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.
