Dubai 5 - 6 September

Today, to quote Owen, we leave for the land of the greasy people! I think Owen is in for a shock. However, first I should provide an overview of our two nights and one day in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai. After a grueling 19 hours on a plane marked only by a brief stopver in Singapore, we landed in Dubai at around 12.30pm. The statement that best describes our time the UAE is 'jaw dropping'.

Dubai a city of glass and cement baking under a desert sun and shrouded in a browny-yellowish haze where visibility is poor. According to our drive Krishna the haze was not pollution or a sand storm but fog. It was so thick that unless you were standing below it you would be lucky to see the tallest building in the world (175 floors) and the famous Bujal de Dubai hotel.

With a day temperature of 42c we were feeling the heat. As I walked the few metres from our taxi to the hotel I swear my crocs were melting on the pavement. Dubai is also a city under construction. I think there must be the greatest concentration of cranes in the world second only perhaps to China. The new buildings that have been constructed are architectual wonders. It would have to be the Ikea of the architectual world. To quote Ron, "the Arabs have taken the coke bottle turned it upside down, stuck the neck in the sand and used the design to build a highrise".

We spent our day being driven to all the wonders of the city with the exception of the ski slope that is found in the Mall of Emirates. By the time we drove past the mall we were begging to be driven back to our hotel so we could rest our eyes and digest what we had seen. One of the highlights of our day tour was the old Gold Souk where a shop keeper dressed Owen in traditional Arabian clothes. We were so amused that we bought two of the flowing white robes and matching headresses. I also bought a pair of heavily embroidered leather slippers the likes of which a Jeanie in a Bottle would wear. In the Gold Souk we saw clothing made of gold and shop windows where the gold jewelry flowed like a waterfall. Ron also felt that we should have spent time in the Fish Souk but we won't touch on that fishy subject. If I was to sum up Dubai it would be to say that we say a great deal of the city through the window of the car and considering the temperature outside, that was the way we liked it!

In the evening we were picked up in a 4WD and driven out of the city past the Camel Racing Track to a nature conservation park. Here we were joined by anotehr twenty-four 4WDs full of tourists. In convoy the tour took us on a 4WD experience over the desert dunes which at times was a great deal of fun. We stopped for the obiligatory sunset photo opportunity and then proceeded to a traditional Bedouin camp for a BBQ dinner. There were several highlights of the evening. We each had Hena tattoos put on our arms. Owen a hawk, Ron a spider and I had a floral design. Owen and I rode on camels. This was a bundle of laughs with my camel showing particular interest in Owen's beast. We wer treated to delicious Arabian coffee, fresh dates and a yummy dinner. The best was when we all tried smoking the water pipes. Tobacco and hot coals are placed in a cup at the top of a glass bottle which is filled with flavoured water. A long hose comes from the bottle so that you can draw the smoke into your mouth and then exhale the smoke. Between coughing and spluttering it too was delicious.