Dubai

We managed four days in Dubai without having to take out a mortgage but did not escape without spending a few bucks.  While the city is a spectacle (a new and bigger building every ten feet), it is NOT cheap.

We arrived Wednesday night to be greeted by the driver Ede had arranged through the hotel. Thanks to Ede's platinum status with Starwood, we were escorted through town in a brand new Lexus (the driver told us he was specifically instructed to pick us up in a luxury vehicle).  Checking into a contemporary, clean and customer friendly hotel filled us both with a new sense of purpose, so much so that we decided to do laundry for the first time in two weeks, but of course not without a good story.

After discovering that two loads through the hotel service would cost $170, we made the reasonable decision to find a nearby laundromat; however to get there we'd have to hike through the hotel and through the neighborhood with two massive bags of dirty clothes smelling like small landfills.  And as lucky as we usually are, the elevator stopped at every floor on the way down to fill up and we attracted quite a few peculiar looks - knowing full well why, Ede and I couldn't stop laughing.

The good news about our laundry journey; we managed to save a few bucks.  The bad news; we quickly spent our precious pennies at one of Dubai's most upscale restaurants, Pierchic.  When you try to imagine fine dining, this is it!  Unfortunately, it is not terribly friendly to a backpackers budget.  $200 paid for only two drinks and two main dishes (we ate two baskets of bread and stole lots of mints).

They say you can't go to Dubai without exploring the Mall of Emirates, the world's largest.  After a few hours at the pool on Friday, we showered and headed to retail-mania.  Like my moment of jubilation watching the Final Four in Tanzania, Ede was all smiles all day.  We made a quick stop at Chilis for some American cuisine and started shopping.  After a few hours of walking (more than we'd done in a few weeks), we were tempted by the world's only indoor ski slope but were deterred by the lack of size 15 ski boots!

The weekend was spent walking through downtown (interesting but without a lot of character), sitting by the pool, and taking advantage of the free food and drinks at the Starwood Preferred Guests' Lounge.

We are waiting around for our three-hour red-eye flight to Delhi (neither of us are sure why it's a red-eye) where it's 100+ degrees.  We have no idea what to expect but we're both very excited.  Mom Booth and Mom Tinsley have repeatedly warned us about taking every possible health precaution, which we promise to do, and brother Tinsley has set us up with a great four week itinerary.

Hope you all are enjoying the beginning of spring.  We miss you...