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Published: January 24th 2007
View from my hotel window in Deira
This was close to midnight, when things were starting to wind down for the night.Made it!
Arrived at Heathrow yesterday, around 2pm London time. Was too excited to sleep... kept looking out the window thinking, "wow! I'm flying over (wherever)." Was so exhausted by the time I reached the hostel (just by the Picadilly Circus underground), that I decided to take a nap. That was at about 6pm, and I didn't wake again until about 1am, then slept again until 5:30am. Woke up to snow! (I'm told that's rare in London for this time of year.)
I loved my time in Dubai. I spent lots of time wandering the souqs, took abra rides across the 'creek', saw wonderful sites. It's really easy to get around, and very safe. (Heck, I wouldn't wander around on my own at 11pm in Melbourne, but in Dubai there were no worries... with the exception of the internet centre dude, who offered me a bit of his icecream.)
I took the Big Bus Tour (double-decker bus) on the Friday, and saw some of the amazing hotels (like the Burj Al Arab, for example). Jumped off at the Mall of the Emirates, to take a peak at Ski Dubai. It's so weird to sit and look at snow,
Ski Dubai
From the outside... bigger than I expected. then wander out and recall there's desert all around! On the Saturday, I travelled to Sharjah, and met my friend Saara. Sharjah's much more traditional, and I learnt so much from Saara as we went to her favourite shops in the souqs, and visited museums. After visiting the animal souq to buy budgies and finches for her children, Saara and her hubby dropped me back at my hotel.
On Sunday I went to the Jumeirah mosque, where they hold tours on certain days. It was very enlightening... it's surprising just how much religion and tradition/culture is confused. That afternoon, I went on a desert safari. Dune bashing was great fun... our driver, Hassan, has been driving for the company for 16 years, and formerly drove Scorpion tanks in the army. I tried shisha (grape flavoured), but may have overdone it slightly. ;-)
Monday I travelled to Abu Dhabi (about 1 hour and 45 mins by bus), to meet Saara again. She took me to a traditional Arabic restaurant... very yummy food. Saara thought I must have been the first Western woman to ever eat there, as the guy serving us was so excited, that he even went to
Ski Dubai slope
So bizarre to see this, when you know you're in the middle of hot desert country. the trouble to search for forks! After lunch, we went to Saara's favourite henna salon, where I had both my hands done (a lovely pressie from Saara). I'll post photos when I have a chance. We then went to Saara's home, where I met her gorgeous kiddies.
The bus ride home was a long one... the traffic was so bad, that after 3 hours we still hadn't reached the bus station. My bladder, however, had decided enough was enough, so I had to jump off at a shopping mall, and I caught a taxi from there. When I arrived back at the hotel, the box I'd ordered from DHL (to ship my excess stuff) had finally arrived... two days after I'd originally phoned them. Talk about a saga!
Tuesday morning saw me off to the airport again... and now, here I am in London! I've sorted out a UK phone (I'll email the number), and am off to the bank shortly to finalise opening my account. Tonight I get to meet Kerri (my second cousin). Yay!
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Vickie
non-member comment
Hey - glad to hear all is going well and you are having a lovely time! It all sounds very exciting. Have tried to send you a text to your new phone, so hopefully it will be successful. Take care and enjoy seeing lots of spectacular things. Looking foward to your next update, xo V