Life In The Desert

After a great morning exploring old Dubai it was time to hit the desert. Unlike the morning tour, this one was very popular. We were picked up in a 4 wheel drive vehicle, but being the last ones in had to take the back seats......back seat!!!!! sorry but these are only suitable for small children and pygmies!!! After 15 minutes of having by knees tucked under my chin everything from my shoulders down had gone numb!!! The drive took forever (close to an hour and a half) by that time I was a wingeing, blubbering mess!!!

Afterwards we found out that the driver was on his mobile most of the way communicating with the team in the desert, he kept slowing down so that when we arrived the 4 wheel drive desert vehicles would be waiting for us.... I must admit once we were in better seats and driving through the sand dunes, the miserable trip all seemed worth while.

We're going to catch you.....

What made the 4 Wheel driving even more fun is the fact that we seemed to get the most insane driver!!! He was determined to overtake every other vehicle....any way that he could....damn it was fun!!!

After the driving we decided to do a bit of Camel Riding....well that filled 5 minutes!!

Have Camel will travel!!

Then we joined the others who had completed their 4 wheel driving in the big banquet tent...little did we know that we had over a 2 hour wait as others completed their drive experience. That time was spent with various pedlars coming through selling whatever. The only fun part of this was playing "Spot who looks more bored than you!".

Get your photo taken with a Hawk or wait for the next pedlar

Eventually, the food was served and evenings entertainment got underway. The food was quite a nice smorgasbord of middle eastern foods that went down a treat.

An upmarket Whirling Dervish, with lights!!

The Belly Dancer drove the young Pakistani guys on the next table out of their minds!!

So the night finished up, or so we thought. Lesley believed that our driver that our driver must have had a "hot date" back in Dubai, because the trip that took well over an hour took under half an hour on the return. On the freeway we were hitting speeds of around 180kmh, and in the city over 100kmh in 60 zones...I was starting to think "Damn, she must be REALLY hot...".

The city skyline seemed to fly past........

Anyway our second day has come to an end, tomorrow, the airport and Milan!

 

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Exploring Dubai

We woke up feeling like we were ready for a day of exploring Dubai. We had arranged two tours for the day, the first being a tour around "old Dubai" city. As it turned out we were the only two on the tour so basically had our own driver...and more importantly our own "air-conditioned " car as the temperature was heading into the mid 40's!!

The tour is well worth doing, our first stop was the saltwater Dubai Creek.....in Australia we would refer to this as a river!! It cuts through the heart of Dubai, it winds its way from the Persian Gulf to a large bird sanctuary (Ras al Khor) on the desert edge of Dubai. It would have been nice to go to the sanctuary, but we only had two days....

Lesley at the Creek

The next stop was very interesting, we went to the Al Bastakiya Quarter, this is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Dubai. It is full of traditional homes, courtyards, wind towers, and a labyrinth of narrow alleyways. It was very interesting to hear from out guide that Al Bastakiya dates back to the 1890s when it was settled by pearl and textile traders from the Bastak region of Iran. We did this part of the tour with the SMCCU (Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding) who took us through the old village explaining all of the history, architecture, peoples that lived there etc.

Wandering through the laneways of Al Bastakiya

Buildings with "Air Conditioning" Towers.

Many of the old buildings have been converted to cafes, shops, art gallleries, and museums.

Beautiful Cafe setup in one of the old courtyards.

Art is everywhere.

Oh No!!! Lesley finds a Clothes Shop!!!

Perhaps one of the most fascinating parts of the tour was the visit to the old mosque (still in use) and a detailed beginners guide to the Islamic religion.....I would have to say that the majority of Westerners do not really understand Islam and have a completely wrong interpretation of what it is....this part of the tour was very worth while.

When visiting a Mosque there are some rules that have to be followed.

Inside the Mosque

At the end of the tour we all sat down for some light refreshments including Arabic Coffee and fresh dates..very tasty.

Refreshments are served!

Next, as the day got hotter and hotter, we headed off to the Al Fahaidi Fort and Museum. Outside was amazing but so very hot.....I found inside very interesting with lots of display and information on the old ways of life, how people made a living, boat building, the ways of the Bedoiun people........ and the thing that I enjoyed the most...air conditioned comfort!!

Al Fahaida Fort

Lastly, we made our way to the Spice and Gold Markets on the other side of the Creek. To get there we had to take on old-fashioned water taxi boat (dhow) called an Abra that criss-cross the water from Bur Dubai on the left bank to Deira on the right.

Lesley takes her seat on an Abra.

If Lesley thought she could bring these back into Australia she would have bought a suitcase full!!

The Gold Market, looks like heaps of Jewellry shops in one place.

So are morning tour was finished, a short journey back to the hotel, a short rest and then off on our second tour.......4 wheel driving and a banquet in the desert.

 

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First day in Dubai

After leaving Tullamarine Airport on Friday evening, we arrived in Dubai at 6am on the Saturday morning after a 14 hour flight to a very mild 28 degrees......at 6am!!!!! Being that early we got through customs, picked up our bags, and were in a cab on the way to the hotel in a pretty short time.

Taxi ride to the hotel

We were in our hotel room at the Royal Ascot and fast asleep by just after 7am. Knowing that we had to reset our body clocks we set the alarm for midday.

The Royal Ascot Hotel

So we were awake at midday and exploring the local streets by 1pm.......now it was about 42 degrees......back in the room by 1:05pm.......damn it's hot, thank goodness for air conditioning.

After organising the next days schedule of tours, we wandered down the road again to the nearest restaurant, the Red Onion.....it turned out to be Indian, and a very good one at that. We got an early night....both fast asleep by 9pm.

 

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No Turning Back

Well, today we settled on our house and handed over the keys.

Good bye house

The big kitchen area where Lesley ran her business from

Our bedroom, good bye really comfortable bed

I have quit my job and Lesley has closed down her cooking class business, Simply d'Vine Cooking.

Two days ago all of furniture went into storage.

Our cars have been left with family and friends for when we get back.

So for the next week, before we fly out, we will be visiting family and friends and saying our good byes.

Now years of dreaming, and months of planning were about to kick into action. To keep costs down we were using websites such as AIRbnb, which will enable us to stay in peoples apartments, houses, spare rooms, and B&B's at very reasonable prices. We have also used sites such as Booking.com to search for special deals on hotels, after all we cannot go splashing the money around as we have a budget that has to last quite a long time!

As they say in the classics..."There is no turning back now!"

So Our Mid Life Crisis Gap Year Begins!

 

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