The tourist type things of Dubai continued all day - and I mean ALL DAY! - Monday and again Tuesday morning.
Monday saw us with a stack of pancakes for breakfast, and then a Big Bus hop on / hop off tour with a first stop of the Dubai Mall, where we went to visit Cam's friend the tiger shark and some of his friends at the aquarium.
Next came a dhow cruise down the Dubai Creek - which after the dredging and expansion project was anything but. Wow, some of those wooden boats (dhows) are ornate!
That was it for Dubai. Next stop – Paris!
Monday saw us with a stack of pancakes for breakfast, and then a Big Bus hop on / hop off tour with a first stop of the Dubai Mall, where we went to visit Cam's friend the tiger shark and some of his friends at the aquarium.
From
there it was to the Dubai museum, which was interesting enough with the
displays of how the Arabs used to live, but the photos that we took were
unless you knew back stories and context. Except for the camel. Coming out of the museum we were
aiming to rejoin the tour bus – but, no. We walked around the corner to see the
bus pulling away. Instead of waiting around in the heat for the next bus in ½ hour,
or walking through the heat of the day to try and get to the next attraction,
we hailed a taxi instead and went straight to the gold souk. So much gold….. and
so many street vendors trying to get us to buy knock-off Rolex copy watches and
Louis Vuitton handbags! So many decisions
and no real idea if I wanted to buy anything or not saw me leaving the souk
with nothing but some amazing images on my retinas. And in the memory cards of
the cameras…
Back
on the bus, and past the attractions along Dubai’s beach front, including the Jumeirah
Mosque, Burjuman shopping centre, Burj Al Arab, and Atlantis on The Palm Jumeirah.
The
bus tour deposited us back at the Mall of the Emirates, where we took the kids
for their first experience of snow at Ski Dubai. Dan made snow angels, Calum went
on the luge then managed to convince Cameron that a go on the inner tubes would
be a good idea. Missed getting any photos of that because Danielle and I were
watching the penguin show. Got a photo of Cam throwing a snow ball at Dan
though…
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| The slopes at Ski Dubai |
Dinner
ended our day, but not our Dubai adventure. While Calum and the kids opted for McDonalds, I went for something a little bit more 'local'... Love the Coke Zero can!
We were back to Atlantis the next
day for a helicopter flight over Dubai and the man made islands off the coast.
The pilot said that it was a really clear day for this time of year. Days with
no dust haze are saved for their winter months apparently. Good to know for next
time. We had a “lovely” 1km walk through the sweltering heat first though
because out taxi driver dropped us at the wrong end of the hotel – at the Aquaventure
park rather than the helipad. Of course, no taxi driver was going to stop and
take us for such a short distance, so we had little option but to walk. The air
conditioning of the flight company offices was lovely! The flight was totally
awesome, dusty conditions excepted, and I would love to do it again in clearer
weather.
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| Dubai Creek from the air |
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| Atlantis on the Palm Jumeirah |
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| Burg Kahlifa |
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| The World Islands |
Jo. x
Okay, time for me to chime in. I've been relegated to a few lines at the end because my lovely wife has decided this blog is her baby... Ah well.
Dubai.. what did I learn.
1. Everything is cheap, (which appeals to the Scotsman in me) For example a 500ml bottle of water 50 cents (AUD), 30 mins in a taxi about $10 (why would you walk in 45 deg heat )
2. Many of people are rude, they push in everywhere, lines and queues are ignored. Yeah I know we (Australians in particular) are supposed to be anti authoritarian, but that's just a stereotype, we really like our rules and lines etc. It took a bit of effort to overcome my usual reserved well mannered persona and adopt the local methods
3. The locals treat the immigrant workers like serfs, even the kids. But I did get a laugh when the Arab kid at the Snow Park was yelling at the attendant handing out the clothes to come and serve him because he (the kid) had got the wrong size pants. The Attendant, who was Indian, ignored him eventually telling him to get to the back of the line.
4. The people here may not be fat now, but give it 15 yrs and they will be. The serving sizes are one step up form ours, i.e.small is medium. And going back to paint one, the food is dirt cheap.
Well thats all for this post.And yes we're running about 2 days behind..
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