A Day in Dubai

---

I flew Emirates airlines to India so I had a layover in Dubai...I decided to take advantage of the layover and stay for a day. It really was too short but I tried to make the best of it.

First Impressions - It was absolutely beautiful! Even the airport was gorgeous (and the sexy immigration guy).

As I have mentioned before the scariest part of traveling by yourself could be getting out of the airport. You never know if you will get into the wrong cab. Well in Dubai the cabs are run by the government so I felt more secure...even when the cab driver told me that my hotel did not exist (he eventually found it). He was a nice guy but I have to admit I was a little worried. He was going to drop me off at the mall but eventually someone called him with a location.

As we were driving to the hotel though I was just amazed by the city. It is so new and clean...interesting buildings were every where! It made me think of how New York City must have been in the early 1900s when they were building everything...it was simply beautiful...a little dusty tho.

The Hotel: I stayed at the Sapphire Hotel and Apartments (for only $80...I love hotels.com)! It was more of an apartment than hotel room which would have been perfect if I was going to be staying longer than 24 hours. It was really nice and clean but not close to anything really.

The Pool: I went straight to the pool right after breakfast. The pool was on the 11th floor and was gorgeous...it almost looked like the water was falling off the building. It even had a view of the mall that has the ski slopes (pics).

Interesting People: I didn't have a chance to really get to know anyone on this trip since it was so fast but I did talk to several people and I was amazed at the diversity. People were from everywhere! Of course the Philippines (they were amazed at my "Salamat"), but also South Africa, New Zealand, France, Egypt...etc Again, Dubai reminded me of America in the early 1900s...a place for immigrants. A place to find a job and create a life for your family.

Food: I had the most amazing meal at the BBQ described in touristy stuff...I think I have eaten camel...regardless...it was yummy!

Toilets - Had a pull chain in the hotel

Touristy Stuff: There is so much I wanted to do in Dubai...I wanted to see the Palm Islands, go to the Mall of Emirates, swim in the ocean...but I just didn't have enough time and I was still on US time so at noon I got super sleepy! I decided to do the sand dune adventure. It was 6hrs for $47 which was a great deal so I went with it and took a nap before hand.

The adventure starts with them picking you up from your hotel at about 4pm and then heading to the outskirts of towns...the Dunes! It took us about 30mins to get there and once we were there the adventure started immediately! The driver pulls over and puts the Range Rover in 4 wheel drive and the proceeds to scare me to death!! These dunes were more steep than I thought and there were tons of other trucks around...I thought we were either going to flip over or run into another truck! WOW...what a ride...just thinking about it makes me anxious and excited!! After about 30mins of being tossed around we stopped somewhere in the middle of the desert to watch the sunset and sand board (pics).

I took a few pictures and observed the sand boarding (like snow boarding but on sand). A guy went first and did ok but fell on his but. A couple of women went next but they decided to sit on the board...after a few more people I decided to go for it...and actually stand. I don't know what I was thinking...I was doing great at first...I was up the longest but then I fell............flat on my face!!! OMG...it hurt...I could have broken my neck and no one even knew I was there. I stood up and shook it off tho...then I had to walk back up the dune...that wasn't easy 😞

After the fall I has sand all over me!!! I swear it took me 3days to get all the sand out...

After that adventure we headed to camp (Thank God no more extreme sports for me)...I took some ibprofen to help with the pain. The camp was awesome...it was even more in the middle of nowhere and very arabiac looking including camel rides, a huka smoking ring and henna drawing. We got there late so I didn't participate in any of that...I headed straight to the bar to try to numb the pain more 😊

There was a giant raised dance floor covered with rugs in the middle of all the tents and surrounding the dance floor were tables that sat about 8 people - sitting on pillows of course. I sat and waited for the show to begin...the first dancer was a man and he was dressed in a elaborate dress for the most part and most of his dance included twirling so he dress made different designs. After a while the lights dimmed even more and there were lights on the dress and made the dance even cooler.

After his dance the food was served! Two different types of hummas, two salads, yummy veggies...it was so much food and that wasn't even the meat yet. At the grill they served lamb, chicken and camel (I think that is what he said)...it was all Fantastic!!! I couldn't finish it all but I certainly wanted to! 😊

After dinner was the belly dancer. She was beautiful of course...she initially came out with wings which was fun. After seeing her gyrate all over the stage I can see why this is so popular...the guys (even the most conservative Muslims) were going nuts. Eventually some guys got up to dance with her (during the sword dance)...it was fun to watch. Pics didn't turn out that great since she was always moving but I attempted it.

After dinner we were taken back to the hotel. I was going to head to the beach to have a drink at one of the more famous beach restaurants but I was simply exhausted and sore...so I took a shower to try to get some of the sand off and went to sleep.

Things that made me go hmmmm... Security was a lot more relaxed than I thought it would be. Makes me wonder if the government has made deals with terrorists...I really tried not to think of it too much.

---