Wow!
Even now I am still stunned!
Wow! and incase I didnt get that across already... wow!
Nikala and I have returned from Dubai to miserable old grey England...how depressing! We have only just bcome acustomed to the 43 degrees Centigrade that we had out there!
Yes thats right! 43 degrees!!! My god it was hot hot hot!
And the service... wow!
Until we had to leave Dubai, the last time either of us had to carry our luggage was when we checked in at Gatwick Airport, after that someone was always there to help, and although there were times we tried to protest and do something for ourselves, the locals were horrified and wouldnt let us. It was a very strange experience. Even the man polishing the floor was all smiles and full of greetings and wishes for a good health etc. and unlike the USA it really seemed to be a genuine question there.
The rooms were fabulous, bigger than our flat and thrice as luxurious -- the bathroom was bigger than our living room and all marble! We had a view of palm trees, sand and the ocean from our balcony... it was an awe inspiring sight and we now feel totaly spoilt.
For those of you like us, to whom food is of great import, the choice was immense... the breakfast alone had so much to choose from that Nikala and I often found ourselves going back for seconds, thirds and on one particularly piggy occaision fourths... didnt feel to well after that!
On saterday we went on the Dune Safari, which consisted of tearing down the almost empty highways at a collossal 190 KPH !!! quite scary! then going off road rocketing up huge sand dunes and sliding down the other side until we eventually reached a campsite in the middle of the desert... (I must say even my usualy ironclad stomach was feeling a little quesy.)
... where we were entertained by a belly dancer and had some traditional Arabian tucker (kebabs and salad heheheh) There was also a lady giving henna prints, Nikala got a butterfly on her hip and ive been cursed with some monstosity that looks somewhat like a wonky bat on my arm!
On our last day, we went to the souks (not sure how you spell it) which are essentaily markets. There are two main ones, the first of which is the gold souk. Its truely an incredible site if a little gaudy... There are close to 300 shops all of which have thousands of rings, bracelets and necklesses in, and to give you an idea of the wealth there... just one of those rings was worth 300,000 US$ ... jaw dropping.
However it was a touch "bling bling" for us...
... and so, we trundled over to the spice souk, and wow!, you have never seen so much stuff! and the smell! i loved it so we were in there bartering and haggling away... didnt actually buy much but it was fun!
Now, I know how expensive saffron is, and if im not mistaken its more expensive by weight than anything else... well there were sacks and sacks and sacks of the stuff all over the place, we bought 10 grams for 20 DHS which is about £3, i think you pay about the same over here for 2 or 3 strands!
Unfortunately the week was over and we were soon to be returning, and as if on que, Nikala suffered from nast painful food poisoning, which spoilt an otherwise great trip; i was glad I had avoided it...
On the plane on the way home... I realised I hadn't... wasnt a fun 7 hours.
Here are some links to the hotels we stayed at...
Royal Mirage
and the not as nice Grand Hyatt
and finaly the souks
No comments:
Post a Comment