Dubai, U.A.E.
This was the second time I have visited Dubai. Dubai is a big city filled mostly with foreign expatriate workers. It's an alright place with lots for foreigners like me to do there. I would describe Dubai as being much more busy and crowded compared to the last time I was here. There was definitely a lot of new construction going on.
I would call Dubai a "regional tourist destination". It doesn't make much sense to travel all the way from Europe or the USA to visit, but if you happen to be working in Saudi Arabia, it would make for a nice weekend holiday.
I'm not sure if the fishing dhow is a good design or not, but it is the only design for a boat that you will see over here. They are also used for transporting cargo. It's sort of funny to see dozens of crappy wooden boats tied up in a modern city.
More of the same... this time in front of a mosque and the Spice Souk (I think).
... more, but also a good example of the type of traffic that I saw on the river.
... more.
My good friend Jennifer attempts to purchase freshly squeezed orange juice at the market. They literally yelled the price at her despite her close proximity, perhaps because they thought she was deaf. She claims the juice was delicious, and the yelling heightened the experience.
The Gold Souk (souk = market) is where everyone goes to buy jewelry for their wives and girlfriends, or in some cases... both.
I can not exaggerate the gaudy excessiveness of this place. There are dozens of these small shops which sell 18-22 kt gold by the weight of the piece. They also do custom work, and some of the guys had rings made within two days.
Some of the jewelry seemed almost costume in nature, and perhaps were used in wedding ceremonies, and such. You don't see people walking around wearing this stuff.
The Spice Souk was interesting enough. They shops all had sack of spices out front, and the "fumes" almost made my eyes water.
I went to the museum.. again. It is built out of an old fort downtown, but most of the museum actually lies underground.
This is an example of a wind tower. This was a method to ventilate and cool buildings back before people knew they had electricity.
I happened across this by chance - an ice rink in a shopping mall. It wasn't very big, and was clearly added as an afterthought. There is actually amateur hockey teams in Dubai, and presumably they play on full sized rinks. There is also an indoor ski hill, but I wasn't motivated enough to try it.
