I have arrived! Day 1 in Dubai

A typical example of contruction in Dubai
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Well after a 14 and a 1/2 hour flight I arrived in Dubai. The flight was packed, but I managed to sleep on the plane which is rare for me, so I wasn't too jet lagged when I arrived! Ursula, my Emirates flight attendant friend who lives in Dubai, picked me up from the airport, and we made our way back to her house. She lives in a huge 3 bedroom apartment with 2 other flight attendants, and I even have my own guest bedroom.

After a nap (Ursh had just come back from a flight as well) we went for a drive through Dubai. It is amazing - I can't believe the amount of construction that is happening. There are literally hundreds of new high rises going up everywhere and its definitely true what they say about most of the world's cranes being in Dubai. There are hundreds of workers, mostly from Bangladesh and India, working in the heat. Apparently they don't get paid much but are here to earn money for their families - there were busloads of tired workers being transferred back to their accommodation at the end of the day. I felt kind of sorry for them.

Its true what they say about most of the world's cranes being in Dubai

Elena in the "India section of the Ibn Battuta mall
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We drove past the Burj Al Arab, the world's only 7 star hotel, and I can't wait to go back there for high tea soon!

Next we went to the Ibn Battuta shopping mall. It's named after an explorer who travelled through Asia and the Middle East in the 14th century, and is divided up into different sections done in the style of different countries such as Egypt, India, Tunisia, Persia, China etc. It's amazing! The level of detail that goes into each section is unbelieveable, from the tiling and chandeliers to sculptures.

'Ski Dubai' in the Mall of the Emirates
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Next we went to the Mall of the Emirates, which was equally as crazy. This is the mall that features the indoor ski slopes, 'Ski Dubai'. There is a huge ski slope, ice slides and ski lifts. This mall is huge and has some really good shops - its been torture not being able to shop, as I still have 6 months of living out of a backpack to do! So it's window shopping only for me. We also went to Carrefour, a huge French hypermarket. You couldn't see from one side of the shop to the other. It has stands where you can choose from hundreds of olives, spices, cheeses and more - pretty amazing.

Ursh and I had a quiet night in with some wine and cheese as by this stage we were pretty tired. Tomorrow we go to high tea at the Burj, and the day after a desert safari which should be fun!