DUBAI – from putrid to pristine!! What a pleasure to behold – clean, tidy, stunningly attractive and HOT!! We arrived in the evening and a group of us went ashore and headed for Dubai Mall where we watched the spectacular ‘Dancing Waters’ light up and put on a beautiful show and in the background was the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building – lit up in all its glory! Next morning we went solo and took a cab to a nearby market place where we were asked whether we wanted to buy watches. After hesitating, we nodded and were taken to the back of the shirt & bag shop and escorted up to the attic, sat on plastic crates and to our amazement, watches appeared in plastic boxes from behind the wall!! A tricky situation but fortunately we made a couple of good purchases – a Rolex & Cartier!! We thought that was scary until he insisted we needed a bag and were taken to a derelict building, up in the lift, doors locked behind us and a room full of bags – yes, we bought one!! Happy to see the light of day again, we headed back to the ship for lunch.
We then met up with our good old mate John and his lovely Jhing and were shown many wonderful sights - including the Madinat Jumeirah, a lavish resort with Venetian style waterways and gondolas, and a fabulous Arabian market place - had a ‘huge’ coffee!!; Ski Dubai (complete with huge ski run & chair lifts etc.) – a sight to behold situated in a massive shopping mall; one of the man made Palm where the streets, lined with huge apartment blocks, are shaped like palm fronds and where the magnificent Atlantis Hotel is situated; finishing up in John & Jhing’s old neck of the woods on the shores of Dubai Creek. A fantastic day, made even more special with dear friends – this is a place we’d really like to return to in the not too distant future.
Photos above are: John & Jhing; Madinat Jumeirah Resort; the Burj Khalifa – world’s tallest building; snowfields at Ski Dubai; the Atlantis Hotel; and a handsome couple we dine with nightly – Ros & Arnold.
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