Day 10 - Dubai, part 2 (Desert Safari)

Well it's Tuesday afternoon/evening and I've been back for almost 48 hours - the problem is I'm not quite sure what time zone I'm in at the moment!

I slept today from 1am to 1pm, but that was mostly just making up for the fact I only got 1 1/2 hours sleep combined on the two flights from Dubai and then Singapore.

Even my laptop is confused...Windows is not automatically changing to Daylight Saving Time, so to get around it, I have to set the time zone to "New Caledonia". And no I'm not kidding.

So I'm finally catching up on writing about the last of my adventures, which was a desert safari about half an hour east of Dubai's city centre.

Only a Landcruiser would do for this adventure. You see plenty of 4WD's around Dubai and that's because they actually do go off road, unlike the "Toorak Tractors" in our country that never see dirt for fear of messing up the paintwork.

Even the main highway from Dubai to Abu Dhabi can turn into something of a dirt adventure - our driver on that trip told us that he'd driven through sand dunes on the road thanks to dust storms. Keep in mind the informal speed limit along there is 140...

So these guys are pretty skilled when it comes to bush bashing.

This is a shot through the windscreen of the Landcruiser as we progressed along the track...coming down a very steep drop at that time!

Now I defy you to try and get good action photos from inside a 4WD speeding through sand dunes as you're laughing your head off - I didn't get too many, but this next one wasn't too bad.

Hard to believe some of the side slopes they were driving on, but I never felt like we were about to roll.

After sidestepping the camels, quad bikes and sand surfing, I ventured inside the compound.

After basically getting cleaned out in the souvenir shop (fortunately I didn't have much on me anyhow), I came across this amazing bird.

For a fee (of course), it could've been my hand inside the glove.

This was the scene inside the compound before most of the tourists had arrived. You can see we were sitting on those thick cushions in front of low tables. The cushions were comfy, but because everything was so low I had to keep moving my legs around to stop from getting a case of "dead leg". The concreted area was the stage for the performers.

As night fell and the action started, I knew it was going to be hopeless shooting photos. So I might've switched to video...

This guy was amazing. He basically kept going around in a circle for at least 5 minutes - I was amazed he wasn't dizzy when he finished!

Then he was followed by a fire twirler...

And last but definitely not least was this brilliant belly dancer. Before this clip, she was dancing with a sword on her head at one point keeping it perfectly still - now that is talent!

She didn't look too bad either, I have to say...

Before I knew it, the night was over and it was time to head back to the hotel.

A sign at a bus shelter best describes what I thought of Dubai - "where the map changes every day".

I'd also say that it's a place where anything is possible. Buildings spring up so fast thanks to the almost perfect weather for construction, cheap labour from India & Pakistan and non-stop work.

You would be very surprised to hear me say this, but you'll find it's nowhere near as much of an Arab place as you would think. Only around 20% of the population are local "Emiratis" who wear the traditional Arab robes. I couldn't help but observe that it was more like Mumbai than Dubai! But that's just my two cents worth.

I found the UAE to be safe, didn't feel any threat to my personal security. But I'd say no matter where you go on Earth, there are people who will try to take advantage of you, especially if they perceive you are easy fodder to be taken for a ride.

On a few occasions, I was approached by various hawkers and I found the best way to deal with them was to say either you had no money, already had the product in question or just politely turn them down. Their persistence and sales techniques are certainly admirable, but hold your ground!

Dubai has some of the world's best shopping, so get ready to spend! But you shouldn't throw out the normal rules of shopping just because you're in a foreign country.

Always try to haggle, it's guaranteed to work in the souks but in the big malls discounts can still be arranged. A classic technique apparently is to start walking out if you're not happy with the price - they'll often throw you a more acceptable figure to get you to come back!

Shop around, don't just buy at first sight. You'll find similar products in many places, even the big brand name stores are in more than one mall so you may be able to play them off against each other. Definitely worth trying if you're after a specific brand name watch, piece of jewellery or some other high value product.

