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Published: November 1st 2009
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Hello again
Well after my luxurious and relaxing 10 nights in Doha staying with Trude and her family it was a bit of an effort to pack up my bag again and catch my flight to Dubai. Luckily it was only about 45 minutes of flying so it wasn't too taxing. So I made it to Dubai...arrived in the rush hour apparently but didn't get stuck in traffic....the only hiccup getting to my hotel was that it was so new that the taxi driver had never heard of it and tried to take me to another one further down the road....after about 4 minutes of him driving in the wrong direction I finally got him to understand that we had already passed my hotel (I actually saw it as we drove past) so about 10 minutes and 20 dirhams later we found it again! Given that it's brand new it's still in pristine condition and my room was lovely (my last splurge on accomodation before I get back onto a budget!). It was right next to the Mall of the Emirates which I loved.....it even has an indoor ski field...I got to have my morning coffee in a cafe looking out
over the skiiers :-)
The next morning I caught one of the new trains into the city and wandered around the Deira area...more shops :-) and ended up down at the creek and was amazed at the amount of cargo that was sitting down there waiting to be loaded onto the rickety array of boats that were docked....not sure where the cargo was headed but I guess as Dubai is tax free it is cheap to ship the stuff in from there...there was anything from LCD tv's and washing machines to slabs of coca-cola and blankets. I also found the gold souk and had a wander around but wasn't up for buying anything.
The next day I slept in....seems to be becoming a habit! When I finally dragged myself out of bed I made my way over to the mall for my morning coffee (and a bit of apres skiing) then made my way to the Dubai Mall and the Burj Dubai building......this is a newish area....well most of Dubai is newish. There are a lot of amazing looking buildings and the mall is huge.....this one has an ice skating rink, a huge walk in aquarium (the fish are all from the Great Barrier in Australia) and a Bloomingdales is opening soon.....this is one massive shopping mall, it sure gives Sylvia Park and Bondi Junction a run for it's money!
In the evening I went out to the Souk Madinant (sp) for a bit of a walk around and a bite to eat and a chance to the see the Bur Dubai (the sail hotel) lit up at night which was cool. There were a lot of people about enjoying the cooler (but still hot) evening. I being a Nigel No Mates made my way back to the hotel...I also had an early flight to Bangkok in the morning so needed to get some sleep.
I'm on the homeward stretch now.....I can't believe that I'm over half way through my trip already....the time is flying by!
Catch you all later
Trace
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Brendan
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Sounds like you are having such a tough time Tracey, what with staying in new hotels and drinking coffee while watching skiers....best you get back home and avoid those hardships...ha,ha,ha. On second thoughts...enjoy every minute of it, sleep late, drink lots, cause all too soon you will be back here and normal working life will resume.