United Arab Emirates

A kiss from the local apparition at the Heritage Village.  

Abu Dhabi, UAE

Abu Dhabi features a Heritage Village that introduces the ways of old.

She was very patient as we stared, took pictures, and gawked. We have discovered that our informal statistics show a split on individual opinions about the camel. Half think they are cute, and half think camels are ugly. Camels mean wealth. The more camels, the wealthier you are. Every year there is a "beautiful camel" contest. 

A weaver busy at work. 

Some of the woven goods. 

Inside the home.

Notice the beautiful carpet.  

Modern living quarters in some areas.  

The well. 

Dubai 

Taken from the 123th floor of the Burg Khalifa

The tall building the middle is a hotel, one of the many futuristic skyscrapers on the horizon. The black design is the track for the waterfall display which delights the crowds at night. The flat structure to the left is the Dubai Mall, one of the best shopping malls in the world in my humble opinion.

If you've seen the Mission Impossible IV movie then you've seen the Burg Khalifa up front and personal. As the tallest building in the world, it stands at over 123 floors. When we first saw the Burg on the horizon, someone in the car commented that it didn't look that tall. Then a row of tiny skyscrapers next to it came into view and we laughed. Looks can be deceiving. The Burg Khalifa looms like a jagged icicle on the Dubai horizon.

If you want to visit the top, you need to make reservations well in advance. Then you join the queue to purchase tickets. From there, the queue proceeds through security and on to the elevators. It's very organized and moves along quickly. Next comes the ride in the elevators. Believe it or not, it's an extremely smooth ride that only takes 60 seconds. You have to adjust your ears several times on the way up, but outside of that you wouldn't know the great distance you've traveled. 

At the top, you'll notice how the sand hangs in city like dust. If you are from other regions in the world, you may mistake it for fog. It seems to be normal this time of year. There is no rain to wash it away. Sand coats the tree leaves and blows across the ground in waves. 

Dubai: View from the top of the Burg Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Those are normal size skyscrapers below.

It's spring break and two friends and I headed up to Dubai to do a little exploring. Our first stop was our hotel modeled after a villa, with stucco walls, patios, and tile floors. Tucked away in the far reaches of the city, we eventually found it using the GPS. The quaintness of the hotel was worth the trip alone. The weather was pleasant and eating breakfast out on the patio was relaxing. It felt more like old Europe than the desert.

The last time we went to Dubai, it took us three hours to edge our way to a well hidden hotel that was probably only eight miles away from where we started. Dubai is not strategically laid out. It's streets wind in every direction without much logic. You can not get off a road and turn around to go back. If you get off you don't know where you'll end up. Maybe you'll be able to cross the road and head back (most likely not), or it will take you in the opposite direction for miles and miles. When you get off to try and head back again, you'll be detoured in another direction and the journey starts all over again.

Passing a row of skyscraper in the downtown area of Dubai

I love this advertisement of a little child kissing a camel. It must be a little girl because she has henna designs on her arms. The girls draw beautiful designs on their skin with henna, a dark brown pigment. It takes hours to draw and eventually washes away.