And most importantly, know your product and your budget. Get a feel for what you're buying and understand what it's costing you in Aussie dollars - you will definitely find things are cheaper there once you do the calculations.

Work on those principles and you and your plastic fantastic will be all the better for the trip!

Anyhow, as I bring the final blog to a close, I must take an oath. I swear that I will try to not talk about the trip too much, however hard resisting the temptation might be! What a trip it's been!

I guess the question in my head now is - where to next?

Day 10 - Dubai (Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall)

Entering the Burj Khalifa is no easy feat.

First you have to navigate your way through the world's largest shopping centre, Dubai Mall. You have to figure out that you need to head down to the Lower Ground Floor - come in on the ground floor as most people do and you won't find many signs for it. That's the first thing to understand, that the Burj Khalifa tourist entrance is inside the mall.

The mall information desk men must be kept incredibly busy. It's one thing to understand on the signs where you need to go, but actually getting there is quite another.

Then due to the size of the mall, even if you know where you're going, you're guaranteed a hike. There's only four floors (Lower Ground, Ground, 1st and 2nd), so it means a long walk from one end to the other. And if you came in at the wrong entrance, good luck.

When you finally get there, you are greeted with this.

When you pass the first stage of security with your ticket, you see some inspiring words from Sheikh Mohammed. Very apt about not just the Burj Khalifa, but about Dubai itself.

And a beautifully lit model of the Burj is also there, I wished I could take it home with me...

Going up one of the fastest lifts in the world is quite incredible. 10 metres per second or 36km/h. A sound and light show envelops you as almost silently, you climb for the sky. You'll only notice the height because you have to pop your ears. After just 60 seconds, you reach the observation deck over 600 metres above the ground.

The attendants direct you to a viewing platform which juts out from the observation deck. You are mostly protected by glass, but there are gaps in it for people to stick their cameras through. No thanks! The floor wasn't helping either. On the platform, it is wooden and it moves up and down underneath your feet. In other words, it makes a nerve jangling experience!

This is looking down at "The Address". You might remember I took a shot where I made it look bigger than the Burj Khalifa. Here is the proof that the Khalifa is really taller, much taller in fact!

A lot to see in this shot. The Khalifa is in what's called "Downtown", but that's not the centre of the city. Look about 2/3 of the way up the photo on the right hand side - that's where the heart of the city is. On that same level but to the left, is Port Rashid.

Those long tubes on either side of the road are Dubai Metro stations. I found taxis cheap enough and I wasn't staying here long enough to bother trying it out, but by all reports it's very good and cheap. Believe it or not, the trains are driver-less!

And you thought you'd never see the world in one place? Here it is, "The World". That collection of islands off the coast are man-made. You can buy your very own piece of the world - if you want, you can say that "I own Australia" and you wouldn't be lying.

Off in the hazy distance of this shot, you can see the Burj Al Arab and just how big the Palm Jumeirah is. You think it's big, the biggest of the three Palm Islands will be twice the size!

This is the waterfall inside Dubai Mall. I think it's three stories high from memory. Even though the mall is air conditioned, it feels cooler around the waterfall - I think it's the same as how one of those mist cooling systems operates!

Is the Burj Khalifa worth it? Definitely. If you book your ticket as I did, you'll only pay 105 dirhams (around $30). But you'll need to book online probably 36 hours before you plan to go to make sure you get your preferred time.

The other option is to just rock up when you want to go, but you're looking at 400 dirhams for that (around $120). With the money I saved, I bought a beautiful golden statue of the building from the gift shop!

The other issue of when to go is the haze which is almost permanent here. You may have noticed it particularly in the shot of the Palm Jumeirah. Local sources tell me that the view is better in winter, because the source of the haze (the ever present desert dust) is less prevalent.

Well the battery's nearly dead and I doubt I'd be able to write about my Bedouin desert adventure last night in the time I have left. Maybe if I get lucky I'll have a power point to connect to somewhere? But I should warn you, that may not be until I get back home roughly this time tomorrow night!

