Windy Dubai

---

Dubai

Between Muscat and Dubai the photographic competition results for the cruise photographic “slow and fast shutter speed” were published. I have to crow and tell everyone I won the fast shutter speed competition. Now I’m sure you will think “great, well done”. However I will now crow louder - I won the fast shutter speed one as well. Great eh??
I can now call myself an award winning photographer!!!!!
Anyway, back to the travelling……………………………………
The next day - no day at sea this time. It was up and out for us.
We had discovered when in Hong Kong that the Big Bus company ran busses round Dubai, so decided to do our own thing - again.
Sure enough they did tour round Dubai, but to our delight they had set up a stop at the harbour, so we didn’t have to find our way anywhere.
We hoped on to our hop on-hop off bus and away we went - Through a wild and windy sand storm to see the sights of Dubai.
We were taken to the first stop on the bus route - there were two routes, one an hour and a half, the other 3 and a half hours long. We opted for the short tour first - a whistle stop drive through Dubai and its many sights - gold markets, fishing boats, commercial dhows and museums. We had decided to go round without getting of first, then after selecting what we wanted to see perhaps hop of and on at those points…
However after doing the first tour we decided to go in to the Mall where the buses started. It was an amazing building representing ancient Egypt…..
It had a souk in the basement which we just had to visit. It was a replica of how souks would have looked in olden times. In the middle was an outdoor restaurant selling foods from all over the Middle East. Guess what??? Yes we stopped for a taste of the east… I had a Moroccan dish with rice and lamb hoch. Judy had something made of cheese and livers - oh, and we both had unleavened bread - they brought a basket of it before the meal was served, then as the basket got to one piece left they refilled it….. Fresh, hot bread, lovely. Could have left me to just eat the bread, forget the rest. The bread had a slight muffin consistency to it tasted lovely.
We then started to thought it was time to see the rest of Dubai, and headed of to get the next bus… unfortunately we didn’t have time to do the full 3and a half hours… so we decided we would go as far as we could and then get of and get a taxi back to the ship. We had a lovely drive, still in a sand storm, out to the beaches and the huge buildings that were there. The hotel like the shape of a sail… and the palm island… built out of the sea.. it can be seen from space, its that big. Shaped like a palm tree with islands round it as fronds. Amazing sight and great to have been here even if the wind was howling and the sand storm was replaced by rain and it poured.
We decided to get of at what was reputed to be the worlds biggest Mall …. And to our delight, the ships shuttle bus took of from their. Back to the boat in a strange bus with seats in the corridor, rain pouring down outside, thunder and lightning. Fantastic.
We got back to the boat and reflected on how expensive Dubai was and also what an enormous building sight it was.
Might be that the sun wasn’t shining, but even so, it did seem like it was an enormous Theme park in the making and one that would rival Disney in its ability to fleece the tourists that came there.
So, nice experience but not one of our ‘would like to visit again’ places.

---