Dubai Day 8: City Tour
The air outside was so hot it was almost suffocating. It felt like being roasted on a firepit under twin suns while being blasted with a giant blow-dryer. It was a relief to jump into the air-conditioned taxicab and reach the cool Carlos Ott-designed Hilton Dubai Creek on Baniyas Road, where I met up with my sleepy comrades.Monique hired a private car to take us around Dubai. We had a quick brunch at the Basta Art Café in the Bastakia quarter – I only had yogurt and dates with amonds, as well as a strawberry, mango and avocado juice, but I had to help Aunt Gloria with her fruit salad and Monique with her salmon and avocado pita wrap.
The nearby Dubai Museum was closed, and the Grand Mosque across the street was closed to non-Muslims. Most shops and attractions in Dubai close by one in the afternoon, due to the extreme heat, and open later in the day. We drove by the Dhow Wharf with its water taxis, then took the Sheikh Zayed Road and marveled at the amazing architecture of the futuristic buildings. Not for naught is it nicknamed the Strip, for within the over-the-top outrageousness of buildings crowned with orbs, topped with golf balls or twisted into impossible angles, runs the glitter-flecked neon blood of Las Vegas.
Among all the towers, the self-styled seven star Burj Al Arab on Jumeirah Road with its mimicry of a graceful dhow sail, stood out like the queen of hotels that she was built to be.
This is the world’s tallest dedicated hotel at 321m and was the brainchild of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed, who wanted to created an iconic symbol for Dubai. Besides this hotel is the popular Wild Wafi Waterpark, and further down the long highway is the Ibn Battuta Mall, a complex maze of specialized shopping streets designed after 14th century China, India, Egypt, Persia, Tunisia and Andalusia.
China’s market square was dominated by a huge junk, while India’s had a maharajah statue on an elephant. Egypt had her Luxorian columns, and Tunisia even had a starry sky for romantic strolls. Signs for sales were everywhere.
In the afternoon, while Aunt Gloria and Lester continued shopping, my sisters and I went on Arabian Adventures’ desert safari. We were driven out to the desert on a four-wheel drive vehicle for a roller coaster ride on the sand dunes.
We joined a convoy of vans that took turns on the little hills of sand, almost like a line of well-behaved red ants, with the red and white striped vans and the red-shirted drivers following each other’s tire tracks in the sand. We went up and down and slid along slopes – I especially liked going up the dunes to balance along the top edges. One van got mired in a deep dune and had to be pulled out of the sand trap by another van.
We stopped by a camel farm and saw some baby dromedaries, and I admit it was fun seeing roaming camels among the dunes and pretending they were wild. While we were on a particularly large dune, the sun set over the sands.
When we reached our carpet-swathed oasis, all the tourists rushed to the line of dromedaries provided for rides. Monique and Wyatt clambered on top of one, and I just finished taking their picture and was walking to the entrance to reserve seats for our table when they were back already!
We had welcome dates and Arabic coffee, starters that included pitas with oregano and cheese, spinach and cheese samosas and surprisingly good falafels. Dinner was comprised of lamb chops, chicken and beef with hummus and tabbouleh, and a bean salad.
Afterwards, we were entertained by a belly dancer, then all the lights were extinguished so we could lie back on our pillows and gaze at the stars in the deep dark of the night sky. Monique and Wyatt also tried the sheesha pipe, contributing some fragrant smoke to our ozone layer.
It never fails to amaze me where life takes us. Next week I will be back at the hospital working like a drone, but tonight I am in the Arabian desert under the stars.
For more pictures, click here.
posted by moan @ 10:43 PM
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