UAE

ABU DHABI

The UAE is hot and humid. The temperature is a mere 45 degrees and the humidity only 95% both during the day and night. Luxury is abundant since wealth is well, the norm. Ironically though, it was both the coolest (temperature wise) and the cheapest week of vacation. Why? Because in Turkey we were outside all the time, in the blazing heat with no air conditioning. In Abu Dhabi, it is impossible to stay outside for more than 5 minutes and quite frankly, I found most places to be a little chilly.

We stayed with a friend that is a chemist and does research for an oil company. His residence is at the Hilton Abu Dhabi. It has both a rooftop gym and pool overlooking the gulf. Needless to say, when we weren't visiting the city, we spent our days relaxing by the pool and working out.

EMIRATES PALACE [Hotel ******* - yes, 7 Stars]

Never before in my life had I been seduced by riches as I was here. I've never seen everything shine so much either. The palace is enormous and everywhere you look you see gold or marble. They even had tons (yes- literally tons) of sand imported for their private beaches - because the sand in AD just wasn't soft enough. Later in the week when we went to the desert safari, a French couple that was with us was staying the palace. They said that it took 20 minutes just to walk to breakfast, as the Hotel is several KM long. Ah, problems.

AD MALL

Of course most of the stores are western ones, selling western style

clothing. Now I found this interesting, because they are selling tiny bikinis in a traditionally conservative country where in most cases, only the women's eyes are visible. Clearly then, these shops are geared toward tourists and the many foreigners in the city. They also had shops selling Burkas with prices rising up to even $10,000 depending on the fabric and brand (Gucci, etc.). And, since it is very hot outside, there is an indoor "Walker's Club" (see photo) - cool.

SHEIKH ZAYED MOSQUE

It was truly grand and having cost more than 500 million USD to build, it is the third largest mosque in the world. Of course, the elaborate main room which can fit up to 9,000 people is only for men

. Women have two significantly smaller rooms in the back, each with a capacity of 1,500. The one wall, on which the mihrab is pointed toward Mecca, is less elaborate than the others. It is adorned with hundreds of flowers of very neutral colour and inside of each is one of the many unique names of Allah. In addition, all decorations begin above eye level so that the men are not distracted by them and can be closer to god (the same reason why women are in another room). And of course all women were given black Burkas to wear covering everything but the face. When I went out into the courtyard, wearing my Burka, to get a few photos, I nearly fainted - it's that hot.

DESERT SAFARI

Agenda:

1. Camel Farm

We got to see what a "farm" in the UAE looks like: sand, a few bushes, a lot of camels and some more sand. Did I mention that the animals are enormous, smelly and quite funny looking?

2. Dune Bashing in SUVs

This was really fun. We took two SUVs up on the huge dunes and plowed through the sand on the tips and sides of them. It was like a roller coaster ride in which it appeared the SUV was going to tip over several times.

We also stopped on top of a dune in the middle of the dessert and got out of the vehicles. The sand was still warm from the sun (this was in the late afternoon) and it was a very interesting sensation to run down the enormous dune with my legs sinking knee-deep into the sand.

At this time the sun was beginning to set and since there was so much dust and sand in the atmosphere, it appeared as a beige ball in the sky which only made more interesting the fact that we were surrounded by dunes in every direction and as far as the eye could see.

3. Camel Ride

To get up, the camel straightens it's back legs first until it's butt is completely in the air, and then follows with it's front legs. You have to really hold on, otherwise, since the animal is so big, you could easily be thrown off.

4. Trying on traditional clothing

This was the second time for me, but the first for Octav. He was

dressed in all white and looked like a prince. As for me, only my eyes were visible and I felt like I was suffocating. That's equality for you.

5. Dinner & Belly Dancing Show

Dinner was typically middle-eastern with couscous, rice, skewers (chicken, lamb, beef), pasta, salad, flatbread, and humus. It was delicious! Then of course the belly dancer came out and invited (none other) than me on the stage to dance with her.

6. Shisha smoking

This was very, very cool, mainly because at this point, all the lights in the camp were turned off and we were smoking in the dark, in the middle of the dessert. Unfortunately, stars weren't visible because of the heavy dust in the atmosphere, but we could make out the outlines of dunes and palm trees. Also, the only sound that could be heard was the bubbling of the shisha.

GROCERY SHOPPING

Only a few dozen years ago, the UAE was just a desert. From this desert, using money from oil, enormous construction sites emerged (cities known as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, etc.). Now, there are parks and green areas all around that are supplied with water and managed diligently. Now, of course there are people that live here too, and people must eat. So? Let's go grocery shopping.

They had LOTS of variety and what I must say I liked most is that each product had a sign indicating the country of origin (you can imagine that nearly EVERYTHING is imported - except for maybe camel milk). Another interesting thing: Muslims don't eat pork. In all of AD there was only one supermarket that sold it, and in it, the pork was stored in a separate refrigerated room that had a sign on the door that read: "Pork, for non-muslims only" in both English and Arabic. Mmmm, pork. =)

DUBAI

You hear a lot of hype about Dubai because of all the money that was poured into it in the last years to build extravagant structures with unique architecture. Dubai itself has more cranes than everywhere else the world - combined. As such, rather than being an ultra luxurious city (at this point in time), it is merely an extensive construction site. And for this reason, I liked AD more. AD Actually looks like a city.

But of course, any trip to Dubai isn't complete without a visit to the major destinations:

Dubai Mall - Skii Hill

This is the mall with the skii hill. Of course there is marble everywhere and luxuries throughout. Our trip to the mall though, would not have been complete without going into the cold for a few hours. I had worn a dress on that day and on top of it I put a ski suit. The temperature inside was -3 Celsius and so after a little while our fingers and toes froze.

Inside, they have of the skii hill, and also a cute snow park in which we spent our time. It has ice slides for kids, a tubing hill, ice sculptures, and a little playground. The most surreal thing was going from +45 outside, to +22 in the mall, to -3 at the hill.

Burj Dubai & Mall

The Burj Duabi is the tallest building in the world, standing at 818m. Right beside it there is yet another mall, equipped with a skating rink, aquarium, and of course many luxurious stores.

The Burj is so tall, that looking up at it, we couldn't see the top! Around it there is a lake where at night water-light shows take place. Very cool.

Burj Al Arab

The Burj Al Arab is the 7 star hotel that is shaped like a sail and generally stands as a symbol of Dubai. On our way to get a closer look,

we stopped by a beach. White, soft (and not be mention burning hot) sand, warm water, and a multitude of paragliders greeted us. I've been paragliding in Quebec, but I think this

would be something else, especially seeing the world, or palm islands.

We then made our way to another fancy hotel to get a closer look at the Burj. Unfortunately, our bribery attempts did not work and we couldn't get as close as we had wanted. Either way, the hotel is quite impressive.

Palm Island

Now on to the Palm - the set of man-made islands that is shaped like a palm tree - home to the Atlantis Hotel. Modelled after the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas, it is home to 65,000 marine animals and is complete with a waterpark, Dolphin Bay, and underground chambers where one can explore the lost city of Atlantis (something like a very luxurious aquarium).

Again, people have money. Check out http://www.atlantisthepalm.com/ for more details.