Jebel Ali, Dubai

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Back to reality, been back in England for just over a week now and my tan is peeling.. Sigh... Planning next trip abroad already! Dubai really was an eye opener..

It started with stepping off the plane and instantly feeling the intense heat of Dubai hit your face! It was like nothing I'd ever seen before.. So many buildings and sky scrapers, cars and traffic all in a desert backdrop! Seriously the motorway on the way to The Green Community (where we stayed for 10 days) was built directly on the desert. It seemed to stretch on uninterupted for miles. The sand was travelling in the wind over the road beneath the car and it was very dusty! WOW!! I was in the desert! The villas over at the Green Community were so spacious and beautiful and I could tell already that we were going to be living in luxury for the next 10 days.

We spent our first day recovering from the journey by the communal pool at the Green Community. The sun felt beautiful and the pool water was amazingly warm. We then went to a shopping mall near the villa which was so big and there was so much to look at. Each section of the mall had a different theme of a country. E.g. Egypt, China, and we had a good look aroung the shops which were open until 10 pm then back to the Villa for an early night sleep!.

The next day we got up semi early and made our way to a beach next to the Burj Arab in Rana's open-top jeep. This was a real experience as we got to see Dubai from the car whilst getting a tan at the same time! Hehe one thing I learnt about Dubai was the shear size of it! Thinking we were just 'nipping' to the beach was nieve of me... An hour later we finally got there! I didnt care though as we managed to see so much of Dubai's amazing architecture which surrounds every road. I am talking massive buildings here!! (see pic's). The whole of Dubai is spread really far and cars are essential to get anywhere in this massive city. The traffic is very heavy and extra time and quick responces are an essential requirement for any driver in Dubai!! The beach was beautiful. Perfect white sand and crystal clear blue waters. MMMM paradise!

On the friday evening we went to an amazing place in the Wafi area of Dubai called Peanut Butter Jam. It is a open air bar with a live band and loads of massive bean bags all set up on the floor to lounge on whilst offering a beautiful view of the lights of the surrounding Dubai buildings. We had a big group of us there that night and it was something really special!

We travelled to the capital of the United Arub Emirates 'Abu Dhabi' where we spent the day in a massive mall over there. There was so much to see and we couldnt have possibly done in all in a day! After this we went to Havana bar where we sat by the water and had dinner. After this we travelled to another mall for coffee then home. I noticed very much that over in Abu Dhabi the dress is alot more formal than in Dubai. I saw alot more men and women in traditional dress which consists of long white or black loose fitting robes and for the women face and hair covering.

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