Dubai day 2

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Geo: 25.1154, 55.2013

Managed to sleep most of the night but woke early, so by just after 6am we were down eating yummy omelet and chocolate bread and butter pudding for brekkie, what other countries consider acceptable breakfast choices is always interesting!

We had originally planned to do a dinner safari later on In the day today but swapped it for a city tour after my wee accident. We will still do the safari but on the way home in 8 weeks hopefully my rib and shoulder will be camel riding ready by then. We were to be picked up for our tour at 8.45am after 9 we were still waiting.....we had just got the concierge to ring the tour place for us when our pick up arrived. The same tour company who provided our airport transfer provided our tour. The driver this time was a little more involved but still not chatty, he drove us to the beach and explained that the bus would met us here. The beach is beautiful, lovely white sand and clear ocean. Our plan was later in the day to return on our own and spend some time there.

After about fifteen minutes the bus arrived and everyone offloaded and the guide introduced himself explained we would be spending ten minutes here ....great ....we had already spent our ten minutes and were overheated and ready to move on. I worked out at this point these people had already started the tour and we had missed the beginning, had a feeling we had been forgotten, this was confirmed at the end of the tour when a guy from the hotel opposite ours was dropped off with us, he certainly wasn't picked up with us. Nothing we could do about it but we did feel a bit like the new kids who had missed something.

The tour itself was average, it consisted of driving to the next stop the guide would say our next stop is this far away, it's the palace of Sheik whoever, this how you pronounce Sheik, this is the name of the street, the name of the palace, the name of the area it's in, we would arrive at the palace, the guide would stay on the air-conditioned bus, we would pile out take pictures (in the case of the palace we were half a kilometre away from the actual palace and could take pictures from this distance and go no closer), there was no history provided of the palace itself or the Sheik or really any information that you couldn't have gleaned from a taxi driver. The tour proceeded like this for a few stops, we then went to a museum where the guide obtained tickets, he spoke to us at the entry of the museum, explained it was originally a fort that had been built to protect the water source, we thought great we are actually going to get some info, nope that was it, he then said I will met you at the exit in 40 minutes and disappeared.

At this point I needed the loo, unfortunately in order to get to the loo I had to go through most of the museum to find it, even more unfortunately the main part of the museum was down a dark underground tunnel full of people, all my fav claustrophobic stuff ....NOT! Once I got to the ladies it was of course packed, 3 stalls and a massive queue and filthy, coming out I expected to find Stephen waiting....he wasn't there....I went further toward the exit and couldn't see him.....travelled back through the tunnel....couldn't find him, by this stage I'm in full claustrophobic panic mode .....finally located him after texting, ringing, lets just say by the time we found each other the confrontation was less than pretty and very public! What did I see of the museum itself? The toilet! Would I go back......not on your life!

The tour itself at this point improved we got on cute little water taxis to take us over the canal to the spice and gold souks , still no history on the canals, the souks themselves or any real information other than meeting times and yes you should barter - but the water taxi boats were cool and the souks themselves were great, a bit reminiscent of the Turkish Bazaar but not as entertaining or with the variety of goods. Still had the hawkers who were trying to sell their 'designer' handbags etc.....bit more upmarket than other places they didn't carry round their dubious wares they tried to show you pictures of them on their smart phones. The gold was unbelievable, yellow gold so yellow it looks fake but if course it's the fact it's over the 9 (or I've noticed at Michael Hills it's now 10) or 18 Carat that we routinely see.

After wandering around window shopping for a bit we decided to try our bartering skills, Stephen went so low on the price of a bracelet he offended the guy who threw his hands in the air and walked away. We eventually purchased a basic 18 Carat bracelet for a couple of hundred AED less than the original price but still came away with the feeling we hadn't won, but happy with our purchase (well she with the bracelet on her wrist is anyway!).

By the time we got back to our hotel it was 2.30 and after our regular feedings of the day before our tummies were starting to feel a little forgotten. Headed over the road to the mall and hit the food court, purchased some hair ties.....they must have gold hidden in them somewhere....after working out exchange rate $25 for ten! Then jet lag hit barely made it back to our room before falling into the deepest sleep.....would probably still be there if Stephens stomach didn't tell him it was past dinner time. So much for the beach, was too damned hot anyway.

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Photos

The beach
Should of brought his hat!

Beach
Yep I was there too

The palace
Zoom makes it look way closer than it was!

Gold Souk
Very gold gold!

The Gold Souk
The man over Stephens shoulder told him he had a shirt just the same as Stephen was wearing in his shop he could sell him.....Stephen said yours must be a knock off then.....no no he said ...uhuh!

Bergen, Norway
This picture was taken off the balcony. Even though it is cool, the sun is warm. I may have over estimated the need for gloves, boots and ski jacket.