Miller round the world Day 17

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Up at 6, check our packing since at our next destination, Dubai, we are supposed to leave our main suitcases on the plane and live for one day out of carry-ons. Breakfast at the hotel. Bus leaves for the airport at 7:30. On the way we say goodbye to Anu, who has been a great guide. Through airport administrivia in fairly efficient fashion, and it's wheels up just after 9 am.

Just under 4 hours in the air until a refueling stop in Bombay. Then another 2 1/2 hours to Dubai. As we approach Dubai, we pass over a series of rugged mountains, which are nothing but rock: no white, no green. The mountains give way to desert, punctuated by tiny scraps of green clustered around small oases and towns. Dubai springs suddenly out of the desert.

On arriving in Dubai, we are herded onto buses and meet our guide, Abdullah. We get a guided tour of the city by bus, stopping occasionally for photo ops. Dubai is absolutely amazing. The city is incredibly new; in fact it was a small fishing village only 30 years ago when oil was discovered in 1968. Now it is futuristic, reminding me of the Jetsons in the city of tomorrow. It is a city of superlatives: the tallest building, the largest hotel, the largest marina, the only place in the Middle East where you can both ski and skate. We see many famous buildings, and the main public beach.
 
Our main stop is Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Our bus drops us off at the Dubai Mall, you guessed it, the largest shopping mall in the world. We walk through it to reach the base of the tower. From there we take the fastest elevator in the world (10 metres a second) that whips us up the 124th floor in one minute, but so smoothly that only your ears tell you that you're moving. We walk out on the observation deck and the whole of Dubai is spread beneath us, looking like an endless painting.

Returning to earth, we enjoy the spectacular water fountain show outside, choreographed to the voice of Celine Dion. We proceed back to the bus and are taken to our hotel, Raffles, which is an incredibly luxurious hotel with an Egyptian theme. We are greeted with cold drinks. Our room is spacious with a balcony overlooking the gorgeous hotel pool, a huge bed, a desk, L-shaped coach and ample living space. The bathroom is all in marble. Absolutely stunning.

We meet in the hotel lobby in an hour from whence we are bused to dinner on a dhow (barge) that cruises up and down Dubai Creek, a dredged inlet from the sea. The meal is of course excellent, a buffet with mixed western and middle eastern food, including many dishes we would call Lebanese. 
The cruise ends about 10 pm local time, which is 1 am Thailand time. By the time we reach the hotel, we can barely keep awake and fall into bed to sleep like the dead. 

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