Dubai Spring Break: Day 6

Wednesday was our last full day in Dubai and we spent half the day in the old Dubai area. Everything that we had done so far on the trip was in downtown Dubai area and we quickly noticed that Old Dubai was a lot different!  It gave us a view of the architecture and culture during the early years.  It was also a nice contrast to the glitz and glamour of downtown Dubai.  We started at the day in the Bastakia and Dubai Museum area.   

Old Dubai had many souks to explore--souks are markets.  This was the textile souk.  We weren't planning on buying anything, but it was so interesting to explore.  They had some really nice things! 

The highlight of this area for me was the riding the abra's at the Bur Dubai Abra Dock.  We rode on a wooden boat that connects the Dubai Creek to Bur Dubai.  It took us across to the other side with had many more souks to explore. The bonus was it only cost 1 dirham!!

Once we got to the other side of the creek, we explored the spice souk.  This was one of the more popular souks in Dubai and is a narrow passageway lined with stores with every spice and herb you could think of.  The spices are all brought in from the Middle Eastern region as well as from around other parts of the world.

We then explored the gold souk.  We were told the gold from here is genuine and the prices are some of the cheapest in the world! Everything was beautiful! It was a pretty intense place because of the aggressive store owners. After a few walks through, we were ready to roll!

Once we explored all the souks we headed back on the abra- such a fun experience!

After we explored Old Dubai we headed back to the Jumeirah Beach area by our hotel and walked around a bit.

We had lunch at the Shake Shack which is AMAZING! They have burgers, fries, and milkshakes and was one of the best burgers we have had in a long time.  They are building one in Austin and should be open soon.  Can't wait to have one close by! 

We then went back to our hotel changed, packed our bags, checked out of our hotel, and headed to the Burj Al Arab for high tea.  It is an amazing hotel out on the water that is quite impressive.  I have never seen a hotel like this before.  It was beautiful! I was so excited to have high tea for the first time too.  I think I was a little more excited then Justin was about this, but he was a good sport, and a great date :) .

The atrium of the hotel

Waiting for our table in the lobby at the Skyview Bar

Inside Skyview

High tea- such a fun experience! We started with champagne and a berry tart with cream.  It was delicious!

The second course was the "chefs carvery of the day,"- which was some sort of beef with potatoes. They then served us finger sandwiches- we couldn't finish them all and at this point we were already stuffed!! Coffee and tea was then served and they then brought out a selection of pastries, scones, cookies, and muffins.  The last course was sorbet- which was wonderful and a great ending!! Overall, it was about 2 hours and the service was wonderful! I think everyone should experience having high tea at least once in their life. :)

Afterwards, we walked around the Burj Al Arab, and it had a great view of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

Nightime view of the Burj Al Arab- so beautiful!

After high tea, we had a few hours to kill before our 2:45am flight back to Dallas. Luckily, the area around our hotel at Jumeirah Beach was a beautiful place to walk around. We walked up and down the beach area and explored all of the restaurants and shops.

There was alot of music playing here, and from afar, we figured it was some sort of dance club on the beach. However, as we walked up to it, it turns out it was an evening spin class on the beach! How cool! I would have loved to join them!! 

Bye beautiful Dubai.  What a wonderful vacation we had in the UAE.  We loved every minute of it and enjoyed experiencing the new culture.  

Time to head home! Thank you so much to both sets of grandparents who watched the boys while we were away.  It was hard being away from the boys for such a long time and a few weeks prior to the trip I almost canceled it all together! I'm so glad I didn't- it was an amazing experience!

Dubai Spring Break: Day 5

Tuesday morning, we headed to Ski Dubai--yes, skiing. There's an indoor ski park inside the Mall of the Emirates.  It is craziness, and I have never seen anything like it before!  There are so many things to do.  I'm not even a big skier, and it was a really cool experience.  Justin skied for 2 hours, and I did the zip line and played in the snow park which had sledding and bobsled.  

View from the top

Fun!

There was one green run and one blue equivalent. It had been 10 years since we went skiing in Utah, so Justin was a little rusty. By the end, he was back in form and tried the blue side a couple times. So much fun!

View of the ski park from outside on our way back

After we wrapped up the skiing, we had just a few minutes to grab lunch and get back to the hotel in time for our desert safari. What a day of extremes, skiing in a mall and heading out to a Middle Eastern desert. Our driver picked us up from our hotel in a Toyota Land Cruiser, and then headed to pick up the other 4 traveling with us, who were from Russia and Ukraine. They seemed to get along alright despite the conflict going on with their countries. About an hour out, we stopped at a roadside market. Total tourist stop, but it was quick. Quite a mix of people inside. We found most of the tourists to be from Asia, but plenty from Europe as well. Maybe 5-10% Americans. 

Our tour then headed off-road into the Hatta-Oman desert. Hatta is a city of the UAE on the east side of the country. The desert continues on into Oman, which is the neighboring country. The unique part about this desert is the red color of the sand. You could see the sand begin to change from yellow to red as we drove out. Justin learned all of this talking to our driver "Andy" who was super nice and enjoyed his new friend asking all of the questions in the front seat. I think they talked the whole hour drive out about camels and horses and speed radar cameras, while I hung out with the little 8 year old Russian boy who didn't speak English :) .

In our minds, this sign said, "Hey Justin and Brandi! Welcome to the Hatta-Oman red sand dunes!"

The tour was timed well, at sunset, so everyone got some great photos.

Dune bashing begins! This was so much fun! The drivers all deflated their tires before going in. Apparently they go through lots of training and must be certified in order to get a license to drive on the dunes. "Andy" has been with Arabian Nights Tour Company for 10 years. He said they were the best because they have the longest dune ride and the people were the nicest. Thanks Caroline for the recommendation!

So crazy!

Camel farm

Time to head over to the Arabian BBQ and show.

There are 60 of these Bedouin style camps throughout the area for the tour groups. All are fenced off to block the sand which is constantly blowing in the air. It was such a nice night and a fun time.

I think this was my top moment of the trip! I was so looking forward to riding a camel. It was the craziest feeling when he first started to stand up. I couldn't stop laughing the whole ride! It was a short loop around but still was a blast.

Inside they had a falcon. Falcons are an important part of the UAE culture because they historically would train them to hunt and bring back food. This guy was pretty tame.

I promise I'm not scared!

We were set up at traditional tables for dinner and the show. Dinner was a large Arabian buffet with lots of great food. We tried to try just about everything since we ate burgers, pizza and Baja Fresh the rest of the trip! Haha! Surprisingly, I think we liked the lamb the best. Of course, I loved the hummus, rice and salads. All was great!

The show began with this guy who came out in a dress-looking garb and began spinning. I wasn't quite sure where it was going but turns out he spins for a good 10 minutes and had all kinds of tricks up his sleeve. By the end, it was pretty neat!

Later on, a belly dancer performed and brought several kids up to try which was entertaining.

Overall, what a day! Skiing in the morning and traditional desert experience at night. This was by far our favorite day of the trip.