Zach and Cathy's Adventures: Dubai and Abu Dabi

Day 13, Depart for and Arrive in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates

The UAE is the quintessential land of opulence, wealth and skyscrapers. We are on our own for the next three days. What an amazing modern city with amazing architectural designs in buildings and so much new construction of skyscrapers. The UAE sits on the Arabian Peninsula, has a population of 3.8 million and is 32 thousand square miles, about the size of Maine. A light show in baggage claim.

A drive-by on the way from the airport to our hotel. The Dubai Frame.

Train station at bottom. Berj Khalafi between the two buildings.

View from our hotel room.

Day 14, Dubai, On Our Own

Today we went to the Dubai Miracle Garden which has over 15 million flowers.

Was a real jet.

Magical!

A little Disney look.

Interesting teapot.

Lots of hearts here.

After that we went to the iconic Dubai Frame.

Berj Khalifa from the top of the Frame.

It was 600 feet down; it was not easy to step on it! Cathy was more comfortable on it.

Dubai from top in all directions.

Passed by the Museum of the Future on the way back to the hotel.

When we returned to the hotel, we took a walk to the Dubai Marina and Beach.

At night from our room.

It was a strange full moon from there.

Day15, Dubai, On Our Own

Today we decided to have a beach day. We went to the Riva Beach Resort. It's on the Persian Gulf. Nice beaches in Dubai.

Burj Al Arab and in background barely visible is Burj Khalifa.

Nice turquoise water.

Very rich person's house. A lot of that around here.

So many new buildings with amazing designs. This is a new Atlantis hotel on Palm Island.

Day 16, Old Dubai

Our Gate 1 tour got off to a slow start today with a trip across Dubai Creek, which is a natural body of water, in an abras (water taxi) to visit the Spice and Gold Souks in the Bastakiya section of Old Dubai. The Dubai Canal and most of the inhabited islands are man-made.

The Spice Souk had good prices!

Rare to see a police car in Dubai. Almost no crime.

Gold everywhere.

These floor signs direct people to the market they want to visit.

Then we had a traditional Emirati lunch with a question and answers session about the Emirati culture at the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Centre for Cultural Understanding.

There are 7 Emirates and 7 royal families. Only 10% of the population, about 1 million people are citizens. They don't pay income tax, have free health care, free school, free housing, free utilities and a monthly income. Very difficult to become citizen. No illegal immigrants and no homelessness. The other 90%, the guest workers, don't get most of those benefits but can get employer provided housing and free health care. Guest working must leave the country at 65 years old.

We didn't have to sit on floor at lunch.

Because the fort was under renovation, we went back to the Frame. Our group didn't go to the top, so it was good we did 2 days ago.

We went for a walk back to the Marina before dinner. It was only 103 degrees. It's that dry heat, like Vegas.

Day 17, New Dubai

We went to Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.

It is next to the Dubai Mall which is the largest in the world. 98% of people who visit Dubai go to this mall. There was a secret wine store in the Dubai Mall!

We went to the observation deck on the124th floor, which is as high as tourists can go. Tom Cruise filmed parts of Mission Impossible, Ghost Protocol on this building.

That much more to the top.

After the Burj Khalafi, we made a photo stop at Dubai's signature landmark Burj Al Arab, the celebrated sail-shaped hotel built in 1999 facing the Persian Gulf.

From there, we continued to Jumeirah Palm, a man-made island, which was built in the shape of a palm tree, known for its posh residential buildings, villas, and luxury hotels and resorts. Upon entering the island, we boarded the Palm Monorail which took us to the far end of the palm. 200 million tons of sand, 75 million tons and 6 years to create this island with an 8 miles barrier island. All the lots on the island were sold out in 48 hours when they 1st went up for sale.

Atlantis of the future.

Atlantis, identical to the one in the Bahamas.

The largest water park in the world sits between the 2 properties.

Part of the Barrier Island which these 2 properties sit on, along with 40 other hotels and resorts, not to mention the thousands of houses and condos.

Afterward, we visited Dubai Marina, one of Dubai's most exclusive districts. It was a different part of the Marina than we had walked to the day before.

At least 100 new high rises being built in the area.

That evening we went to the Global Village. It's kind of like Epcot with no rides and dining. It's basically a huge shopping mall with an interesting facade to represent 30 mostly middle eastern countries. All the food was fast food. It was still worth the visit.

Anyone for some tea?

Then it's back to the Berj Khalifa via taxi to see it at night, mostly for the water show. The mall has an aquarium.

Unfortunately, we cannot put video on our blog. We have some great video of the water show.

Day 18, Sharjah City

This morning, we went on the tour to Sharjah, cultural center of the Emirates. we started with a photo stop at the cultural square. It was actually a circle.

Koran statue.

Then, we visited the Islamic Museum, and the Heritage Museum depicting Sharjah's rich and diverse heritage.

Islamic Museum.

This is a clock.

The ceiling of the museum shows the Zodiac signs.

Heritage Museum.

Then we stopped at a Local modern market. Very different from the Souks.

As if we hadn't done enough, we went on a Desert Safari that evening. We boarded a 4X4 vehicle in Dubai and headed out towards the highest sand dunes of the desert for some "dune bashing." Great videos of Cathy screaming, but not on blog.

Next, we arrived at a Bedouin campsite, where we rode a camel and had dinner and entertainment. Can't post the videos though.

A Tanoura dance troupe during dinner. No camel was served.

Day 19, Al Ain

Today, we traveled to Al Ain, the Garden City of the UAE and the birthplace of H.H. Sheikh Zayed, the first president of the UAE. The drive to Al Ain.

Date palm farms.

We 1st visited the striking, restored Al Jahili Fort, one of the region's largest forts.

UAE's Lawrence of Arabia.

Then, we headed to Qasr Al Muwaiji, which served as a palace and administrative base for Sheikh Zayed. Now a date palm tree farm, even growing bananas. This Oasis has been continually inhibited for over 4000 years, the oldest on earth. Our tour manager, Tito talking about the date palms.

After lunch, we stopped at the Al Ain Camel Market and then continued on to Abu Dhabi.

Camels can go 25 days without water, they can sniff out water, they can run 45 miles an hour and live to be 45. Camel races are a big deal here. However, these camels are destined for the dinner table.

Black camel.

Arriving in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi is the capital of UAE and richer and faster growing than Dubai.

Our 1st stop in Abu Dhabi was to admire cultural art at the Arab World's first universal museum, the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi paid 600 million for the rights to use the Louvre name for 30 years. Amazing architecture in this area!

George Washington.

Lots of new construction in the area. The Getty Museum opening next year.

The new opera house opening next year.

The new natural history museum opening next year.

Future art museum opening next year.

Sunset from our hotel room.

Day 20, Abu Dhabi

Started off the day with a city tour of the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. Begin with a visit inside the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, an iconic symbol of Abu Dhabi, population of 2.5 million. The Mosque has over 1000 columns, 17 million cubic feet of marble, took 11 years to complete, grand chandelier weighs 12 tons and people can walk inside of it. Carpet largest in the world.