3 days in Dubai...

We landed in Dubai at 1am and got a bit lost on our way to the baggage belts in the huge, fancy airport. We queued for a bit through immigration where we admired the scary policemen in their nice white dresses and tea towel hats. I was being especially careful not to do anything illegal like hold Brian's hand or flash my boobs (not that I've ever done that in my life, but you never know when the urge might take you). Anyhow, we got through security without incident and took a cab to our hotel, the Auris Metro Central. The hotel was very nice by day but at 2am looked foreign and unfriendly but we were tired and emotional after our long day so had no trouble sleeping.

On our first morning in Dubai, we decided to start the holiday in a healthy fashion and pop to the gym for bit. I continued to be conscientious about dressing appropriately and so wore my proper gym gear, long leggings, etc. so I wasn't too exposed even though it was very hot. We shared the lift with an Arab man and I couldn't help feeling that he was giving me a strange eyeball so I started feeling a little self conscious and wondered if women were allowed in the gym. It wasn't until I got out of the lift that I realised I was holding my bra in my hand...no wonder the guy was looking a bit morto!

That afternoon, we took the metro to the Mall of Emirates and had a gawk at the Ski Dubai indoor slopes. The mall is ginormous and there are signs up warning tourists to dress conservatively and not to show overt public displays of affection so I remained cautiously on guard with my long sleeves (even tough it was baking outside) and stood a few feet away from Brian. Then we passed a gay couple holding hands and a few girls wearing hot pants so I relaxed a bit :) That is what is so odd about the place, they have all these rules yet they make ways for people to break them. For instance the speed limit is 120mph but they don't fine you unless you're over 140mph. Why say that the limit is 120? why not just say it's140? And alcohol is illegal but if you ask in the hotels, they can direct you to a secret rooftop bar where they serve $9 pints. It's illegal to hold hands if unmarried (or unmarriable) yet they turn a blind eye for tourists. Women have to wear those stupid cloaks but spend thousands every day on designer stuff in the shopping malls!

Anyway, after the mall, we went down to Dubai Marina which is really lovely. It's like Beverly Hills meets Gotham City. Tourists and Arabs sit outside cafes, eating or smoking hookah pipes. There are huge modern skyscrapers all around the marina. We went into the Marriott hotel and asked about the bar. It was on the 52nd floor and was jam packed with people who were milling into the cocktails. We had a few pricey mojitos surrounded by an amazing view of the Marina.

The next day was a holiday so the metro was late opening so we took a cab to the beach and the horrible driver fleeced us two green eejits charging us around 4 times the price - and we even gave him a tip haha! You'd think I'd be more clued in being a TDs daughter and everything, tut tut! The beach was lovely though, with great views of the marina behind it.

Later that day was the desert safari in the 4x4 where we drove up and down big sand dunes, met some sad camels and then had a BBQ in the desert with Arabian dancing and belly dancing. It was pretty cool. I got a stupid henna thing on my finger which looked like poo and still hasn't washed off 4 days later!

On our last day we went to see the Burj al Arab hotel and then went up the Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world). It was a super long day running around checking out all the sights but the hotel let us shower and change before catching a cab to the airport for our 2.45am flight to Sri Lanka.

As we said, it's hard to find a decent bar in Dubai so we were gasping for a beer by the time we got to the airport. Brian thought the bar was a mirage but was delighted to gulp down a few of the nicest pints of Heineken ever before we took off for Sri Lanka.

Overall, Dubai is a breathtaking city with amazing modern architecture and incredible design - they have crafted a lush, thriving city from barren desert landscape. The Arabs looked at everything good about America and said let's do that 10 times bigger and better. The only places to eat are American restaurants and it is very difficult to get a taste of any local culture. It is all about excess, materialism and money but it was definitely worth a few days stop-over. There's loads to see and do, the beaches are gorgeous, the shopping is great and everything is cheap except the gargle! A litre of petrol is as cheap as a litre of water - mental!

Anywho, on we go to Sri Lanka...