Dubai was our only stop in the Middle East. It was our first time in this part of the world.
Our friend Marc joined us for our stay in Dubai. Marc is from Germany and he and Vanessa met in 1995 when Vanessa was studying in Europe. We've kept in touch since and we've met at spots across the world (Alberta; Switzerland; southern Germany; Sydney Australia). We always have a great time with Marc because he has the same passion for travel that we have.
Marc hopped on a plane to Dubai after work on Friday, flew through the night, met us on Saturday morning, did three full days of touring with us, flew home through the night on Monday and went to work on Tuesday morning. That's someone who loves to travel!
The three of us set out to explore the city. It doesn't take you long to figure out that Dubai has lots in common with Las Vegas. Both are gleaming cities in the middle of the desert and everything is over-the-top.
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| Burj Khalifa - world's tallest building (over 160 stories high) |
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| View of "tiny" towers (40-50 stories) from Burj Khalifa's observation deck (124th floor) |
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| World's largest dancing fountain next to Burj Khalifa |
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| World's largest mall next to Burj Khalifa |
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| Burj Al Arab - seven star hotel |
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| Indoor ski hill |
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| Atlantis Palm Hotel built at the end of a man-made palm-shaped series of islands |
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| Dubai skyline with huge numbers of skyskrapers |
Unlike other parts of the Middle East, conservative dress and behaviour is politely encouraged in Dubai but not strictly enforced. Here's a "courtesy policy" from one of Dubai's malls. You didn't have to look hard to see folks violating the first two parts of the policy.
There was huge variation in clothes worn by women - everything from Saudi Arabian women covered from head to toe (hands included) to western women wearing mini skirts and high heels.
After seeing the city's sights, we ventured into the desert for a sand duning trip in a 4x4 truck.
After a few minutes roaring through the desert, our driver got our truck stuck on a sand dune. We sat around for two hours while he and other drivers tried to fix the damage they did to the truck when they pulled it off the sand dune.
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| Hanging out in the very hot and very humid desert |
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| Red sand |
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| We like travelling with Marc because he's a good photographer |
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| We got to see a very nice sunset while we waited |
When the truck was fixed, we headed to a dinner and dance show in the desert.
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| Vanessa and Marc went for a camel ride before dinner |
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| The dancers were very good |
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| Late at night but it's still very hot |
After our three day whirlwind in Dubai, Marc got on a plane to go home and we boarded a plane for Italy.
Vanessa and Blake
