually mop my face and neck with my t-shirt. Finally, we started to cool down and realized that there was a staircase heading down. We thought that maybe there'd be another small room below. Boy, were we surprised!

A fantastic museum was found all underground. It began with a video that outlined Dubai's history. The next rooms were fantastic, dark and cool little spaces showing traditional ways of life in the UAE

Jumeirah Mosque

. There were small statues showing the ways of life, complete with background noises. For example, there was a blacksmith pounding iron over a little fire with the sounds of him hammering away. Basically, all aspects of day to day life were represented. There was even a traditional Arab home, with short doorways and small rooms, all at actual size. What a short population.

These rooms gave way to a larger room, depicting the campsite of the local nomads, the Bedouins. There were statues of camels, birds, and people and more impressive even was the life-size Bedouin tent that showed just what life would have been like inside the tent.

The next room housed a dhow (large shipping boat) that was partially finished showing how they used to make these boats without any plans at all. Finally, we came into the rooms that had many artefacts from the numerous archaeological digs throughout the Arabian region. There were objects that were more than 7,000 years old. Amazing.

Needless to say, we both felt that we had discovered a little gem of tradition within the bustling and growing metropolis of Dubai. Not only did we get a chance to cool off, but we learned a great deal and gained a deeper understanding of life in years gone by

Leo and the Prado

.

Reluctantly, we had to head back outside. The heat had not subsided one bit. Luckily, we only had to walk for about 10 minutes to the water taxi station. The taxis are simple boats with a long bench lining each side under a fabric canopy. Upon arriving at the station, we saw that one taxi was just about to leave. The taxi driver was telling us that it was 10 Dirham to cross. We knew better. It is meant to be 1 Dirham. Now, I know that even at a little more than $3, it would still be pretty cheap, but we've come to hate being ripped off just because we are tourists. We flatly refused and said that it should be 1 Dirham. The driver looked at us as if we were crazy. Where had we ever heard such a thing? I continued to walk towards the taxi, but another man said it was full. Fine, we backed off.

We pointed at the empty boat to the other side of us and asked when it would leave. The driver said that he would take us right away for 10 Dirham each. What was it with this guy? Did he think we were so desperate that we'd say, OK? Again, we refused and repeated that it should be 1 Dirham. "No, no, okay, 10 Dirham total for both of you, special offer." Yeah, right, we'd heard the term "special offer" before. We aren't as green as we once were

My new car

. Again, we flatly refused and repeated our offer. Finally, another guy stepped in and told us to get on the boat for 1 Dirham. Victory! We sat down and hoped that it wouldn't take long to get across as we were hoping to catch a river cruise in about thirty minute's time. Although there were no more passengers to be seen at that moment, within 3 minutes (no exaggeration) the water taxi filled. It was as if people just came right out of the wood work (or more appropriately, the cement work).

We headed off for the other side, cruising by heavily laden dhows. We couldn't believe that these small vessels were still used as shipping boats. They wouldn't be more than 25m in length. We saw all sorts of cargo, from boxes of cooking oil, to appliances and most impressive: cars. These boats were heading off to various parts of Arabia as well as to India and its surrounding countries. I cannot imagine what that would be like! We hope that some of them sail to Mumbai and that we'll get a chance to get a glimpse of one when we're there later this year.

Eight minutes after shoving off, we made it to the opposite shore. We made our way to the Dubai Creek Cruise landing on the waterfront. The floor of the boat was still under construction as it had been two days earlier

Oops

. I felt like an idiot asking if it was still heading out for a tour in 15 minutes. The worker/agent answered, "Of course, we have the entire upstairs". Silly me. The only problem was that we were the only passengers wanting to go so it would have to be double price because, "We have minimum numbers". Understandable. I brought this info to Gerald and we discussed whether it would be worth it for this new price. We decided against it, but thought we should at least be considerate to go back to tell him that we wouldn't go. On our way back to him, another tourist was speaking to him. Hey, maybe we could get him to take the three of us for the same price as he quoted Gerald and me.

The worker/agent signalled at us to come quickly. Oh yeah, here we go again, we thought. He happily told us that we could go for the advertised price because now we had the minimum number. Hmmmm, somehow that math didn't add up, but hey, it worked in our favour so, "All aboard, matey".

We had a lovely, narrated cruise along Dubai Creek. The narration was jam-packed with history, current events, and interesting tidbits. We quite enjoyed the bit of breeze that the moving boat produced, the shade under the canopy and the comfy Bedouin-style couches. These are actually just cushions on the floor

Palm Development

. We took many photos and enjoyed the company of the Australian man sharing our cruise. What a sweet fellow. After only spending 45 minutes with him, he gave us his address and phone number and said that we'd be welcome to stay with him in Perth...wow.

