2/21-2/27/17 Dubai

Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Well, that's it for the nature portion of our trip and now it's back to civilization. What a culture shock! Going from living in the jungle and staying in tents, to the ultra modern skyscrapers of Dubai, in just a few hours. And what a modern city it is. Las Vegas on steroids was one description that someone on our tour gave. We are signed up with our favorite tour company, Gate 1 but during our 7 day stay in the UAE, we only have two organized tours - an all day city tour of Dubai and also one of Abu Dhabi. Gate 1 has arranged the hotels, transfers, guide and coaches, but most of the time is on our own to explore what we want.

The first two days we spend mostly with our Canadian friends (who have been here before and have seen most of the popular tourist attractions), so we spend most of our time shopping, eating, and relaxing before day 3, which will be our first guided tour . We are lucky because the weather has been unseasonably cool and rain is actually in the forecast, which is unusual for this time year. After an early wake up call, and a substantial buffet breakfast, we meet Shanili who will be our guide for the day. Our all-day tour includes stops at the Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world), a history museum of Dubai, and the local spice and jewelry markets (souks).

The next day our itinerary is supposed to be "relaxing and at leisure", but we've already had enough of that. We have planned a day trip to Musandam to do a little snorkeling and scuba diving to spice things up a bit. Where the hell is Musandam you might ask? It is in Oman, located at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, approx a 3 hr drive from Dubai. The Persian Gulf is the main body of water surrounding Oman, and there is a narrow section called the Straight of Hormuz that separates where we are from Iran by approx 30 miles. It's hard to imagine that Operation Desert Storm took place here in the 90's ... it looks so peaceful.

We hop on to our dive boat for our couple hour cruise to our perfect dive spot. "Why do the Coast Guard boats keep passing up at such high speed?", we ask. "Oh, they're just looking for drug smugglers and pirates", our captain says calmly. Nothing to worry about... guess it's a typical day in Oman! We all look at each other and are thinking that we surely must be addicted to diving to do this? The diving and snorkeling turned out to be just ok (how do you top the Maldives?) It turns out the most dangerous part of our whole day was getting to and from our dive boat in the morning. Our driver was tired and looked like he was ready to doze off. He was hugging the steering wheel like a child holds his mom the first day of school. He was on and off the gas, like a car running on fumes, and I had to yell at him once as he crossed the center divider. Traveling sure is strange sometimes.

Our next day is a tour of Abu Dhabi . We see the beautiful Grand Mosque which, in my opinion, is as magnificent as the Taj Mahal. A structure of solid white marble with beautiful inlays of precious stones and huge chandeliers that look dwarfed compared to its tall ceilings. Wow, what a sight! Unfortunately the weather turned after that and the rest of our tour, and the long drive home, was in the rain. It was one of those tours that the guide says, "If it wasn't raining, this is what you would see!" It was tough holding everyone's interest and snoring was soon to follow.

Well the days just flew by and it was time to head home. It was hard saying goodbye to our Canadian friends, but we talked about future travel aspirations and hopefully our paths will cross again. The 16 hour flight is long and we remember how easy it was on that huge A380 we came over on. Should be a breeze, right? Wrong. Having learned from the near empty flight from 3 weeks prior, Emirates changed our plane to an older, smaller, 777. It was packed to the gills with all the usual suspects... crying babies, sick passengers and, of course, the person who is releasing silent bombs in the air! Not a great way to end a trip but we are bringing so many fond memories home, it will be just a blip on the radar screen.

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