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Published: July 26th 2006
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We landed in Dubai at 6am (local time) with a current temperature of approximately 30 deg C. The day just got hotter from there!
Stepping outside of the front doors of the airport, was like walking into a tsunami heat wave. Before we could even blink we had a sea of random taxi drivers asking us where we wanted to go and trying to get us into their taxi.
After a bit of banter we managed to bargain one of the taxi drivers down to a semi-reasonable price. So off we went to our new home for the next few days. I’m sure we still got ripped off, but the thought of getting in an air-conditioned taxi was far to inviting to worry about it any further.
It was immediately apparent that driving styles were quite different here than back in New Zealand. Speed limits, line markings and even other cars on the road seem to be an optional extra, should you decide to take notice of them.
We stayed at the Palm Beach Rotana Inn Hotel, which was located ‘within walking distance’ to the markets and the river, in Bur Dubai. We were very please to
hear that our room would be ready within half an hour, even though normal check in was not until midday.
Our room had everything we needed in it: air conditioning, two beds, and a bathroom (with a bath!) and a large wardrobe!
We put our stuff down and literally collapsed onto our respective beds. Though, it was harder to get to sleep that I thought it would be, after all we had been up approximately 28 hours without any decent shut eye. But before I knew it, Brendan was jumping up and down on my bed telling me to get up “we have a new city to explore!”. The prospect of shopping managed to install enough energy to haul myself out of bed and venture out in to the extreme sauna that is Dubai.
After diving to the depth of my suitcase, I managed to find some clothes that appeared to be acceptable to the locals. We walked to the local markets which were set in a newly built, but old fashioned cobbled-like street. The stone stores were decorated with wooden shutters and a beautiful wooden archway stretched between the shops, which created welcomed shade but not
Brendan - Dubai Walk
last photo of us still alive! necessarily cooler temperatures.
These markets seems to mainly sell fabric as well as some clothes and a few odd shops that resembled 1,2,3 dollar shops back in NZ which claimed to sell authentic Rolex watches.
Brendan decided to embark on a
bit of a walk along the river edge, following a trail that he saw on a map somewhere. Unfortunately neither of us stopped to think about the fact that it was early afternoon, and therefore the hottest party of the day. Nor did either of us think to carry a bottle of water with us.
The result: me almost collapsing on the side walk in the middle of goodness-knows-where. I noticed some sprinklers that were watering a small patch of grass with water that I’m not sure I’d even flush my toilet with. Without a second through I covered my face with luck warm browny tingled water, which had a strange aroma.
We found a seat with a small pergola over the top and lay there until I had enough energy to think about heading back.
Thankfully, Brendan noticed a bottled water machine on the way back. We both downed a bottle of water before staggering
to a Shisha café that Brendan had seen near the markets. Both of us fell into our seats desperate for something to revive us.
A freshly blended selection of granny smith apples and an assortment of special home made ice cream flavours with chunks of fresh fruit & a dazzle of honey appeared to revive me quite well.
At this point we decided to head back to the hotel, via a few more shops. We managed to weave our way thought the back streets of Dubai back to our hotel room and once again, collapsed onto our beds.
In hind sight, it was a lovely view from the river side across to the city.
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