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Published: December 31st 2006
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Dusk in the Desert
Check out the colors of the sand Woke up to a glorious day with cool breezes and warm sunshine. We could see the coast of Oman and U.A.E. on our port side. We played trivia this morning at 10 AM and placed 2nd yet again. Looks like our time to play with the Big Dogs has finally arrived !!
We noticed large buildings on our port side and realized we were close to the port of Dubai. We watched anxiously as the ship was docked and had a perfect view of the welcome show and band, complete with red carpet.
Helen and I decided to try and take a taxi to the gold and spice souk. We were greeted by 8 beautiful little girls dressed in pink and gold, who gave us each a long stemmed rose and poured rose water on our hands….a traditional Dubai welcome, so we are told.
We couldn’t find a taxi, so hopped on the cruise ship shuttle bus that ended up taking us to the downtown shopping mall over 30 minutes away because of heavy traffic. Not where we wanted to go, but figured we make the best of it in the 45 minutes we had to walk around.
Sheiks of the Desert
How the hell do you steer this thing ?? It looked like any upscale shopping mall at home with its designer shops, Christmas decorations and loudspeakers playing Christmas music. Couple this with men in their starched white dishdashas and the women dressed head to toe in black, some with their faces fully covered, and it made for a strange scene. My favorite sight in the mall was a cafe with waiters and waitresses in santa hats, serving coffee at tables to men in dishdashas. The perfect photo op !!
We grabbed the very late 2:15 PM shuttle bus back to the cruise port, to get ready for our desert safari evening. Luclily, traffic was lighter on the way back to port.
Grabbed a quick panini at the poolside Waves Grill and proceeded to the cruise terminal to wait for our safai guide. Due to the Port Rashid inconsistent port regulations, our guide had difficulty getting inside to pick us up. We had to have the terminal tour desk call down to the main entry gate, to get our driver approval for entry. Mr. Mohammed finally arrived at 4:10 pm and we joined a lovely couple from Johannesburg, South Africa sharing our jeep. The seats were the fold
down type in the back and were quite uncomfortable, but at least they had working seat belts. We drove on the Dubai Highway for approximately 40 minutes to an area of desert just beyond the outskirts of the city. The sun was low in the sky and showed off the beautiful colors of the desert sand. The sand was so fine, soft and dry. It didn’t stick to anything like beach sand does. It easily passed through the vents in my sneakers, that I barely had any sand in my shoes when we returned to the ship.
Our driver thrilled us with Wadi riding and dune surfing in our 4 wheel drive vehicle. It was a heart pounding roller coaster ride that required great skill in order to avoid flipping the jeep or getting stuck in the sand. We got out of the truck and got some great photos of Mohammed thrashing through the dunes at angles that defied gravity. We also got a kick out of the many free roaming camels out for a sunset gallop.
From there, we went to the Bedouin village (Dubai’s version of Williamsburg, VA) and roared with laughter as we negotiated our
mount and dismount of the desert taxi - the camel. The camels were well cared for with full, soft, shiny, furry coats and pleasant dispositions. They acted like puppies when you scratched behind their ears, as they would nuzzle up next to you and then flatten their necks out in the sand, so you could scratch there as well. I think if they weren’t tied together, they’d roll over on their backs so you could scratch their bellies, too.
Our camel ride was a short jaunt around the encampment with the most exciting part being the rise and fall as they got up and down. With no stirrups for your feet and the camel’s hump riding up your butt, the object was to try and balance yourself while holding on to the handle in front in front, and not tip over to one side.
The sun began to set just as the camel rides were over and we slid down the sand dunes into the village camp. We were greeted with a cup of weak Bedouin style coffee that tasted like it was made from camel dung and ate some fried Bedouin style zepoles soaked in honey (yum)
Wet Paint !!
Freshly applied black henna tatoos and fresh flat bread. The next hour or so was spent looking in the little gift shop, dressing up like Bedouins for photos, holding and photographing falcons and enjoying any bar items at additional cost. The beers cost $5.00 - 7.00 USD and liquor drinks were $7.00 - 10.00 USD. Helen and I also got black henna tattoos painted on our hand and wrist. The artist drew a beautiful flower design, but the wrist part smeared as soon as I flexed my wrist to get up off the ground. Note to self: henna tattoos should not be placed over joint areas. Luckily, the smeared spot can be covered up by my watch. Unfortunately, due to the close proximity to Dubai, the night sky wasn’t dark enough to appreciate the star filled desert sky.
A buffet dinner was served consisting of tabouli, fresh flat bread, tomato and cucumber salad, grilled kabobs of lamb, beef, and chicken. Saffron rice, spicy asian style noodles and a fire hot vegetable curry that made me sweat. The really fun part, was sitting on a ground cushion at a table less than 1 foot off the ground. We all got down there okay, but who
the hell is gonna haul our butts up when its time to go??
After dinner, they called in the cranes to lift us so we could move to the bench in front of our table that was one of the many surrounding the circular stage. This provided everyone with front row seats for the belly dancer. She was quite good and insisted on audience participation. She literally hooked Billy by the neck with a flexible woven cane and dragged him on stage to imitate all the moves she did, balancing the cane on different areas of her body, while gyrating her hips and chest. Billy did a pretty good job of keeping up. Then it was my turn when Mohammed dragged me up to do a traditional Arabic folk dance, similar to Greek dancing.
The show ended abruptly after about 30 minutes when it seemed that our belly dancer had a hissy fit with the D.J.. who apparently put on the wrong piece of music. All of the workers in the village ran towards that area and then the belly dancer disappeared. Mohammed ran out to the stage, said “Thanks for coming” and then all of the drivers began collecting their passengers to climb the sand dune back to our jeeps.
We raced some of the other jeeps on the bouncy dunes, in the dark, on our way back to the highway. Enroute to Dubai, Mohammed pointed out Dragon Mart, a Chinese market stall building, stretching over 1 km. In length with over 600 stores selling all products from China.
We returned to the port about 10:00 PM, and I waited inside the cruise terminal for about 30 minutes to have a turn at the free internet service provided by Port of Dubai. It gave me a chance to read some emails without paying $1.00 USD per minute on board ship.
All in all, we enjoyed our first day in Dubai. Looking forward to tomorrow’s city tour.
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anonymous
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Dubai Desert Safari
Dubai Desert safari Dubai desert safari is one the marvelous place to spend your free time. The car racing, night dinners, belle dances, all are very good. You can not compare it with any desert safari. I have planned to visit it again. .. Wish me good luck. :)