Dubai

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We have spent the last 5 days having a great time in Dubai. It's is well deserved after the horrendous experience of trying to get through security at Casablanca airport. It took us 1 hour to get from the train station to the airport building as we all had to shuffle through a single metal detector and xray machine. When we checked in we had to go through passport control which also took forever. Then through security again. Our plane also swapped gates randomly while queueing to get on the plane. So for future reference get to Casablanca airport 4 hours in advance to reduce all stress. Anyway, we spent the first day chilling out and having a movie marathon in the hotel to get over that trauma.

On Monday we walked along Dubai Creek (a river which is 1km across in places) from our hotel which was great. We could see all the city's skyscrapers while strolling along. There were also loads of old fashioned wooden taxi boats which we could have crossed the creek on. However we walked on to the street souks (markets) which sold lots and lots of gold. There was so much of the stuff I'm sure it lit up the area in a golden glow. There were even gold shirts and dresses. Further on we found the spice souk which smelt so good. Saffron is meant to be really cheap over here (not that we need it right now)
We also visited a few museums. The first was one of the first schools in dubai and the other was a traditional dubai house. Both were free and interesting, once we found them. All the dummies were a bit too lifelike at times; Surprising us as we entered rooms. Dubai has recently invested heavily in restoring historical sites and it's great that they show great pride in their heritage. We finally got to the metro station and took a trip to the dubai deira mall. It's massive and has every UK shop and more. We got an Indian meal for two before heading back to the hotel.

Tuesday we took the metro to the dubai marina to see the massive yachts and skyscrapers. Afterwards we hit the beach for rest and a paddle in the sea surrounded by the fore mentioned skyscrapers. The view from the sea were unbelievable. It's looked like a science fiction movie. There was an airstrip really close and there were loads of skydivers doing tumbles through the air and gliders doing loop the loops keeping us entertained. At 3pm we rushed off to the tallest building in the world. Unfortunately I underestimated how long it would take us to get there. I also didn't realise we had to go though the largest mall in the world which I'm sure was connected to the metro by the longest pedestrian tunnel in the world. We were hoping to see the sun set, but by the time we got through the queue it was very nearly sun rise. The view at the top was amazing though. You could have seen for miles if the wasn't a constant haze in the air. We luckily found the lower floor which had an outdoor viewing gallery.It instantly improved my photography by 10 fold and I stopped getting reflections of my camera in the glass. We returned to ground level to view an indoor ice hockey rink which was side the mall along side the shops. They had the world model plane championships where the controller would make the planes dance to music around the whole ice rink. We seen an indoor aquarium which had a massive fish tank at the entrance which housed hundreds of fish including sharks and stingrays. Why pay to go in when there's loads outside!! We finally watched the dubai fountain. It was similar to the dancing fountains in Las Vegas and Barcelona but not as good unfortunately. The whole city has a Las Vegas feel about it but it seems real rather than for show. But is so hard to believe this city is so modern and has grown so fast.
Wednesday we went to the dubai museum to learn more about the culture and history of the city. Later that night we went to the cheesiest Russian bar called maxim. We hoped to stay for a while but the £6 a pint price tag put us off a little and we just had one beer each.

Thursday we got up at 7am to visit the Tanzanian consulate. After finally finding the building we discovered they don't open on Thursdays or Fridays as that is the Arabic weekend. We now have to chance getting the visa on the Kenya/Tanzania border which could ruin our 43 day trip to cape town if it all goes wrong. After this disappointment we went to the beach to cheer us up. This was a more remote beach with no skyscrapers this time. But there were so many small fish in the shallows and the water was almost as warm as a bath. We stayed there for most of the day and left just as the blood red sun shimmered out of sight.

Next stop Nairobi.

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Comments

[nutan rathor]

I like dubai
Nice pics, looking pics i think you enjoying a lot.