Apologies for the month-long wait for the wrap-up to our holiday. It's now September and I'm still chronicaling our holiday that happened in May! The busy side of moving house has passed so hopefully I can wrap this up quickly and move onto other news in future posts!
So, our holiday brings us to Dubai. I had been looking forward to this destination for quite some time and it was great to be here and out of the airport, even after a 1am arrival!
Unfortunately some drama struck our group as no one met us at the airport. Eventually we all made our own way to the hotel (and were never reimbursed for that inconvenience). We barely had a few hours sleep before we were up for the day tour of Dubai.
We cruised in air-conditioned comfort as we quickly realised how hot Dubai gets during the day. Our guide took us through the old and new parts of the city. We got to visit an Islamic Art Centre before heading for a photo-op near the Burj Al Arab, the famous 7 star hotel.
From this location we continued to the Palm Jumeirah, the first artificial palm nearing completion. We drove to the end and stood before another 7 star hotel, the Atlantis. From here we drove back into town and the new Burj area where we could see the Dubai Mall (the world's largest shopping mall) and the Burj Khalifa (the world's tallest building).
The rest of our group were quite eager to check out some gold shops so we ventured to a place called 'Gold Land' where there were endless rows of shops with lavish and extravagant jewellery on offer. Eleonor and I took it a bit easier and shopped for souvenirs instead during this time.
Once the other ladies in our group had satisfied their jewellery appetites, we headed back to our hotel for some lunch and a rest before the evening's trip to the desert.
Come afternoon and two of our group of six decided to drop out, instead opting to go hunting for more gold. The rest of us headed out to the desert heat. We had a brief stop at a place where a monkey jumped on Eleonor after she went to take a photo of it. There were also donkey's, peacock's and other animals in the area.
We then set off into the desert for a bit of sand duning. Except one of the ladies in the car absolutely hated it and soured the experience. After reaching a picturesque spot in the middle of nowhere for a photo opportunity, our driver took us to the boring blacktop and we drove, unexcitedly to our destination.
Check out what little sand duning we did manage to get up to via the YouTube video below:After arriving at our camp site for the evening's entertainment we were treated to a complimentary camel ride. We got to ride aboard the camel with the cute 'tea-cosy' on its nose in the photograph below. It was quite an experience, particularly as you don't realise how high you end up going when they get up to walk!
Within the camp were several stores. One offered Henna painting for the ladies, which Eleonor indulged in. We were also able to experience a wealth of middle-eastern cuisine which was interesting, tasty and filling before seeing a bellydancer performance.
At the end, we were driven back to our hotel to finish up our first day. The other four ladies in our group would fly back to Sydney the following morning, leaving Eleonor and I to happily continue exploring Dubai at our own pace for Day 2!
The holiday will finish up in the next post, which I'll try to get out as soon as possible!
Until then,
Daniel
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