Sunday, May 21, 2006
Images of Dubai
A safari in the desert...
If there was one thing that Chris and I really wanted to do while in Dubai, it was to go on some kind of a tour to the desert. We ending up booking a desert safari with Hormuz Tourism (www.hormuztourism.com) for 160 dirhams per person ($49.70 CDN) which included dune bashing, sand boarding, sunset in the desert, camel riding, Arabic tea & coffee, unlimited soft drinks (no free beer unfortunately), BBQ dinner, shisha (will explain below for those of you who don’t know what this is), henna and belly dancing. And surprisingly enough, EVERYTHING that was promised to be included was included and for no extra cost – an added bonus. (Side picture – Beautiful sand hills of the desert)On the whole, the entire tour was great; Chris and I had a wonderful time and enjoyed ourselves. There were a couple of things that we think could have been better and perhaps been given more time to do and these are suggestions we plan on sending to the tour company so they are aware of this and perhaps can make the changes to provide an even better tour for their future customers.
We were driven to a desert that was approximately an hour and a half away from our hotel where we were paired with two other males from England (surprise, surprise – we must have an affinity for English folks or something) in our 4x4. This began the start of our dune bashing and oh what a bashing it was. For one hour, our driver drove up and down hills of sand at very high speeds skidding from side to side and at numerous times throughout the drive, I felt like I left my stomach behind in the desert when we’d reach the top of a hill at top speed and then just drop!! Lucky for me, I was put in the front seat which made this nauseating feeling that much greater. Our driver was great though. He maneuvered the truck very well and gave us a great ride. Doing all this in the middle of the desert where all you could see around you were mounds and mounds of sand was unreal and added to the fun!
Half way throughout the dune bashing, we stopped at somewhat of a steep hill (it was steep for me although Chris begs to differ) where the snowboards came out and we were given the chance to sand board down the hill. Chris jumped onto the board with no hesitation and although he thought the hill could have been longer, he barely made it down the hill half way before falling. It was much harder to control the board in sand and carve your way down than it is in snow. I was hesitant at first to try this as the walk down the hill to get a few pics of Chris while he came down was enough of a ride for me but in the end I figured I might as well do it. I strapped myself in and flew down the hill (faster than I thought I would be going) and came to a stop without falling!! It was a great rush. We all had a chance to go once before we were ushered back into the trucks to continue with the bashing. Chris and I were a little disappointed that we only got to do this once and that perhaps there weren’t varying types of hills we could board down and is one of the things we are going to suggest to the tour company to change in their itinerary.
After finishing our dune bashing in the 4x4, we were ushered to our “camp” further in the desert which was to be our base for the rest of the evening. Before entering the camp, we were given an opportunity to “ride” a camel. We don’t consider what we did “riding” a camel as the ride was way too short and consisted of a man leading two camels that were tied together in pretty much a circle for 3 minutes. We felt like two little kids on a pony ride at the zoo. This is the second thing we are going to suggest they change. A full ½ hour camel ride through the desert watching the sun set is what we had in mind and is what we’re sure others would enjoy as well. The camp and the rest of the evening were great. There were many stations set up around the camp, a huge stage in the middle and little tables all around where you could sit on pillows and squish your toes in the cool sand. Here we were allowed to partake in many activities. We both enjoyed a delicious all you can eat BBQ dinner, had henna paintings done, got to try on some traditional Muslim clothing, watched and were a part of a belly dance show and even got a chance to try some shisha pipes. Shisha pipes are the Middle East traditional smoking water pipe. It is a popular and relaxing pastime where you can smoke the pipes with a variety of flavoured tobacco such as strawberry or apple. Both Chris and I gave it a try to see what it was like. It wasn’t too bad and did not taste like tobacco at all. It had more of an orangey flavor to it. The neat part about it all was the shisha pipe itself which is quite the contraception (see picture below). 
HOT, HOT, HOT Dubai
We had no idea what to expect or do as the only thing the two of us knew about Dubai, was that it was very expensive and I had seen the “Burj Al Arab” from an architectural magazine some time ago. With that information, we deplaned to a warm or should I say a “HOT, HOT” welcome by the 42 degrees sun shine. We reached the tourist information desk only to find it unoccupied. With no other lead we turned to a hotel booking office in the airport, where they only book 3 to 5 star hotels… Yeah this was going to be real cheap. Maybe one of the many men dressed in their traditional attire strolling around would adopt us for the week that we were to spend here. Unfortunately that did not happen.
We reluctantly asked the hotel reservation desk to see what type of accommodation they had and to our surprise they had some at a reasonable price of $50 CDN for a night. Now this was still way out of our budget, but we decided to book with them for the night and then see what else we could find. As it turned out, it was the best deal in town and we were lucky to have booked there, as the walk in rate was about two and half times as much. So we booked with the Panorama Hotel in Deira for the remainder of our trip which included a continental breakfast. The hotel was in a great location, within walking distance to the old city center where the spice and gold souq (markest) were found, along with some museums and old heritage homes which were open to the public.
We spent quite a bit of time wandering through these areas at night to escape the heat of the day. However on our second day there we decided to visit the Jumeirah Mosque to try and understand a little more about the people of Dubai. There we learnt quite a bit about the culture. We were surprised to find out that the Muslim community only makes up about 20% of population in the United Arab Emirates, and that this nation has only been in existence since 1971. While Islam is a dominate religion here, other religions such as Hinduism and Christianity (Anglican and Protestant) also flourishes here. Despite this fact, Dubai’s culture is shaped by the Islamic tradition of Arabia, which believes that there is only one God (Allah) and that Prophet Mohammed is the final messenger. They lead their lives in accordance with the Koran, with the five pillars being the main duties. These include: confirmation of faith, praying five times a day to Allah, fasting, charity and making the pilgrimage to Mecca (which is believed to be the location where god created Adam and Eve - current day Saudi Arabia). All mosques throughout the world are designed to face Mecca. The people are extremely devoted to their beliefs and throughout our visit to Dubai; we often heard the call to prayer 3 times a day. Speakers adorn on minarets resonate the city at dawn, noon and dusk. The time of these prayers varies throughout the year as dawn, noon and dusk changes with the location of the sun.