Day 9 - Dubai (part 2, cruising Dubai Creek)

Well I'm now at the airport and I've got hours to kill - it's currently half past 1 and my flight leaves at 8. Time to catch up on all those posts I've promised!

Thursday night, my cruise of Dubai Creek was sensational. So good that I really enjoyed myself...

And you thought that was white wine didn't you? Actually it was Al Ain mineral water...

This is what it looks like on board a dhow (a traditional Arab fishing vessel, although it's probably been years since this one has carried anything but tourists!) I was on the top, open air section so I could get a better view of things - and also so I could take better photos!

This is one of the best shots I managed to take, and it was before we'd even left. It's a shot looking across the creek from the dhow wharfage back towards Bur Dubai. Unfortunately, taking photos at night is a complex business. You wouldn't believe how many duds I snapped! 

 

When you sail on Dubai Creek, you head towards the ocean but as far as I understand it's completely blocked off. So all the cruise dhows get to this point where they have to turn around. It's pitch black on the left hand side, and yes that is how it actually looks!

 

On the way back, I thought maybe I'd try to make a video because I wasn't having much success with the snaps. This came out quite well actually. The tall building with the flashing light on the right hand side is the Bank of Baroda branch in Bur Dubai, which is only about 10 minutes walk from my hotel. I tried to take out money there on my first night, but it seems their ATM doesn't like my plastic fantastic!

Coming up next is Friday morning at the Burj Khalifa.

Day 9 - Dubai

Time to catch up on writing about my adventures - have had a very busy past two days...

It started on Thursday morning with a city tour of Dubai beginning with the Palm Jumeirah. This is the view as you drive onto the "trunk", you can see the Burj Al Arab off in the distance.

After 5km driving up the palm tree (all the way to the top), you reach Atlantis The Palm. It's one of Dubai's signature buildings these days but probably the best feature is inside. Google "Poseidon Suite" and you'll see some of the rooms feature an aquarium view.

Next stop, Souk Madinat Jumeirah. It's designed to look old but in reality it's anything but. Nice to walk through a traditional style souk with air conditioning!

Wander out the back and you're greeted with this...

A picturesque view of the Burj Al Arab! What more can you say than 7 stars of luxury. Although they did invent the term "7 star", no rating organisation goes higher than 5!

Can I top that?

Well the next couple of places we visited were basically ones where they try and get tourists to part with cash for local goods.

And then we entered The Mall of the Emirates...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Welcome to Ski Dubai, the ski field inside a shopping mall. Brrr..I think it's about -4 in there!

And at the other extreme, you have Jumeirah Beach. 35 degrees and hardly a soul in sight - that would never happen in Australia!

A sneaky shot to make the world's tallest building look a bit smaller. Behind the palm tree is "The Address", another 5 star hotel - and of course the 828 metre Burj Khalifa brought down a peg or two.

From there it was on into the city. Wrong time of day...here's gridlock on the floating bridge across Dubai Creek.

 

Once we got past that, we were greeted with the sight of the Deira Clock Tower. It stands where the main flow of traffic used to run through the city, but nowadays there's a bypass of Dubai so many cars wouldn't get to see it.

And finally, in the "no they'd never do that in Australia because it makes too much sense" file, check out this air conditioned bus stop. These things are everywhere - what a great idea!

Righto, that's enough now because I need a good night's sleep before the flight tomorrow night.

Tomorrow, I'll catch you up with my Thursday night creek cruise and all the action from today - I promise it'll be worth your while! Not only that, but it'll give me something to do while I'm hanging around at the airport...

Day 8 - Dubai to Abu Dhabi and back again (part 2)

To say the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi is big would be an understatement. It's quite hard to bring that size across in photos to be honest.

This is a shot looking from just inside the indoor part of the mosque back out towards the entrance. The size and detail of the design is most impressive.

Here we're inside one of the massive halls - this one can fit 7,000 people. A few things of note in this shot are you can see where the imam sits, and next to that is a golden arch in the wall for Qibla. Qibla means the direction for prayer, which in the case of the Muslim religion is the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Which is only 1,000 miles away! The room here at my hotel also has a Qibla indicator on the ceiling, I'll try to remember to snap a pic of it before I leave.

