Saturday June 18, 2011
We woke up early about six; quickly showered made some PB&J (peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches) grabbed some more free water from the desk at reception and then grabbed a taxi that was waiting outside the hotel. The driver took us to the Abu Dhabi bus station, where we each paid 15 Dirham for the bus to Dubai. Along the drive we saw some wild camels, a fair few number of small mosques and heaps of sand! We arrived in Dubai around 10:20am, and proceeded to try and figure out the metro bus ticket system. We discovered that you first needed to purchase a reloadable card and then you had to load the money onto it from the machines at the station. We decided to buy just one, had help from more broken English to load the card, and then found the bus stop to Emirates Mall. As we waited for our bus we saw some market stalls set up, and went over to peruse the wares. Since we weren’t sure whether our phone from Australia was going to continue to keep time properly we thought we might try to buy a watch. The man at the stall informed us that the watch we wanted was 40 Dirham, and after a bit of bargaining and hesitation tactics, he reluctantly accepted our offer of 30 Dirham (our first bargain and a 25% drop, not a bad start) and we had ourselves a timepiece.
We then got on the bus to Emirates Mall and discovered quickly a couple things: first that we needed a bus pass each, and secondly that it was very easy just to walk onto the bus without paying. We got off at the stop we thought most likely was the correct one for the Mall, and walked through the massive parking lot of the Mall. One of the first things we saw in the Mall was the indoor ski slope. Yes there was a ski slope, indoors, in Dubai in the middle of the Arabian Desert. This wasn’t just some small ski slope; it was the size of 3 football fields (≈100m x 100m x 3)! The second interesting thing we quickly noticed was the amount of posh, name brand shops: Gucci, Versace, Dolce&Gabbana, and Armani to name a few of the most memorable. This clearly was congruent with our style of backpacking…right? Perhaps the most interesting difference from our previous experience in shopping centres was the prayer rooms. We certainly knew that in Islam one is required to pray 5 times at specific times during the day, but we weren’t sure how this rule was followed in conjunction with the high spender lifestyle. We found the rooms on the third level of the Mall, of course right next to a wash room to comply with regulations regarding their prayer (must wash face and arms from elbow down to the hand at bare minimum, or so we were told by a local). After we walked around the stores, with no intention (or ability) of buying anything, we walked to the Kempinski Hotel Lobby, where we were to be picked up around 3:30 for our Desert Safari.
Our driver found us in the lobby, but was waiting for another couple to finish their snow skiing (again yes there is a ski slope in Dubai, in the Emirates Mall). We waited about ten minutes just relaxing in the comfortable hotel lobby before we met our English dune-bashing comrades. A talkative middle-age couple that we connected with quite well, we found that they were more than happy to swap some travelling experiences with us. We picked up a third couple from France, who we interacted with very little, mostly because they spoke only a small bit of English. Now with our Land Cruiser full we headed out into the desert. Our first stop was a small camp of souvenir shops whose restroom consisted of a hose and a toilet, not exactly first-class (nor female-friendly). But the first thing in the camp we encountered was a man approaching Corey with a hijab (Arabian headdress), which he began tying around Corey’s head. Corey thinking it was apart of the package, gladly accepted and was then pulled into the store to try and give him the traditional gown as well. The man’s partner then approached me and started the price for both hijab at 70 AED. Corey quickly realized that this was not an included feature and we told the two men that the most we would even consider paying was 15 AED each, with after some persistence on our end they surprisingly accepted (starting at 70 ending up at 30 nearly a 60% decrease)
Shortly after arriving we left the camp and headed towards the desert. Our driver simply went off the road a little ways with the other trucks that would be dune-bashing alongside us. The driver got out and deflated the tires about 50%, apparently to increase the surface area of the tires. We were then ready and we started driving up and down the huge dunes! Once we were about a mile into the desert we stopped for a bit to take in the view and snap a few pictures. Back in the truck with the tires re-inflated, we drove back to the highway and simply merge onto it. We were then taken to the main camp a little ways off the highway.
At the camp the first activity set up for us was to ride some camels, an interesting experience, especially when the camel stands up, and sits down (both are quite a quick and surprisingly jerky movement). We then proceeded into the camp itself stopping at the entrance to have some traditional Arabic coffee and dates. The coffee was just a small shot, that tasted more like a strong black tea, and which apparently had a high content of caffeine. Once our appetizers were finished we sat on the pillows surrounding our table, one of many tables that encircled the stage in the middle. The first show on the docket was a really interesting man spinning in a layered dress juggling small hand-held drums, that seemed to continually multiply until he had about 7 going. Whilst still spinning he began juggling umbrellas, then started pulling layers off his dress one of which was even fully equipped with lights. This dance went on for an entertaining 10 minutes, during which the dancer never stopped spinning. Next was a very key part of the night, the traditional style food buffet. With Arabic style bread, kebabs, hummus, rice, lentil and more; we were two very content, very full travellers. Even better whilst we ate we were entertained with authentic belly dancing. To finish off our experience at the camp we went over to the hookah lounge and enjoyed some grape flavoured shisha. Like I said we were two happy campers if you will.
We left the camp around 9:15, were dropped back off at the Kempinski Hotel, where we caught the same bus we have previously taken there back (we thought) towards the station. After about 15 minutes on the bus the driver told us we were at the last stop, so we got out. We quickly realized that we were not anywhere near the bus station, nor did we have any idea of where we were! Not panicking we did the only thing we could do, grabbed a cab. We found out that at precisely 11 o’clock the buses, regardless of where in their route they are, stop and kick everyone out. The bus driver’s route had actually taken us in the opposite direction of the station, so the taxi fare ended up being 50 AED. As we had already paid the fee for the bus we were to say the least a little annoyed. (Luke, “The next act of Arabic disrespect will end in violence.”) Finally at the bus station some time around midnight, we caught the hourly bus to Abu Dhabi and tried to sleep as much as possible. About two o’clock in the morning, after a 20 hour day, we arrived at Abu Dhabi bus station caught a taxi who thankfully sped us to our hotel where we showered, quickly packed and SLEPT.
