DUBAI -
First of all, we apologize for the delay on these next few entries... the lack of updates is a sign that we have been kept busy since our time in Praha!
We were greeted at the Dubai airport at 2 am to lines of mostly Pakistani and Indian men, staring at those of us who had arrived in the stifling heat as we filtered out to find taxis. We immediately realized that we could no longer blend in as easily with "locals" as we had in Europe (we also learned that these men usually have no purpose to their visit to the airport!) The taxi to us to The Springs, where we were to stay with Sam, Heather (Cam's step-sister) and Rob's friend. At 4 Am when we arrived, we soon learned Sam had only just arrived home after a night out on the town (Thursday nights are our combined Friday and Saturday night, as Friday is the only day most have off for the weekend in Dubai). After only minutes of conversation, there was a knock at the door and little did we know, our entertainment for the night had arrived. Toby and Martin are Sam's German neighbors, basically the equivalent of Sam's Cosmo Kramer, who had also been out thoroughly enjoying themselves. Totally sober, we ended up dancing to "I've Had the Time of My Life," as well as belting out some David Hasselhoff classics. The night was topped off with Martin trying to the do "the lift" with Molly, while Toby kept adjusting my stance and pushing my chin up and making sure I was looking him straight in the eyes. Clearly, Tobs has seen Dirty Dancing a few too many times! To give you a fair description, Toby is a petit and very charming man, while Martin is taller and very German, and both quite proud to be German. (Martin couldn't stop talking about his little village in Germany, while Toby was ecstatic to return home for the holidays so he could meet some beautiful German women in the town Christmas fair over hot wine.) We went to bed with the rising sun and could only dread the heat we would wake up to. We took a taxi to Jumeriah Beach Club, the ultimate in private clubs, and left Sam contemplating if he was in any state to be driving his pick-up truck into the desert for an overnight and some dune-buggying and ATVing with 20 of his closest friends.
Thanks to Kim, Rob's business partner, we were treated to one of the nicest beaches either of us have either seen. It was perfect and just what the doctor ordered after leaving nice cold snow flurries in Prague and Vienna.
Kim's husband Cliff picked us up after our day of sunbathing and brought us to their lovely old "villa", really more like a palace, complete with wonderful staff and their 2 beautiful sons, Christopher 4 and Andrew 8 months.
The next day was our big desert safari, compliments of Alpha Tours, kindly suggested by our STA travel agent, Deirdre. A white Toyota Land Cruiser picked us up from a hotel location and we piled in with a British couple and a Greek couple. The 40 minute ride out to the desert was unbelievable, passing all the present and future construction sites of Dubailand and Sports City--these places the likes of Disney Land, times a million. The desert was amazing, just as we'd pictured it--tons of sand! Our excitement for our exotic desert safari soon fizzled, when our Land Cruiser pulled up next to 20 other identical 4WD units. We all got out to take pictures, beautiful photos with blue sky and red sandy dunes in the background and the sound of ATVs buzzing behind us. After 10 minutes, all the drivers started beeping their horns frantically and we all piled back in. People with weak stomachs would not enjoy the next part of our adventure, the sand "surfing" as they call it. The driver literally surfed down the dunes, following all the other little white Cruisers in front of us. He would quickly accelerate to the top of a dune and then side-slip down the other side, carefully avoiding the hazard lights of the trucks in front of us, also "surfing" the sands.
Our night ended at a Bedouin camp, with everything from camel rides to Henna tattoos and belly dancing. Molly and I found the perfect spot in a nice little corner, sitting on pillows, and dined on a fabulous traditional Lebanese meal of kebabs, hummus, babah-ganoush, pita bread, and a delicious salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, and little pieces of toasted pita. Yum, yum.
All in all, we both agree Dubai is the most incredible city anyone can ever imagine - literally. It is truly indescribable, but if we had to we would compare it to Las Vegas and DisneyWorld on steroids, each new building bigger and better than the last. If you would like a honest answer, any and all of the latest articles (Vanity Fair) and news programs seems quite accurate in their description of this fast growing city!