Dubai, Dubai, Wipe that tear from your eye

Salaam Ali Koomb from the United Arab Emirates!

Instead of stampeding for home in a 24 hour marathon flight, Girlclumsy and I decided to break the journey up by stopping at the extraordinary Dubai. The flight on Emirates was great. The seats are comfortable and they dont squash you right up against the seat in front. The inflight entertainment was amazing with hundreds of movies, tv shows and radio to enjoy.. they even had games. If you get bored on planes now it really is your own fault! I even liked the food! A very enjoyable flight all round.

Dubai is an amazing place especially if you like shopping. There are more posh shopping centres here than anywhere I have ever seen and more extravagent (but tasteful) displays of mega-wealth than anywhere else. Of course there is more to Dubai than just shopping and you can get a godo feel of the 'normal' people here but walking around the streets in souks and markets.

Girlclumsy has come down with some sort of illness. We thought she had caught my flu from a few days ago but she has been slightly more seriuosly ill than that! (Dont get tooo worried. she aint dyin'!)

We went to the Mall of the Emirates and saw the 400m long indoor skiing field they have built. The place is huuuuuuuuge and it even have mock swiss chalets inside it so the skiers can get a hot chocolate.

35 years ago Dubai was basically desert but now it ruptures out of the sand next to the beautiful arabian gulf. It is amazing what stability and extreme wealth can do to make a city bloom in the desert.

On the bus yesterday we started talking to a local man. He was very happy to help us with directions and local information as long as we told everybody back in Australia that Muslims are not all terrorists. He felt that western media portrayed muslims in a bad light andhe really wanted us to address that balance. As far as im concerned muslims are just people like everybody else. It is the lunatics that can be found in ALL countries and ALL religons that make life difficult for the average peace loving person.

We went to stare at the Burj Al Arab. It is the hotel that instantly comes to mind when you think of Dubai. Rising 320 metres above the sea it looks like a white sale and won the Hotel of the Millenium a few years ago. I found out it is based slightly on the Sydney Opera House and Eiffel Tower. You cant go in there just to look around anymore and the rooms cost from $2500 a night! Girlclumsy and I made do with looking at the outside for free.

This city is constant flux with many many many new skyscrapers going up all around. There is a new train system being built and i get the feeling this city will be considered one of the greatest cities on earth very very soon. Dont get me worng.. there is awful poverty here as well but the city has a very modern vibe to it that makes it very easy to like.. even for a non-shopper like me!

We dont really have enough time to explore this city at any great depth but it is somewhere we would like to come back to in the future..especially when we can afford $2500 a night for a room!