We made our way through the bustling streets, stopped at an internet café and finally found ourselves in the Old Souq once again. This was the same souq as we'd visited a couple of nights ago, but it took a while to get back to the same area we'd previously visited. The size of this souq is really unbelievable. We walked around for a while and popped into a couple of shops trying to find something unique to bring home. We thought we'd found it when we had some lovely cushion covers in our hands. At the last moment, I asked just where they'd come from...wanna guess...yup, India. Doh! Again, had the pattern been particularly Arabic, we would have still bought it, but we just know that we'll see the same type stuff in India.

We made one more pass down one of the streets of the Gold Souq. It is said that gold is very cheap here...we really didn't find that to be the case. The prices were quite comparable. Again, had we fallen in love with something, we may have purchased it, but the gold is a very dark yellow color and really didn't interest us that much

Prado in Desert

.

One thing left on our list was to visit the nearby fish market. We weren't exactly sure how to get there, but decided to let our noses lead the way. Without much difficulty at all, we found ourselves engulfed in a warm, fishy aroma. Our first glimpse of what was for sale at the fish market was the elusive hammerhead shark. I say elusive as we were hoping and trying to see them alive in the Red Sea, but here they were all fresh for sale in Dubai. A little over-fishing maybe?

Walking around the fish market was something amazing to these two land lubbers raised in Alberta. There were rows and rows of tables set up with every kind of fresh fish available for sale; tuna, sharks, barracuda, snappers, etc. There was also plenty of shrimp, mussels, and other crustaceans. It really was amazing. At the far end of the room, we came across two shelves full of dried fish carcasses. These were quite intriguing. At least we knew what would happen to the fish that would not be sold tonight!

Immediately to the south of the fish market was a fresh produce market. We walked through the area and took particular interest in the fresh dates

Trophy

. These are dates that are grown locally in the palm trees. We purchased a pound of fresh dates for 5 Dirhams (about $C1.30) and made our way back to the main bus station to make our way back home.

Walking back to the bus station, Gerald wondered if we now stunk of fish. I quickly said, "No way, it is just that we are still close to the fish market, that's why we can still smell fish around us."

It wasn't until we were about a third of the way home on the bus, that I caught a whiff of warm, smelly fish. Could it be? On this huge crowded bus, it must be someone else I quickly thought/hoped. Maybe the smell was still just stuck in my nose. A few seconds later, again, I caught a whiff of warm, almost rotten smelling fish. Nope, that is just too much of a coincidence and besides the same people were no longer sitting in the aisles.

As inconspicuously as possible, I bent my head forward and sniffed towards my shoulder. Pee-ew, I reeked. It was me...oh my goodness, imagine all those poor people that had to stand so close to me in this warm bus. How stupid was I. From the beginning of the journey, I thought that the lady sitting next to me must be very shy

Water Taxi

. As soon as she sat down, she pushed herself right up against the window. Oh my goodness, poor her having to sit near smelly fish lady.

Now, I was getting really uncomfortable with myself. I tried to console myself that maybe just she and the person directly next to me could smell it...all the while this little thought kept running through my head about perfume. You know how when you first put on perfume, you can smell it, but then later in the day someone compliments you on your perfume and you admit that you can't even smell it anymore...well, now I figured out that if I could still smell fish on me, after an hour of being out of the fish market that I must reek to high heaven, fish heaven that is.

Gerald was sitting quite a few rows behind me as I was sitting in the "Women's Section" which are the first 4 rows of the bus. Yup, with sweet smelling women. Maybe their perfumes would mask my fishy smell. I kept looking back to try to get Gerald's attention. I looked intently at him. I thought maybe he'd figured it out as well. He gave me a "what in the world are you looking at me for" kind of look. Alright, this meant that either he didn't smell or hadn't figured it out yet. I struggled with: Should I tell him? If I told him, I knew he'd just want to die and would probably want to get off the bus and walk the rest of the way (even if it was still around 30C). On the other hand, would he be upset for not letting him know? Oh, what to do?

I started to become extremely concerned about the poor people around me. I noticed the two women in front of me crinkle their noses, slightly turn their heads towards me and then calmly put a finger under their noses! I was horrified. I didn't know whether to apologize to them or just remain silent and try to act innocent. I chose the latter. I figured that if I apologized then soon the entire front of the bus would be discussing my unpleasant odour and then Gerald would definitely catch on. Slowly, becoming more aware of the people around me, I noticed that it wasn't just the ladies in front of me that were uncomfortable. This is when I started to get the giggles. How comical is this? I stink...I can't move because the bus is full...Gerald stinks too, but is still ignorant of this fact...people are uncomfortable...

