effin cool!

And off we go. So, I never really thought it would happen. That’s until my friend began the conversation: world’s tallest building, rotating floors, indoor ski resort. How could I resist? Well, if you’re wondering what I’m talking about, then shame on you. That would be the one and only: DUBAI! And Yes, I went there this past weekend! Talk about one of the most ridiculous experiences I have ever had. Dubai is a city seeking to become the “-est” of the world: biggest, tallest, richest…anything you’d like. And frankly, I think they’re doing a damn good job of it too.

So we arrived late Wednesday night in Dubai after a 3 hour flight on Qatar Airways, probably the nicest airlines I’ve been on. Fun fact, the only pets allowed on board are seeing eye dogs and Falcons. Yes, Falcons! Unfortunately, we didn’t see any Falcons on board why we were flying. But, arrival in Dubai, get to our 4 Star Hotel (the cheapest place we were able to find), and tried to get out to see the town. Well, unbeknownst to us, Dubai night life closes around 2/3 am. It was about 2:30am, and in our attempts to find something to do we landed right in the middle of the Dubai red light district. I have absolutely no doubt that this was the red light district….believe you me, absolutely none.

Well, the next day, we decided to take a trek of “old Dubai,” or the parts of the city that actually date back to before the newest wave of “-est” (which really only goes back to about 20 years ago). We took a look at the Dubai Museum, walked along the Old Souq, Gold Souq, Spice Souq, and Textile Souq. Took an abra across the Dubai Creek. All very touristy stuff. The greatest part was that our attempts to speak Arabic were hindered by the fact that NO one in Dubai actually speaks Arabic. There are so few native “Emiratians,” with most people hailing from India, Pakistan, the Phillipines, or Africa. And European tourists as well. In fact, we actually got strange looks when we tried to speak to people in Arabic. At night, went to this great Pakistani restaurant, ate some Mater Paneer (no worries Rahul, you can tell Harsha that her’s is the best)!

The next day was time for New Dubai. After joining forces with our Australian friend (a guy we met at the hotel), we headed over to the public beach on the Persian Gulf right next to the Burj Al-Arab, the world’s only 7 star hotel (why 7 stars? Because the owner felt like it deserved 7 stars and so he gave it 7 stars). Seeing as it costs $100 to even visit the hotel, we decided that views from the beach were good enough. After that, we grabbed a taxi and headed out to the Camel Race Track (awesome, I know!!). Unfortunately, these plans were thwarted by the fact that there were no races that day… So instead, we went on over to the Atlantis Palm Hotel, located on a man-made island in the shape of a Palm Tree. Well…a pretty nice hotel I’d say. Legend has it that the hotel has underwater rooms…but I’m not sure. We then proceeded over to the Mall of the Emirates, the largest mall outside of North American. This mall is complete with 3 Starbucks, a 500-seat community theater, and yes, an indoor Ski Resort…in the middle of the DESERT!. We didn’t plan our time well or else we would have gone skiing,but it was pretty ridiculous. The on over to the Burj Dubai, the world’s largest building. It currently stands 100m taller than the previous tallest building in the world and still has 200m to go. The downtown area is still under construction and at night you can see the lights of all the cranes popping off the buildings. Another fun fact, Dubai has 25% of the world’s tall cranes.

Well, instead of spending more money on a hotel that night, we decided that it’d be a great decision to head to the airport after our night out and get an early morning flight. So, 4am we show up at the airport for our 6am flight. However, instead of going straight back to Amman, we planned a 6 hour layover in Doha, Qatar.

Doha is a really interesting city. Still under construction, the city center seems more like a ghost town than a commercial complex. I think that Doha is going for a “Dubai’s little sister” reputation. We saw the Museum of Islamic Arts, walked around one of the old Souqs, ate some more Pakistani food for breakfast, hitch-hiked with an Irish guy down to the City Center (downtown area). You know, all in a day’s work.

Then back to the airport and back to Amman. Overall, an incredible experience. Yes, Dubai is extremely opulent and offers some of the most outrageous things you could ever ask for. But then again, it’s Dubai! Could you ask for anything less?

One of the shops at the Gold Souq. Imagine blocks and blocks filled with 22kt gold like this.

My group with the Dubai skyline in the background. The tall building all the way to the right is the Burj Dubai (world's tallest building). A stunning skyline if I do say so myself.

Burj Al-Arab, world's only 7 star hotel. Complete with helicopter landing pad (all the way on the top left).

Atlantis Palm Hotel out on the Palm Islands. Looks pretty cool at night. Us and Australian friend posing down at the bottom if you can see.

Can someone say Indoor Ski Resort?

Doha City Center. (A Canadian friend we picked up along the way on the left)