Friday 2 March 2012

March 2 - Goodbye Dubai

It is now our final day in Dubai, we enjoyed a drive today on the Palm Jumeirah, a Palm tree shaped man-made island created off the coast of Dubai. The buildings on the island were amazing, but we hear that the island may be sinking. Our boys will appreciate the fancy cars here in Dubai, today in about 10 minutes we saw a Lamborgini, Mazaratti and a Bentley, yesterday we saw a Rolls, so there's no shortage of nice cars on the roads of Dubai. Quite a contrast to the ricksaws in Bangladesh (which were neat to see, too).

Yesterday we went to Ras al Khaimah, along the Arabian coast, north of Dubai.  We finally saw red sand dunes, bedouin tents, camels and goats.  Enough of the big city sites, we preferred the desert. I found the driving was a bit crazy (Ralph) and he said he wouldn't stay in the passing lane very long, because the next guy would just want to drive over you!  Debbi put her feet in the waters of the gulf, a nice cool spot.  We also visited the gold souq, Ralph is a great bargainer...... lucky for Debbi (Ralph just commented "What choice did I have?"). We also stopped at a nice spice shop (just to change the subject).
Spice shop... smelled so good
 Bedouins and their camels.....



The old door entrance to the Dubai Fort Museum, now that's a door!


Atlantis, The Palm Hotel, just at the top of the aritificial Palm shaped island...

Today we visited the Dubai museum, saw the old way of life (similar to what we experienced in Saudi) with bedouin tents, explanations of the desert way of life as well as the ancient trade of pearl diving.  We had a delicious Thai meal tonight and will now get our bags packed.  Farewell.... see you on Canadian soil very soon. We've had a great time on this trip, in Bangladesh and the UAE, every day was an adventure! A special thank you to our hosts and new friends for making our experiences in both countries, unforgettable! Shukran and Donobad!