Finally, the bus cleared enough and I made a beeline for Gerald. When I sat down next to him, I gently leaned to his shoulder and took a cautious, tiny whiff. Yup, S-T-I-N-K-Y....stinky! I giggled a bit more and then whispered my discovery in his ear. He looked at me with "deer in the headlights" eyes, "We do?" he asked full of fear. All I could do was smile and tell him to smell our shirts. One whiff was enough...he concurred, we stink! Now, he started to giggle. Luckily we only had about 3 more stops. Soon, we'd free the prisoners from our stench. I started to tell him of my recognition and my struggles of telling him. This sent him into more giggles. At one point, some people turned around to see what the heck these crazy, smelly tourists could possibly be laughing about.

Once the bus hit our stop, we nearly ran off the bus. As soon as it took off, we let it go. We started sniffing our entire shirts, backs, fronts, sleeves, and then we wondered about our pants. A couple of sniffs confirmed it...even our pants reeked. Remembering the watery, fish slime all over the floor of the fish market, we were quite sure that our shoes smelled too. Now, we were making all sorts of comments about ourselves and started to contemplate what the other passengers were thinking.

To make it worse, the rest of the trip to Leo and Tracey's had to be done by taxi. Would he even let us in? We flagged one down and Gerald asked me if we should ask permission. I quickly said, "No, if we ask permission, he'll never let us in. No cab would, we'd have to walk the rest of the way. Let's just get in and make him kick us out. At least we'll get a little way before the stench makes it to the front seat." We gingerly sat in the cab, almost afraid to touch our backs to the seats. We kept a lively, friendly conversation going with the driver so that he'd feel really bad if he had to kick us out. Either he had clogged nasal passages, felt sorry for us, or loved the smell of warm, almost rotting fish, whatever the case, he dropped us off at Leo and Tracey's safe, sound and smelly.

As soon as we walked into the house, we apologized to Leo and Tracey, but we had to take showers before we could come any closer, otherwise, we may have to sleep on the street. About 10 minutes of scrubbing later and soaking all of the contaminated clothes in a very concentrated sink of laundry soap, we emerged from our room. We told them about our fishy adventure home. We found Leo & Tracey locked in a tense game of Scrabble. I joined Leo, and Gerald teamed up with Tracey and the match was on. Gerald says that neither he nor Tracey can remember who won, but I sure do. Between the two teams, we ended up with only one tile unplaced between the two teams. Quite impressive if I may say so.


September 14 - 4x4 in the Desert


Leo was able to take the day off to spend with us. He had offered to take Tamalyn and me out to the desert to go off-roading with their 4x4 Toyota Prado. How cool would that be! We packed up the car with Aiden's car seat and enough water to supply us for a couple of days and we all climbed into the Prado and headed out of the city. We made a quick stop at the Ace hardware store to pick up an air compressor. Leo explained that the sand gets quite soft in the heat of the day, and to improve traction, he would let the air out of the tires from 30 PSI to 17 PSI. The air compressor would be used to re-inflate the tires if there wasn't a service station near where we would exit the desert to get back on the main road.

We were in Ace hardware a total of about two and half minutes. Maybe Leo had already done some advance scouting of the air compressors? From the Ace hardware store, we headed on the main road that led to Muscat. We drove along for about 45 minutes until Leo found the location that he was looking for. We turned off the highway and drove straight up the first hill that we saw. My first reaction was one of fear. Are we going to roll? What if someone is coming up the other side? What if we get stuck? No one knows we're out here.

Leo was laughing and seemed in control of everything. As Tracey seemed to also be enjoying this, I knew we must be safe. No parents in their right mind would risk the safety of their young child, let alone a couple of free-loading friends! We didn't go very far in the desert, hanging around the first two or three dunes near the highway. What was amazing that as soon as we crested the first dune, we lost all evidence that we were near a main highway. I now know why Leo wants to get a GPS system installed in his beater Jeep Cherokee that he will use when he goes out with the local 4x4 club later in the year.

Another thought entered my mind. We are just off a major highway and we feel like we are lost in the middle of the desert. I can't imagine what Laurence Noble, our IT Vice President in Bermuda, felt like when we was stranded overnight in the middles of the Sahara during the Paris-Dakar rally a few years ago. Low and behold, our vehicle starts to slide a little and no longer goes forward. Leo tried to reverse, but it wouldn't go that way either. Leo and I jumped out of the Prado and started to let air out of the tires. As we were doing that, Tamalyn jumped out and started taking pictures of the sands dunes from both up close and from afar. Once Leo and I had the tires set to the right pressure, he asked Tamalyn and I to stay out to see if a little lighter load would help. Sure enough, the lighter load and the deflated tires worked like magic. Leo was able to quickly get moving and he made a couple of runs up and down a few of the dunes. He then came by to ask if we were looking for a ride. In we jumped and we were off to make another few runs at the dunes. It was exciting, even if the only thought that I kept in my mind was "What if we roll?!"

