As I planned my trip to New Zealand, it made a lot of sense to extend it to include some time in Australia. Who wants to fly half way around the world for less than two weeks? 25 days is probably plenty, but I thought I would have one more stop on the way back to Malta. Vietnam? Istanbul? What about Dubai? Well, if for no other reason than it being close to halfway between Australia and Malta, that’s where I headed next.
Day 25 – Wednesday, February 11
Infuriated at myself for leaving my hearing aid charger in the hotel room in Adelaide (I still can’t comprehend how that happened!), I boarded the Emirates flight to Dubai.
Day 26 – Thursday, February 12
Emirates Airlines reputation is well-earned. Even flying in economy, I found the seats comfortable, the leg room adequate and the service impeccable. The plane had a lot of open seats and I found myself in a row all by myself so I was able to lie down and sleep for a few of the 13 hours we were in the air. Despite the screaming brat sounding off several times behind me, it was a rather enjoyable experience.
We arrived about 5:00 a.m. local time and my driver took me a short distance to my hotel. It was too early to check in, so I dropped off my bags and reluctantly headed out to kill about 6 hours, rather than crawl into a comfy bed for a nap.
I had done some research on the Internet and found that there was one audiologist office in all of Dubai who might have a replacement hearing aid charger. It looked like a replacement (at least in the US) would cost about $175. And I still hadn’t heard back from the hotel staff in Adelaide about if, when and how long it would take to ship the charger from Australia to Dubai.
I arrived just as the office opened and despite a bit of a language barrier, determined they did have what I was looking for and it would cost about $300. When I balked at the price, all of a sudden the price came down to about $225. Despite the one voice in my head saying: “Fork over the money and be done with it!”, I listened to the other voice screaming: “You’re not going to let these people rip you off, are you???” So, I left without a charger.
From there, I got back on the Metro (one of the cleanest and nicest public transportation systems I’ve experienced) and went to the Dubai Mall to kill a few more hours. I don’t even know where to begin in describing this mall other than to say it is the most obscene shrine to conspicuous consumption and capitalism that I have ever witnessed. Amazon and online shopping may have killed most of the malls in the U.S., but this one is alive and well, thank you very much.
Despite my tremendous fear of heights, I visited the Sky Views Observatory
I found some things expensive (like hearing aid chargers) and some things really cheap. My late lunch that included some meat on a skewer, French fries and a drink (huge portions) was less than $9 US and a haircut, wash and beard trim where I spent more than an hour in the chair ran about $19 US.
Back at the hotel, I fell asleep at 6 p.m. briefly but forced myself to stay up a couple of more hours before going to bed. The jet lag and constant travel was starting to catch up with me.
Day 27 – Friday, February 13
I woke up at 3:30 a.m. with terrible cramps in my shins. I guess when you’re in the desert, you should drink some water now and then.
I was first in line at the breakfast buffet that opened at 7 a.m. It was amazing with many savory Indian dishes. I tried as many as I could and all were delicious. I especially liked the hot tea drink they call “karak”“, which is very similar to chai tea.
The weather forecast was for full sun and mid-80’s. I was going on a small group tour of various locations in Dubai including the Burj Al Arab Hotel and Grand Mosque of Jumeirah. We then took a water taxi across the Dubai Creek to the district of Deira and the Spice Souk and Gold Souk (where no fewer than seven people approached me saying “You wanna buy a Rolex?”
From there, we went back to the Dubai Mall with an optional trip (for about $50 US) to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest structure. I had experienced the Sky View the previous day, so I was happy to opt for a quiet lunch at a Turkish restaurant in the Mall and enjoyed the water fountain show.
After lunch, it was off to the Palm Jumeirah, the archipelago of artificial islands. The traffic moved smoothly, which one would hope for with seven (7!!) lanes on either side of the median. There we stopped at Atlantis, the Palm for some pictures and ended the day at the Dubai Marina. The entire day left me virtually speechless, what with all the enormous skyscrapers and ostentatious displays of wealth.
Day 28 – Saturday, February 14
I woke up at 4 a.m. with a headache. Jet lag and bad air quality do not make for ideal sleep. I was picked up by a van after breakfast which shuttled me to a larger bus for the group tour to Abu Dhabi.
