Dubai
I wrote up a very elaborate story about my times in
Dubai, sadly when I hit submit, our internet (which is sometimes very
spotty here in Cape Town) went out and I lost it all therefore I will
only provide highlights.
Our trip started off with a two hour delay on top
of an already 15 hour direct flight as well as a very early arrival and
only 4 people actually going through Term D security in Houston. It was
amazing; we didn’t have to sit through the
long and awful security process that is terminal C and E in Houston.
One note worthy thing about Emirates flights, the
planes first and second classes are incredible, if you’ve ever seen Soul
Plane it was similar and Mark and I were Tom Arnold walking into third
class out from first. None the less there
was 75 people maybe on a 500 person flight. Mark and I each got our own
row, through up the arm rests and got horizontal quick which was good
for sleeping on the plane but just awful in our attempts to combat jet
lag.
We arrive around 9pm Dubai time and got a cab
straight to the hotel which was in a non hustle bustle part of the city.
As I mentioned earlier our jetlag/ sleep problems were just beginning
and we both were asleep by midnight and awake by
3am. I bet our bodies thought it was a mid afternoon nap.
We left the hotel in pursuit of the tallest
building in the world at around 7am. The train into the city was about a
15 minute walk, and once we arrived to get on the train, half of the
city of Dubai was on this train ready to go to work
in the morning. We were the only westerners around and lack for a
better term literally just ‘boss hogged’ our way into the train. It was
very similar to the videos if you’ve seen them of the Chinese being
squished onto trains. None the less after being tightly
squeezed and unable to move for two ladies, they both missed their
stops. We got off one stop premature just to walk around the city.
The whole city is 80% under construction and
there’s several full and complete buildings 100% empty. The whole city
has to be 85% empty its nuts. Upon arrival to the tallest building,
which you could see anywhere in the city, it was amazing
to see how this thing towered above everything, it’s literally only
something out of a Sci Fi futuristic film.
Next door to the tallest building is the Dubai mall
which is absolutely ridiculous. At least 3x larger than the Houston
Galleria, but weirdly has every single shop from Houston in this mall
and more. There’s even every Houston restaurant
there- Chili’s, Macaroni Grill, and even TEXAS ROAD HOUSE. The outside
of the mall in front of the tallest building is a very cut and paste but
on a more amazing scale is the fountains from the Bellagio in Vegas as
well as all the Italian buildings surrounding.
Only way to see it and understand it is the pictures.
We did go to the top of the building, over 200+ stories, but one can only go to the 124th
story, because the rest are residential floors. The view was great,
although there was a sand storm blowing in the region that reduced
visibility pretty good. But again just see the pictures.
Once leaving there, we headed for the Palm. As the
outer rim of the palm is in itself its own island you had to take a tram
out there. I believe Trump owns the majority as his name is spread all
over the place. We both had no idea they
had developed any of the ‘branches’ of the palm and once we saw the
houses on these branches we were stunned. They were brilliant and their
beach front property was stupid. There are literally no waves in Dubai
that we found. Upon exiting the tram at the Atlantis
Dubai, it appeared to be very private and secluded and members only
type deal and when you see the pictures you’ll understand why. Well Mark
and I just walked in like we lived there and set up shop on the beach.
And for any of you that know one of my ultimate
goals in life, which is to find a beach with pool water, i.e. the exact
180 degree from Galveston, I’ve finally found it. The water was crystal
clear and you could literally get a pool float and drift out with out a
worry in the world.
Once it began to get dark we headed to the “old
town” which is where the natives have their markets/bazaars. We walked
around being damn near the only westerns/tourists around which was
great. There wasn’t too much crowding us and bothering
us to go into their shops like I imagined there would be like I
experienced in East Asia. We sampled the local food and even bought some
spices- ( coming your way gma hall).
Day 2-
Mark had the great idea of taking a 2 hour bus to
Abu Dabi with no research, and hell I don’t blame him one bit. Abu Dabi
is just as rich as Dubai, but upon arrival we found there is almost zero
public transportation and anything worth
seeing is outside the city and only by an expensive cab ride, therefore
we ate lunch in a mall where there was a Fuddruckers, seriously. We
walked around a bit but headed back to Dubai in which from the road you
can see the grand mosque. It was incredible
to see. Once back we headed to the Sail Boat hotel, and its
inclusiveness really sucked so you couldn’t get anywhere close, and at
$1500USD to stay there a night, I wouldn’t want me around there either.
We then headed to the Indoor ski place which was really
neat, but we did not ski. Just take a look at the photo gallery once I
have it all up and you’ll see some good stuff.
All in all the people were incredibly friendly and
all my preconceived notions have been erased. We both felt that three
days was perfect amount of timing in Dubai for us, as the shopping malls
are not much more than something to walk through
once for us. But the beaches were amazing and again everyone was so
friendly and helpful it was incredible.
Stay tuned for Cape Town posts-
Until next time…