We exited the desert and returned to the highway. Leo was confident that there was a service station a couple of km's up the road, so we continued toward Muscat. Sure enough, the service station was there and we were able to re-inflate the tires to their highway pressure. We continued towards Muscat for a few kilometres. We actually went into Oman. By some quirk of alignment, the highway to Muscat in Oman enters Oman territory and returns to UAE territory without having to go through passport control. The passport control is further along the highway where it enters Oman for good. We did take a picture of a Sultan of Oman highway sign as proof that we went into Oman, even if our passports won't contain the stamp

We returned to Dubai to pick up Hannah from school. After a quick lunch at Leo & Tracey's, Leo, Tamalyn, Hannah & I went to the Emirates Golf Course. This is the golf course which hosts the Dubai Dessert Classic, a European Professional Golf Tour event. Tiger Woods came in second in this event in 2002, and while he was in Dubai, he took a few swings from the heli-pad of the Burj Al Arab. You might have seen some of these pictures that were emailed around a few years ago. Anyway, we went to the clubhouse as I wanted to pick up a couple of souvenir golf balls, and maybe even a shirt if the price was right.

Once at the clubhouse, I enquired into the price of a round of golf. 675 Dirhams would get you on the course and give you full access to the facilities for the day, including the driving range. That's about $C225 for a round. Out of my price range for this budget trip, but maybe the next time we're in Dubai, Leo & I can get a round in. Maybe if he buys a round for me here, I'll return the favour and buy him a round at Five Star? Deal Leo?

We drove along to the Burj Al Arab so that Tamalyn & I could have our picture taken together in front of the hotel. We each had individual pictures in front of this magnificent building, but we didn't have one of both of us. While parking the Prado near the hotel, I saw a beautiful shiny red Ferrari. I was walking toward the Ferrari, asking Tamalyn to take out the camera, when the door suddenly opened. Oops, I didn't want the lady getting out of the car to get unnerved, so I asked if I could have my picture taken with her car. She didn't have a problem with her car being used as a prop in my photo-op, and she even offered for me to sit in it. I did open the door, and pretended to get in, when she offered to throw me the keys. She said if I was to sit in it, it would be hot and I should start it up to run the A/C. Initially, I was exited to start up the car, but then the conservative side of me kicked in. What if I accidentally popped the clutch and it jumped forward into the taxi cab in front of it. I couldn't imagine having to pay for those kinds of damages, so I declined her very gracious offer. All I can say is "Nice Car!"

We returned to Leo & Tracey's to have our last dinner in Dubai. We had offered to make them dinner as small token of our appreciation for their hospitality. We picked up some chicken satays to BBQ, and the ingredients for Tamalyn's loved spinach/mandarin/walnut salad. After dinner, it was time for us to pack up our belongings and get ready for our overnight flight to London. The week has truly flown by.

One thing that we regret of our trip to Dubai is not planning properly for the Dubai work week. We arrived on Saturday morning, and left on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, Thursday and Friday are the weekend days in Dubai, and this meant that Leo was scheduled to work on the days that we were in Dubai. We were lucky enough that Leo was able to take a day off on our last day in Dubai. For our next trip to Dubai, if we are fortunate enough, we will make sure that we are in town for Thursday and Friday.

Leo dropped us off at the airport shortly before midnight for our 1:45 am flight. The check-in process went very smoothly, much more smoothly then our check-in in London. Once through security, we were amazed to see the Dubai Duty Free shops. They were by far the most extensive that we have ever seen. It actually looked like a shopping mall on December 23rd, jam packed full of last minute shoppers.

Gerald's Top 5
5 - The cars. Lamborghinis, Corvettes, Ferraris, Porsche sport utility vehicles, Hummers.
4 - Off-roading in the dessert in a 4x4. Next time, we'll go for a whole day! I can see how this can become addictive. If I were to return, I might even try sand-boarding (snow-boarding in the desert).
3 - The development that is taking place in Dubai, from over 50 skyscrapers under construction, all more than 30 stories, to the three palms being made of reclaimed land on the water, to the map of the world being developed from reclaimed land out in the ocean. It truly must be seen to be believed. It makes me wonder if they are developing on the premise of "If you build it, they will come."
2 - The Burj Al Arab. This hotel is an awesome sight for a city's symbol, rivalling the Sydney Opera House, the Statue of Liberty, and the Eiffel Tower. But $C90 for an elevator ride to the Sky View Bar and two drinks? No thanks!
1 - Watching the pride in Leo & Tracey's eyes as Aiden took his first steps.

Tam' Top 5
5 - Ibn Battuta Mall
4 - Dubai Creek Cruise
3 - Dubai Museum
2 - Souqs
1 - Burj Al Arab

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