The first stop was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, one of the largest in the world (are you seeing a theme here?). It was here that I saw firsthand how differently men and women are treated in this culture. Women have to be completely covered (hair, arms, legs, etc.) when entering the mosque. One of the women in our group had bought a dark green cover-up with a hood. Although it looked very modest to me, she was forced to buy another outfit because the fabric of hers was too “sheer”. The store she purchased this new outfit in was conveniently attached to the mosque, complete with 50 or more other stores including a McDonald’s and a Starbucks! That doesn’t seem very “Halal” “to me.
The mosque was breathtaking. Before taking pictures, our guide told us that any physical contact between men and women is forbidden in the pictures. A husband is not allowed to put his arm around his own wife!
After that, off to yet another mall, this one called Yas Mall,, which is connected to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and the Formula Rossa, the world’s fastest roller coaster (240 km or 149 miles per hour). There are 10,000 parking spaces there. Lunch was at a Texas Roadhouse (ugh!) in the Mall. I sat with a couple from France during lunch. They spoke virtually no English so I tried to make conversation using Google Translate, but it was too much work. We did, however, agree that the food sucked.
Last stop in Abu Dhabi was the Louvre Museum. I haven’t yet been to the one in Paris so can’t make any comparisons. Although art museums aren’t really my thing, I enjoyed the two hours we were allotted before heading back 80 miles to Dubai. When traffic allows, the speed limit is 120 km/hour (about 86 mph).
Back in Dubai, I had a Valentine’s Day dinner with a lovely American ex-pat who now lives in Dubai named Carolyn. Dinner, appetizer and a bottle of wine came to 880 dirham – a bit more expensive than my lunch on Thursday.
Day 29 – Sunday, February 15
Sunday morning, I had a late breakfast and grabbed a workout in the hotel gym, then rested until leaving mid-afternoon to what would turn out to be the most touristy, but most entertaining day of my time in the UAE.
I was heading out to the desert for to watch to ride a camel, watch the Arabian sunset, and then sit back and enjoy a barbecue dinner and live traditional music and dancing.
After driving about an hour, we pulled off the hard roads onto the sand and stopped. The driver got out and started deflating the tires – fully inflated tires dig deeper ruts in the sand, making it easier to get stuck. During the stop, we got out and several men approached us and, without asking, started put a shemagh on all of us. I thought it was included in the package, but later found out he wanted 65 dirham (about $18) U.S. for it. Oh well, it’s only money.
Once we arrived I paid 50 dirham ($13.60 US) for an extended camel ride and another 10 dirham ($2.75 US) for a picture wearing the traditional Arabian shemagh and thawb. When in Rome, I mean Dubai…
Dinner was a buffet with great food and lots of it. I enjoyed a front row seat for the performances.
The wildest part of the evening though was the departure. Dozens of white SUV’s jammed with tourists scrambling over sand dunes in the dark and all converging on a gate that allows only one vehicle through at a time. Watch the videos.
Day 30 – Monday, February 16
For the past several days, I had been emailing back and forth to the hotel in Adelaide about my charger. Apparently, it was going to take over two weeks for the package to arrive in Dubai. Well, I would be long gone by then, so I asked them to mail it to Malta (it arrived 22 days later).
So I got up Monday morning and two hours and 800 dirham ($220 US) later, I had a replacement charger. In a few hours, my hearing aids would be charged and ready to go.
There was a professional tennis tournament going on in Dubai, so I walked 45 minutes to the tennis complex and enjoyed a few hours of first round women’s matches.
Day 31 – Tuesday, February 17
This amazing trip is coming to an end. My driver picked me up at 6:00 a.m. I was flying on Turkish Airlines through Istanbul. Five and half hour flight there from Dubai. There is an amazing lounge in Instanbul – absolutely enormous – so I didn’t mind the 5 hours layover too much.
I landed in Malta and endured a painfully long line for passport control and finally made it via Uber to the ferry in Cirkewwa on the north of the island at about 8:30. The ferry left at 9:15 p.m. and I was at my apartment by 10:30. And this time I didn’t lock myself out.
This has been the best trip so far, but there are hopefully many more to come. I’m off to Paris in late March for a river cruise on the Seine. Stay tuned.
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