The food in Dubai was good but there is one restaurant very close to our restaurant that we would highly recommend to anyone who is planning a visit to Dubai. We ate here for dinner twice and both times all of the dishes we had were magnificent. Not only were the portions huge but the price was very reasonable. The restaurant is ‘Karachi Darbar Restaurant’ and is found on the corner of Omar Bin Al Khattab Road & Al Nakhal Street. Definitely a place we will visit again on our next trip to Dubai.
Mmm… lunch
Gold Souq
Spice Souq
On an abra (water taxi) to see some cool buildings
Where you going?
Deira… Old Dubai
Mosque and shops on the creek
Jumeirah Mosque
Grand mosque by the creek
Traditional home
Deira or Old Dubai is well established and has a great local life. Newer developments are taking place in other parts of the city whether it is on sand or sea. Much of the economic growth and infrastructure of Dubai has been created by the oil revenue and thus it is Dubia’s #1 industry. Some parts of the city look like a false creek on steroids, as plans for bigger, higher and grander skyscrapers are seen everywhere. They are proposing to create over 300 man made islands for commercial and residential towers, as well as the tallest building in the world, and the first ever underwater hotel, to top off the 7 star hotel (Burj Al Arab) that they currently have here along with the huge Mall of the Emirates which has a ski resort within it, yes, you read right, a ski resort where locals can ski and snowboard. Much of the city is under construction, so there was not much to see in terms of the number of magnificent buildings, but I can only image what Dubai will be like in 5 years time when all of the buildings are to be completed. Definitely worth a second visit. We depart Asia with so many wonderful memories and can not wait to see some of Europe! Anyone else want to join us?
Clock tower
Office Tower
Office with a view
Emirates Towers
One column tower
Burj Al Arab at night
Madinat Jumeirah Mall
The current icon of Dubai
Jumeirah Hotel
Burj Al Arab by the sea
We reluctantly asked the hotel reservation desk to see what type of accommodation they had and to our surprise they had some at a reasonable price of $50 CDN for a night. Now this was still way out of our budget, but we decided to book with them for the night and then see what else we could find. As it turned out, it was the best deal in town and we were lucky to have booked there, as the walk in rate was about two and half times as much. So we booked with the Panorama Hotel in Deira for the remainder of our trip which included a continental breakfast. The hotel was in a great location, within walking distance to the old city center where the spice and gold souq (markest) were found, along with some museums and old heritage homes which were open to the public.
We spent quite a bit of time wandering through these areas at night to escape the heat of the day. However on our second day there we decided to visit the Jumeirah Mosque to try and understand a little more about the people of Dubai. There we learnt quite a bit about the culture. We were surprised to find out that the Muslim community only makes up about 20% of population in the United Arab Emirates, and that this nation has only been in existence since 1971. While Islam is a dominate religion here, other religions such as Hinduism and Christianity (Anglican and Protestant) also flourishes here. Despite this fact, Dubai’s culture is shaped by the Islamic tradition of Arabia, which believes that there is only one God (Allah) and that Prophet Mohammed is the final messenger. They lead their lives in accordance with the Koran, with the five pillars being the main duties. These include: confirmation of faith, praying five times a day to Allah, fasting, charity and making the pilgrimage to Mecca (which is believed to be the location where god created Adam and Eve - current day Saudi Arabia). All mosques throughout the world are designed to face Mecca. The people are extremely devoted to their beliefs and throughout our visit to Dubai; we often heard the call to prayer 3 times a day. Speakers adorn on minarets resonate the city at dawn, noon and dusk. The time of these prayers varies throughout the year as dawn, noon and dusk changes with the location of the sun.
The food in Dubai was good but there is one restaurant very close to our restaurant that we would highly recommend to anyone who is planning a visit to Dubai. We ate here for dinner twice and both times all of the dishes we had were magnificent. Not only were the portions huge but the price was very reasonable. The restaurant is ‘Karachi Darbar Restaurant’ and is found on the corner of Omar Bin Al Khattab Road & Al Nakhal Street. Definitely a place we will visit again on our next trip to Dubai.
Deira or Old Dubai is well established and has a great local life. Newer developments are taking place in other parts of the city whether it is on sand or sea. Much of the economic growth and infrastructure of Dubai has been created by the oil revenue and thus it is Dubia’s #1 industry. Some parts of the city look like a false creek on steroids, as plans for bigger, higher and grander skyscrapers are seen everywhere. They are proposing to create over 300 man made islands for commercial and residential towers, as well as the tallest building in the world, and the first ever underwater hotel, to top off the 7 star hotel (Burj Al Arab) that they currently have here along with the huge Mall of the Emirates which has a ski resort within it, yes, you read right, a ski resort where locals can ski and snowboard. Much of the city is under construction, so there was not much to see in terms of the number of magnificent buildings, but I can only image what Dubai will be like in 5 years time when all of the buildings are to be completed. Definitely worth a second visit. We depart Asia with so many wonderful memories and can not wait to see some of Europe! Anyone else want to join us?
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Images of China
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