No I Didn't Ski Dubai

I arrived in Dubai about noon on Thursday November 29^th. I got off the plane and walked through the beautiful airport. It looks really nice and new so I’m not sure why they are building another airport but they are. I went through immigration without any problems and found the baggage claim. I also found an ATM which I hit up while I was waiting for the luggage. I wasn’t sure exactly the exchange rate was so I pulled out 600 Dirham and figured I would either change it out when I got back or pull more out later. I collected my bag and walked to out find a taxi. I love big cities and the waiting taxi stands you find at airports. I picked a cab and was driven to my hotel where I checked in and went up to my room.

My hotel was in the old city which was crowded and much older (obviously). It wasn’t the greatest of hotels but it was clean and comfortable. I settled in a bit and relaxed and finished up the chapter I was reading in my book. When that was finished up I headed out and walked around the old city. I wandered around and after a couple of hours it started to get dark so I headed back towards my hotel. I attempted to find an open restaurant in the area that didn’t look completely creepy. I ended up with a diet coke and a chicken pizza from a pizza shack connected to a bakery. I got it to go took it with my back to my hotel room where I ate while watching a movie on TV. It had been a long week and I wasn’t up to going out on the town at night by myself so I stayed in and watched movies.

I slept in the next morning and missed the buffet breakfast the hotel offered. When I finally made it out of bed and got dressed I made it to the lobby by 11am and they called a cab for me. The cab from my hotel to Emirates Mall took about 15 to 20 minutes and took me through the old city and Burj Dubai the newer part of the city. I got dropped off at the hotel connected to the mall and entered it to find myself smack dab in front of Ski Dubai the world’s largest indoor ski slope. Now I know you’re all wondering if I skied or not. And I did not ski. With my luck I would probably fall down and break something and end not only using my travel insurance but with a cast for my last couple weeks in Bahrain and while I’m in India. I’m sure a cast looks ever so attractive with a sari; however I don’t think it would make the travel with luggage any easier. But I did stop to take a few pictures to remember the sight. It’s quite ironic to see people skiing and wrapped up in snow gear while you’re watching from behind the glass in sandals, a t-shirts and thin cotton pants.

From Ski Dubai I headed out to start my way around the mall. My first priority was to find a decent coffee shop and get a cup. I walked around the downstairs section and made it to the other end of the mall and went up the escalator to find my favorite Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf right in front of me. So I got my vanilla latte and muffin and sat down at a table right at the edge of the coffee shop and people watched while I drank. I had a nice time getting my caffeine intake and watching the variety of people walking through the mall. It was one of those places that really didn’t feel like the Middle East as most of the people walking around were Caucasian or Asian. It was surreal to think I was sitting in Dubai in a mall with so many different people around. It made me think of being in the malls back home. After my coffee break I walked around the mall in a systematic fashion to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I bought some postcards, Christmas presents and 1 long sleeve shirt for myself. I walked around the designer area and drooled over the beautiful shoes and coats in the windows.

After several hours of walking and some aching feet I decided to take a break from my wandering and sit down to watch a movie in the theater. I decided on seeing Beowulf as I knew it was one that Leon did not want to see. I bought my ticket and settled in to the theater. The movie was okay but not one I would recommend to anyone as it was a little long and boring and I wasn’t a fan of the overly enhanced graphics used. It was not as subtle as it was in 300. Anyways when the movie finished I had a horrible headache and realized I hadn’t eaten since the Coffee Bean so I set out to find the food court. I found one but didn’t see anything appetizing so I walked all the way to the other end of the mall. I wandered through a few of the shops along then way and by the time I got to the other food court I was hungry but it still took me a half hour of wandering to figure out what I felt like eating. I ended up eating pizza as I had been craving it and the one I ate the night before was not what I had had in mind.