  

From all I hear, the former President of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed was a great man. He is often described as "the undisputed father of the nation". He became President in 1971 and was still in charge until his death in 2004. Even to this day, the locals still have enormous respect for how he brought the Emirates together and developed the country into an economic power.

The name fooled me at first, but this is not where the current President lives. This is Emirates Palace, a luxury hotel which cost something in the region of $3 billion to build. No, that's not a misprint. It is the second most expensive hotel to build in the world after...Marina Bay Sands in Singapore! We weren't allowed to go inside because we weren't dressed for such an occasion.

Our next destination was a quick trip up to the gates of the real Presidential Palace - our driver advised us it was not a good idea to be taking photos anywhere near it...apparently there are hidden cameras all over the grounds and surrounding area watching you!

So our next stop was this...

The UAE Heritage Village. Yeah I know, one of those places they take the tourists!

This is a great shot, the old with the new. In the foreground, that's a archaeological dig site dating back to the Bronze Age. And in the background, you can see part of the city skyline of Abu Dhabi.

I love this photo, sort of old and new again. But take out that busy city skyline and you could be on any tropical island in the world! That's one of the traditional wooden boats they'd have used back in the day.

After a lunch stop at Marina Mall (first time I've ever been to Starbucks), we hit the road to return to Dubai.

And it's a fun trip out on the highway! Someone using a blinker to change lanes is almost an event to celebrate, considering it doesn't happen all that often. The nominal speed limit is 120, but people do up to 140 without a problem. And the main highway is incredibly wide - in the southern part of Dubai around Jumeirah it's seven lanes each way! Feels like you're drowning in a sea of tar...

Speaking of Jumeirah, I'll get to see the Palm Jumeirah amongst other things when I go on a three hour Dubai city tour. Then this evening, I'll have dinner onboard a traditional dhow as we cruise along Dubai Creek. I am expecting some brilliant photos!

And in another piece of news, I've booked a ticket for the Burj Khalifa tomorrow. Am hoping for less hazy weather so I can get some awesome pics of the city, but maybe I shouldn't hold my breath!

Must find time for a shopping expedition...but when? I leave on Saturday night!

Day 8 - Dubai to Abu Dhabi and back again

Just a short post this morning Dubai time.

I was very busy at the concierge desk yesterday booking tours.

Today I'm starting with a full day city tour of Abu Dhabi, which is about 120km away. Among other things, we'll get to see the Jebel Ali Port & Free Zone which is the largest man-made port in the world. Also the Sheikh Zayed mosque, which has a capacity of 40,000 people!

I'm also hoping we go somewhere near Yas Island - for those uneducated, it's where the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 track is.

I'll post photos of Abu Dhabi later.

I've also booked a half day city tour of Dubai tomorrow, and that will be followed in the evening by a dhow cruise dinner on Dubai Creek. Let me just say that "creek" is the wrong name for it. It looks fairly wide to me, so I wouldn't want to try and swim across!

And on Friday, the holy day of the Muslim calendar, I'm heading out of town in the afternoon for a 4WD desert safari where I'll get to go dune bashing, see a belly dancer and eat a barbeque under the stars.

Last night I had to go out and get some money. It was quite an eye opener because the area around the hotel is mostly Indian, so I wandered through many lanes of fabric stores, electronics and replica watches. And I only walked for about 10 minutes to get to the ATM! Even saw a chicken wandering about...

When I got back to the hotel, I had dinner in the hotel's English pub themed restaurant. Even the fine touches were covered. The wallpaper, the HP sauce and mustard, some Bowie music and the food - and did I mention that most of the staff were Indian? I had a cottage pie and whisky flavoured cheesecake - it was superb...and best of all with drinks it only cost me $20 Australian.

Tonight I'll be checking out the hotel's pizzeria - looks like they charge around $10 for a large pizza. Woohoo!

