By the time we were in the car at 6am local time, heading for the Marco Polo hotel in Dubai, we estimated we'd been on the move for around 24 hours. We ended up kicking on for another 18 hours (with only a little nap to sustain us) seeing the city sights by bus and dhow before collapsing in an exhausted heap. It was one of the longest days, night and days I can remember as we finished up half a world away from home. Well, at least 6 time zone's worth.
The day and the night
We were ticketed right through to Dubai from Launceston so we didn't have to queue at the Melbourne check in. Result!
I caught up for a long overdue reunion with an old friend in Melbourne from uni days, Rod Brown, who took us out of the airport for coffee and a bite to eat in Moonee Ponds while we waited for our flight.
The fourteen hour flight itself was surprisingly comfortable. The food wasn't marvellous but the leg room was better than expected. Plus the range of movies and TV on offer was outstanding.
I actually managed to get some decent rest on the flight: maybe five hours worth. Vaughan wasn't so lucky but he coped by watching 25 episodes of of the Big Bang Theory. I managed the best part of three movies: The Imitation Game, Penguins of Madagascar, and Jersey Boys. The choice was vast. I could have found enough movies to last for days.
The airport terminal in Dubai is stunning to look at - and even more impressive when you are the only people in it.
On the downside.
The flight was still fourteen hours long and I was rained on for the first half hour due to a glitch in the AC unit above me. Once our plane leveled out, things improved and I was able to dry out.
My stomach still hasn't worked out what time it is. Since Saturday I've had: breakfast at home, a snack at the airport, a dry muffin and muesli bar on the Qantas flight which was truly awful, an early dinner in Moonee Ponds then another dinner at 11 pm in the air, followed by an offer of a meat pie at 2am, (Blecchh) followed by breakfast at 4 am ( stomach time) and another breakfast at 8 am local time at the hotel, no lunch (well maybe an icecream) , and a filled roll at 5pm local time, then nothing until breakfast at the hotel next morning. And today we fly onto another time zone. No wonder my stomach is confused. The highlight of all this gastronomic confusion was the French patisserie in the Deira Central shopping mall.
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The day
We limited our activities to the Hop on Hop off bus itinerary, since we didn't know how we would pull up after the flight. The dhow trip along the Dubai creek was probably the highlight for us. We also did the Night time tour which included a drive out to the Jumeirah palm resort and the WAFI Sound and light show based on their Egyptian themed architecture, both of which were quite spectacular.
Ten things about Dubai
1The over whelming impression of Dubai is extravagance and wealth, judging from the lavish hotels and shopping malls.
2 Most of the people working there are not nationals, being from India, Pakistan and the Philippines. In fact 80% of the population are foreign workers.
3The colour palate in the city is very muted. Buildings are light pink, beige, cream and even the sky looks washed out. Everything is very clean and tidy. I hardly saw any grass.
4 I didn't see any older model cars anywhere. Petrol is incredibly cheap:less than 60 cents /litre
5 Most apartment blocks are no higher than four or five storeys, so the hotel complexes and sky scrapers really dominate the skyline
6. There is a fully operational ski resort in one of the Dubai hotel complexes, there is a look alike Big Ben clock tower, a pyramid shaped Hotel complete with massive Egyptian statues, and two gherkin shaped buildings side by side. Of course we mustn't forget the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world.
7. There is no personal income tax or VAT paid, only an import tax of 5 percent. Much of the region's wealth comes from offering these tax shelters rather than their oil income.
8 The old and new sit next to each other very comfortably, especially on the shores of Dubai Creek with the dhows moored alongside massive financial institutions. There is a section along the creek with the remnants of an old pearling and diving village with a multi laned highway running beside it. The village is now a museum.
9 Even though the Arabic women are very modestly dressed with their full length black gowns and their hair covered, they wear bright colours in the privacy of their homes judging from what's in the fashion shop windows, and the jewellery on offer in the stores is quite showy.
10 There is no public smoking or chewing in the streets. Even chewing gum is banned.
Our hotel is right on the flight path out of Dubai so I've been listening to aircraft flying over all morning as I write this. We were woken this morning, not by low flying aircraft but the sound of the first call to prayer for the day at 5:40am. It was better than waking to the radio, I have to admit. It was hauntingly beautiful.
We'll be leaving here in an hour or so, to check into the airport for our onward flight to Istanbul.
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