After my dinner I walked around some more and went through CarreMart which is the equivalent of there Kmart or Wal-Mart. I walked through just to see what all was there but it was packed with people. I gave up looking and headed back out to the main mall. It was almost 9:00 so after a stop off at Cinnabun to get a big cinnamon roll for dessert I got in line for a taxi. The line was really long and it took me almost 45 minutes to get a taxi. But at least I was able to look at some really cool cars that were parked in the valet area next to the taxi stand. It’s not very often that you see Ferraris, Lamborghinis, BMWs, Mercedes, and Range Rovers parked in one area. By the time I made it back to the hotel it was almost 10pm so I settled in and ate my cinnamon roll and watched a movie, I can’t remember which one. I went to bed around 1:00 after the movie was over and I read a bit from my book.

The next morning I made myself get up earlier and went downstairs for the buffet breakfast. I had a fried egg and some French fries (yes not hash browns or cottage fries but actual French fries) and coffee. I also got a bowl of cereal which I enjoyed just as much as the eggs. I really do like cereal and have missed eating it. After breakfast I went back upstairs and repacked my bag as my flight back to Bahrain was later that afternoon. I checked out of my room and put my bag in the hotel luggage storage and got directions to the Gold Souq. Since it was within walking distance I decided I would walk and save on cab fair. The walk was uneventful other then the fact that I got stared at by a lot of random people while I was walking around; especially walking down the section of the road that was dominated by stores for car parts or mechanics shops.

When I made it to the Gold Souq I started wandering through and looking at all the shiny things. You know girls and there fascination with shiny, sparkly things. I walked around and met a woman from San Diego who was visiting Dubai to see a new office that just opened for the Egyptian tour company she worked for. We chatted for a while about traveling, I told her about my trip around the world and my tour of Egypt. We talked about all the places and sights I saw in Egypt and got some ideas for other places and things to see in Egypt for next time. I had a fun time watching people try to sell some nice jewelry and some really ugly jewelry. I was allowed to try stuff on and I even helped a military guy pick something out for his wife. After a couple of hours I got walked through all the shops and headed back to the hotel.

Once back I asked about other malls that were close by since I only had 3 hours before I had to catch a cab to the airport. I got the name of a mall from the girl at the front desk and attempted to get a cab. After a half hour of waiting one of the hotel guys drove me to the mall in the hotel van. I wandered around a bit but most of the stores were closed. It was more of an Arabic mall then a western mall. So I walked through and then went out to attempt to get a taxi. There was not a taxi to be found and after a half hour I got offered a ride by a guy (he called himself a private taxi). He was nice enough and we talked while he drove me back. I tried to pay him but he would not accept my money and said he would come back to give me a ride to the airport. I told him that wasn’t necessary and thanked him for the ride.

Since I still had an hour to waste which was not enough time to try and go anywhere of interest and come back. So I ended up going to the bakery I had found a couple of doors down my first night. I arrived there and got a cheese pastry thing and a soda. While I was waiting I started talking with the only other patron, a really nice guy from Georgia (the country not the state). He had moved to Dubai from Arizona last year and we had a nice conversation about living in the States, and living abroad. He told me about living in Dubai. He was an engineer of some kind and worked for an American engineering company that had based him in Dubai. We talked about travel and all the different countries we had been to. It was a very nice way to spend an hour and I enjoyed our talk a great deal. When I had to go he gave me his business card just in case I came back to Dubai and was nice enough to pay for my lunch. I thanked him again and said goodbye the headed back to collect my bag.

I was able to get a cab without much effort this time so I was at the airport by 4:30, which was a little earlier then I needed but I’d rather be early then late. I checked into my flight and went through security and got caught in immigration. Amazingly it took 45 minutes to get through the exit immigration. But once I got through I walked towards my gate and stopped off to look in the shops. I changed the rest of my Dirhams to Dinars and sat down to read the rest of my book. When my flight was called I boarded it and settled into my seat with my book. Unfortunately I finished my book about 10 minutes into the flight and spent the rest of it listening to music. The flight landed on time just before 8:00pm and I was back in Bahrain for the home stretch.