Sky High – and our final fling!

On Sunday we took the metro to the Dubai Marina …………

………. where the buildings are amazing.  This little group look a bit like the ‘New York, New York’ hotel in Las Vegas but even bigger (if that’s possible).  The building on the left must have warped in the heat!

We took the monorail through the famous “Palm”.  The Atlantis Hotel right at the end is definitely all that it’s cracked up to be – spectacular.

This is one of the Palm “leaves” and on the far right, in the distance, the Burj al Arab.

Close up of the Burj al Arab.

In the afternoon we went on a Sand Safari and it was a absolute hoot!  With six passengers in each of the two 4 x 4’s we had a whale of time.

Luckily we were the trailing vehicle so we could see what was happening to the wagon in front.  James also got the front seat and so got some great pics.

Half way through the “sandy” bit we stopped for a photo shoot.

We also had time for a bit of quiet reflexion as we looked across this amazing landscape.

Then it was back on the road again!  This really was the angle of the vehicle and it wasn’t the most precarious angle we achieved either!

After the desert run we ended up in a camp for a BBQ and a chat with the other passengers.  The whole adventure was absolutely brilliant and we were looked after very well indeed.  Getting back at 9:30 in the evening we were shattered – but what a fantastic day!

Monday was our last full day in Dubai and we’d pre-booked some tickets to go up the Burj Khalifa.   At 828 metres it holds the record for the world’s tallest building but we didn’t go right to the top. Instead, the viewing gallery is on the 124th floor with another 40 floors still remaining!

However, the height above the ground was tremendous and we looked down on some very tall skyscrapers which looked really quite short!  This is looking down on the huge lake in front of the building and the equipment for the dancing fountains.  It’s almost impossible to pick out the people below.

Looking east.

Looking up from the viewing gallery on the 124th floor. How much higher?!

James seems to have finally conquered his fear of heights!

Looking out to sea with “The World” in the distance.

Looking towards the cruise terminal and port area.

You can just make out the cars on the roads.

The heat haze restricts the view towards the Burj al Arab and The Palm  ……

…….. but we could, with a zoom, get a fairly good view of the poor old QE2 now languishing in the port area.

We didn’t take this photo but Dubai is going to look fantastic when it’s finished.

Our final port of call during the daytime was the Mall of the Emirates and the massive indoor ski slopes there.  It’s all just so surreal!

Having a wander round the Souks near the hotel in the evening (yes Peter and Margaret) we are staying in the Arabian Courtyard Hotel – you guessed right!) looking for something to eat, one of the traders took pity on Doug and retied his head dress for him!

This is “our” Souk (nearest to the hotel) in the evening.  We run the gauntlet every time we walk down it – the traders know us by now and pick on us and try to dress us up as we walk along. It’s all a bit of fun!

The last part of our evening we popped down to the Burj Khalifa to watch the fountains perform in the dark.  There’s a display every half an hour with alternating western and traditional music.

The Burj itself is equally impressive with it’s own light displays.

And one last pic of the aquarium as we made our way through the Dubai Mall to get the metro back to the hotel – they really don’t do things by halves!

Well, our time in Dubai is over for now.  We’ve really enjoyed our five days but it really wasn’t quite long enough.  Everyone is so polite it’s almost surreal. Young people give up their seats on the metro for the older ones (ask James!) and we’ve seen many wallets sticking out of back pockets (possibly it’s too dangerous to be a criminal here!)  The locals in the old city seem to be delighted when we dress like them and ask to share their tables.  It’s a very different world.  It’s been a fantastic six weeks since we first arrived in Las Vegas on Boxing Day and now we have to get back home for a while (and enjoy the UK weather!)