An architects dreamland.....Dubai!

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Trip Start Jul 28, 2009 Previous
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  Dubai, Dubayy, United Arab Emirates
Monday, January 25, 2010

Arriving in Dubai Airport was certainly different from India!  All the immigration officers had white robes (called dishdash) with Guthra (white headscarf or the red and white checkered) with the Egal which is the black rope that fixes the headscarf in place.  Back in the day, these were used by the Bedouin to tie their camels feet down during the night while they were traveling.  They really looked elegant and rich!  I heard that the way the Guthra is worn can also be defined who someone is.

We got a taxi to our guest house, which was only 10 minutes from the airport.  Driving on the highway, we almost felt like we were in a cleaner version of Miami, with all the tall buildings, massive roads and overpasses.

We slept good and the next day we had the best breakfast with scrambled eggs, yogurt, toast and a real cup of coffee! 

We caught a taxi to the Creek where we walked along the Corniche.  There creek was filled with so many dhows (boats) with lots of cargo.  There was lots of people unloading and loading the boats with boxes, everything from electronics to food items.  We caught a dhow to go across the creek for only 1 dirham, which is about 25 cents.  This was the cheapest thing we did in Dubai! 

We went to the Gold Souk, and wow, the amount of gold jewelry was amazing.  Some of the pieces were huge with elaborate designs.  Most of the big and elaborate ones are used when a woman gets married.  We saw a few tourists and wherever we walked, you would have locals whispering “Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vitton bags, wallets, glasses”.  We went to one back alley to check out the goods but they were not as good quality as we found in Thailand, so I didn’t buy anything. 

As we walked through the back streets, we found a little restaurant with plastic chairs and one table on the outside.  They had chicken roasting in the oven and we ordered one to share.  They brought out bread and hummus and chicken.  It was really good, this was also the cheapest meal we had in Dubai. 

While we were sitting there eating, a man and his young son sat down at the table.  I started talking with the father, named Hussein, who said he was from Iraq but had to flee the country when the Americans arrived.  He said they have been living out in the desert about 5 hours from Dubai.  He said that the Americans have left his country in total shambles and chaos and he hopes one day that they can return.  We talked about Yemen, Oman and learning Arabic.  He told me that Arabic is the most beautiful language in the world and its the language spoken in heaven.  I think Arabic and French are the most beautiful spoken languages.  

NIKOLAS VERSION

When we first got to Dubai, we had to wait for Immigration to stamp our passports. We waited over a half an hour but it felt like hours maybe because we were so tired. We got to the guest house after midnight.   I was so tired,  but out of nowhere, comes this little fat dog. It was so cute and walked funny and wanted to play but I was too tired.  It would have to wait until tomorrow.

The best part was we had TV in our room.   I hadn’t had TV in over a month,  it's a record.  LOL!!   The next day I did nothing but watch TV.  My mom had to drag me out of bed to eat breakfast and after I ran right back to watching TV.

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Nik's hand and some kind of bug	Architecture's wonderland	The famous Burj Al Arab	Some amazing buildings

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