Dubai!!

Hey everyone!

I'm back on the air - yay! Turns out you can buy one hour of wifi here for $5. Still a rip off but I can justify that. 

So yesterday (Wednesday), we had brekky and packed up. Then we went for a walk the opposite way to the station (a part of town we hadn't seen) for 30 minutes each way. We came back and checked out and were greeted with a nice surprise. Long story short, the hotel we stayed at used to be a Clarion a Collection hotel. When it was, the room rate included a light buffet dinner at night. In April it changed hands to First Hotels and the room rate no longer included this. Mum queried it and they agreed to give us a discount. Turns out they now give everyone who booked prior to April a 500 krone ($100) refund due to this, and they didn't realise they'd already given this to us. So we got a bonus $100! Usually I probably would have spoken up, but due to the terrible sleep we got at this hotel, I didn't feel bad at all. 

Got the train to the airport and checked in no worries. The flight was a bit turbulent and at one point we dropped quite sharply and to be honest I freaked out a little bit. I think mum and I held hands for a good ten minutes after that. Told you I was nervous! But it was all fine. Passed the time by watching 'Captain America' and 'Divergent', both of which were great!

Walked out of the airport and BAM - 37 degrees and 70% humidity at midnight. I felt like I was being suffocated. Got straight in a cab for the 20 minute journey to our hotel, Fairmont the Palm situated on the Jumeirah Palm island. On the way we saw heaps of lit up skyscrapers, so pretty!

We arrived at the hotel, and staff opened the car and helped us out. We had our luggage carried in for us and were told at reception they'd upgraded us to an ocean view room - woohoo! Because it's Ramadan we are only paying $200 a night here, the room we have is usually $700 a night. It's HUGE! We have everything from TV in the bathroom to a pro coffee machine. We even had our own porter, German (pronounced Herman), who gave us a 'room orientation' and showed us how to use everything. Dad - he's from the Philippines and reminded me so much of Abdul from Malaysia. Please tell Adam!!

We went to sleep about 2am as it's a 2 hour time difference so had a bit of trouble winding down. We are now 6 hours behind Melbs. I got that wrong the other day - sorry!!

Woke up today at 9am, but only because of the alarm. I had the best night's sleep since I slept in my wonderful bed just before I left. So dark, so quiet, so comfy!! Hoorayyyyy!!!!!! Just what is needed before our journey home. 

We ate muesli bars for brekky in our room and then caught the 10am free shuttle from the hotel to the Dubai Mall. Dubai looks so different in the daylight, it's hazy, dusty and dry. It was 45 degrees today and it's a dry heat that makes you feel like you can't breathe. Luckily they are expert air conditioners!

We explored the mall. It's huge and full of expensive brands! Saw the famous aquarium wall, the ice skating rink, the souk market area and even walked outside for 2 minutes to stare at the Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world). Two minutes was all we could stand - SO HOT! The building is so tall I had to take a panorama to fit the whole thing in a photo!

Ramadan is on now so during the day you have to cover your knees and shoulders, and you can't eat or drink in public between sunrise and sunset. So we had many sneaky toilet and change room drinks. Funny how the minute you're told you can't drink water you're instantly thirsty and have a headache!!

We got a taxi to the Mall of the Emirates. This one was more in our price range, and I bought a dress and a skirt at 'Forever 21' which I love!! So cheap too. We checked out the 'Ski Dubai' indoor ski run, so weird! Also did some grocery shopping. There were 'Ramadan Kareem' decorations everywhere which is sort of like a Ramadan equivalent of wishing someone a merry Christmas. The holy month ends in a few days so they will no longer fast then. 

Next we went back to the hotel and ravenously scoffed down our sandwiches we had bought as we couldn't eat them while out. Then we went for a swim at the hotel's amazing pool! Palm trees, palm island views and skyscrapers in the background. Pool temp perfect! Only downside is that it's so hot the pool ladders and concrete edges burn you! Have a red mark on my arm to prove it too. Went to the private hotel beach but it's so hot the water felt like a spa - yuck!

At 3.55pm we got picked up by our 'Arabian Adventures' guide Fahran. Our land rover had him, us, a German couple and a newlywed couple from Manchester with an Indian background. All were so nice! Fahran was a great guide and very chatty. He talked the whole way telling us interesting things about Dubai and the UAE. For instance the Vice President, prime minister and ruler of the UAE is called Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has 8 million people, but only 1 million of those are locals. Lots of Indians, Egyptians, Syrians and more live here. The Burj Khalifa was finished in 2010, and another famous building called the Burj al Arab was finished in 1999 and was the world's first 7 star hotel. 

Off we went on our adventure. We drove southeast for 45 minutes to an area called Margham, which includes the 227km squared Dubai Desert Conservation Park, and is very close to the border of Oman. We saw wild gazelle and oryx along the way which was awesome. We then arrived at our first stop which was a falcon show. The Bedouin people who were nomads in the desert here used to use these falcons to capture food for their families. Today we saw the falcon swoop and catch some food. 

Back in the land rover in the beautiful air conditioning and we were on our way for some sand duning! There was a convoy of about 30 land rovers and Fahran drove like a maniac, tearing the desert to bits. We flew up and down hills and around corners. It was fun but scary at times! Especially as mum and I were in the back and felt every bump haha. 

We stopped for a photo stop and then another stop to watch the sunset. It was  absolutely stunning. I tried to capture it as best I could on my camera for you guys and I think my camera did an exceptional job, especially considering that drop in St Petersburg caused its light sensor to stuff up a bit. 

Once the sun set, all the drivers madly started eating and drinking as they could break their fast. It was really interesting to see. I don't know how they do it, I am a compulsive water drinker at home, let alone in heat like this....!

Our final stop was a desert camp. Mum and I had a camel ride (bumpy!), I held and patted a falcon (scary!) and we had a nice Arabian dinner. Only problem was all the food was hot of course and after eating it I started to feel sick due to being overheated. So I tipped lots of water on me and lay down and felt a bit better. We were then treated to some stargazing with all the camp lights off and some Tanurra dancing. Usually it's belly dancing but not now due to it being the holy month. But the dancing was great!! Involved a man spinning around a lot and reminded me of the whirling dervishes in Turkey (see post from December 28, 2012). 

We drove back to Dubai and Fahran told us how happy he was now it was cool. It was 34 degrees!!!!! Haha. He said that when the weather here hits 28 degrees or less people wear jackets. Unbelievable! At the camp I had drunk five bottles of water and three glasses of coke to keep cool and hydrated. Seemed like a great idea at the time, but not so much on the one hour trip home. This ended with me literally running through the hotel corridor to make it to the toilet, with mum laughing behind me!! Haha. 

Last full day of our holiday tmro, going to a water park and then up the Burj Khalifa. Speak to you all then!

Love to all

Claire

Xoxox