Dubai

The first stop on our trip was Dubai in the UAE and as we had never been before we were looking forward to the experience. We arrived during the month of Ramadan which means Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset, not even drinking water, which is hard to imagine in such a hot climate. We caught a taxi from the airport to our hotel and our driver (a woman) told us that even though she is a Christian, she has been reported to the police for eating in her taxi during Ramadan, as she wears the local dress. Most restaurants are closed during the day but the ones that are open have curtains that hide the people inside eating. You can't buy alcohol in restaurants until 8pm, so it was hard going without a cold beer on such a hot day but you can of course, eat and drink alcohol as much as you like in private! It only lasts a month, so by the time we return there on our way home, it will all be over and we can buy a cold beer at lunchtime and thank goodness, at 42C, Dubai can make you thirsty.

Our first day we visited Dubai Mall, the biggest shopping mall on the world. As I am not into shopping, it looked like any other shopping mall in the world. We weren't really functioning that well the first day (after a 14 hour overnight flight) so had an early night. But the next day we were fine and took ourselves on one of those hop on hop off Big Bus tours and ended up spending 9 hours travelling around, including getting off at various stops and walking around exploring different areas. There are three different routes included on the bus and we did them all, the red, green and blue.

The building that is going on in Dubai is amazing, cranes on the skyline everywhere. The famous buildings that people know include the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.

                                                   

The amazing hotel, the Burj Al Arab, at around $15,000 per night and unless I win lotto, I'll never stay there!

                                        

But there were the quirky buildings that were interesting, like the Infinity Tower with a twist of 90 degrees.

                                        

The modern city is amazing but the part I liked the best was the old part, where the locals live and work, including the spice markets and the local ferries that take them across the river.

                                       

                         

                         

                         

I found Dubai interesting but certainly a city of contrasts.