Anyhow, got to head off and have breakfast. We'll be leaving for Abu Dhabi in about an hour, so look out for a Part 2 post later on.

Day 6 - Singapore to Dubai and Day 7 - Dubai

I'm writing this late in the morning Dubai time on Tuesday.

It was a very long Monday...

I did get lucky on the laptop battery front - there was a place in the Funan Digital Life mall in Singapore selling a whole bunch of them. And no I didn't have to sing. Something tells me the humour of it would've been lost on the staff...

Bought a cool set of noise-cancelling earphones for the remaining flights that I had. They worked really well on the way over here!

I had to check out of my hotel at 3pm and my airport transfer wasn't until 8:45pm, so I had some time to kill. I tested out both the laptop battery and earphones in the foyer of the hotel listening to some music. It was steadily raining at the time and by the time I bit the bullet at 4:30, it was still steadily raining. What does one do when it's raining and you've got time to kill?

The answer was perfect. I headed back to the cinema where I saw "Wall Street". It was only a couple of blocks from the hotel, so it really was the perfect solution.

But to see what? I passed on "Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen" because obviously I hadn't seen the first movie. That'd be like watching "Wall Street 2" before "Wall Street"! In the end I settled on Leonardo Di Caprio's new flick, "Inception" mainly because I didn't like the sound of anything else.

And I'm glad I went for it - it was a brilliant movie. Molly says "do yourself a favour" again. I won't give away the plot, but let's just say the title refers to getting inside a person's dreams and planting an idea in their head. A very mentally challenging film to follow but well worth it if you do.

I'd gotten back to the hotel and within 10 minutes, my ride was there - he was about 20 minutes early!

So we made it to Changi Airport where I went through the usual international travel procedure. Check in, pass through Immigration, change currency etc. However they didn't do the security screening until I was at the gate.

We left at 11:40pm. I so badly wanted to sleep but I mustn't got in more than about 2 hours. By the time I got to Dubai Airport at 2:50am local time, I was a mess. It meant the time was now 6:50am in Singapore and I'd had hardly any sleep since that time the day before. I felt like a grizzly bear...

And it didn't help that it was a long way from our gate to the passport control, baggage and security areas. Multiple moving walkways, multiple downward escalators, multiple upward escalators. Good thing I wasn't in a hurry to catch another flight!

Finally I made it out, found my driver and got to the hotel. They have left hand drive cars and drive on the right side of the road. Took a few minutes to get used to! And I have to say that my driver used the lane markings as an indication, not a strict thing to follow. But at 4am, you can get away with that in probably any city around the world.

When my head finally hit the pillow at 4:15am, I was so glad. But I had to get up in time for my free breakfast. Did it finish at 10 or 10:30? Reception did tell me, but I suffered a massive memory failure. Presume 10 just in case. Typical it turned out to be 10:30, but that's about my average sort of luck...

Breakfast was nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the donuts. And they make a mean fruit juice over here too. Kenny G was playing in the breakfast room - I didn't mind it actually because it wasn't anything "hard" to listen to.

Picture time - what's my room like? Let's start with the view. This shot looks toward Port Rashid and Dubai Maritime City. I don't think I can see the Persian Gulf, but it isn't that far away. In the foreground of the shot is Fort Al Fahidi, the boat you can see is just behind the Dubai Museum.

 

Calling it a room is an unfair description - it's actually an "Executive Suite". See below pictures of the bedroom and the lounge room. Yes the two rooms are separate!

 

You can't see them in the photos, but there are also two Sony widescreen TV's.

I'm planning on spending a bit of time in the room today, because I don't feel particularly energetic at the moment. I might head across the road to the Museum if I'm more enthusiastic later, but right now I can't see it happening.

I may check out the hotel pool, it's perfect weather for that actually. 38 degrees and fine!

Tomorrow, I'd like to do a tour of the city if I can arrange it. Right now, I can hear the call to prayer coming from a nearby mosque - there is no doubt whatsoever that I am now in a Muslim country.