DUBAI

Days 59 & 60 -arrived 5 hours late but earlier than the Captain expected after the deviation in plans.

Points of interest  -

Burj Al Arab Hotel- this 5 star (some call it a 7 star), 321 meter high luxury suites only hotel built on an island in the shape of a towering sail is the tallest all suite hotel over water.

Burj Khalifa -it's the tallest building in the world (2680 feet) - observation deck on floor 124 with a high elevator and nightclub on floor 144.

Pop. 2 1/2 million, situated in the middle of the great Arabian  desert on the southern end of the Persian gulf.  Dubai is the second largest of the 7 United Arab Emirates (an emirate is merely a political territory ruled be a Muslim monarch.  Language -Arabic but English is widely spoken.  1$ US is 3.67 Dirham.  Built on pearls and oil  Dubai has moved to shop til you drop tourism.  One Dubai mall boasts over 1200 shops - the worlds largest  shopping mall with an ice rink and aquarium.  A ski slope is in another mall.

What can we say about Dubai?  It is excess to the max.  We saw no old buildings, everything is new.  New cities are popping up in anticipation of a World Expo in 2020.

We did a morning tour of the city.  Highlight of the tour was a visit to the observation deck of Burj Khalifa.  It takes the elevator 1 minute to go from ground level  to floor 124.  Your ears pop but you have no sensation of movement.  The views are fantastic.  Out in the sea they are building what is referred to as The World - many different islands they are making  -again for 2020.  The building that had the bad fire a few months ago is being restored.  One hotel which is part of the complex comprising Burj Khalifa and Dubai mall has a water show similar to that at the Bellagio in Vegas but bigger - fountains reach the 50th floor.   We didn't go to the aquarium but did see the ski slope in the Mall of the Emirates - people were skiing and snow boarding.  There was something similar to a luge track where people were flying down the track on their backs.  One thing we noticed in both malls was the huge number of restaurants -many of them upscale.

We got back from the morning tour just in time to go on  4x4 desert safari.  Over 100 ship passengers climbed in Toyota Land Cruisers for the hour long drive out to the desert.  They then deflated the tires to about 15 pounds and off we went flying over the dunes.  Our driver almost tipped us once but just went off the path and circled around to regain the track.  It was not fun for people with weak stomachs - one women with us kept her eyes closed for the duration.  Once this was completed, we went to the camp with a huge tent for a barbecue dinner.  The tent had Persian carpets over much of the floor space, low tables and pillows for seats.  Dinner consisted of several appetizers, salads with barbecued beef and lamb chops, chicken satay and curried fish and vegetables.  All very tasty.  Beer and wine were available even though we were in a Muslim country.  Before dinner we had a camel ride - quite an experience.  After dinner entertainment was, of course, a belly dancer -a very agile woman.

We now have 7 sea days - time in the Arabian Sea and Suez Canal so no posts for a while.

Pictures:  1 & 3 - views from the tower, 2 - navigating the sand dunes, 4 - Burj Khalifa towering over the other buildings