Doing Dubai in December

Our red eye flight from Seychelles arrived before 6am, but luckily the hotel let us check in and we were able to catch up on some much needed sleep. After getting some sleep, we were ready to do some sight seeing and Melissa had some local market shopping in mind. First we stopped by one of the soulks, Dubai Spice Market. After doing some looking around we walked down Dubai Creek admiring all the old dhow (boats) being loaded up with cargo to take to smaller ports in the horn of Africa and more so Iran (breaking the embargo). We saw a guy smaller than me literally carry a boxed full size refrigerator on his back(!!) to be loaded on board one of the dhows.

 Dubai has a very good, super clean and very easy to use metro system. The only differences was that there was a "preferred" section for a first class cabin and also a women only cabin. At one point we saw a police officer had to tell a western man (tourist who hadn't noticed any of the signage) to get out of the women only cabin.  After arriving at the Dubai Mall (the largest mall in the world) we went outside to view the world's largest synchronized water show at the footsteps of the world's tallest building. Ha - Dubai is definitely a world record holder.

By then it was starting to get late and it was time to eat again. We found a Lebanese restaurant that offered a deboned chargrilled chicken, it was amazing. We may or may not have gone back to that same restaurant later that week.

Connected to the Dubai Mall is the lobby of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper which we wanted a ride to the top for the view. After finally getting to the front of the line the attendant informed us that it was sold out for the next 6 weeks, but if we wanted to go tonight it would be US$450 per person. I told Melissa we would go for it...the next time we're in Dubai...  

The Burj Khalifa.. the tallest building in the world!

The following morning we went and signed up for a two day pass of the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. The weather could not have been better, it was sunny but cool enough you needed a jacket for the upper deck. 

We got off the bus at Souk Madinat Jumeirah, the reconstruction of an old arab market with numerous shops and restarunts at the footsteps of the Buri Al Arab, the worlds only 7 star hotel. 

Back on the bus, we headed to The Palm the manmade arpachapeligo. You enter through the trunk (of the Palm tree) having to go through an underground tunnel. The other side was filled with exclusive apartment blocks and hotels with the largest being the Atlantis and The Palm Dubai.

Our last day we went back to the spice market for some last minute shopping. There are many stores with silk pashminas so Melissa thought she might be able to pick one up for super cheap. After spending 10 minutes picking out the perfect one, the guy says the price is US$60. We laughed out loud and started walking to the end of the market to get a drink. They don't serve alcohol in Dubai, except for hotels but most restaurants have fresh squeezed juice bars and juice stands are everywhere. While we were walking back to the entrance, the pashmina shop owner started throwing prices out at us as we passed by. After doing some math I told Melissa, that last price is only US$10 if you are still interested and of course for that price she was. After scoring the pashmina for such a good price, Melissa was ready to celebrate. She was looking for some ice cream and thought she found it but after a closer inspection of the sign she decided she was not quite ready for camel milk gelato.