18 Jan '07-00:37
A cheeky little stopover in Dubai
I was incredibly disorganised and mayhem ensued as I tried to get things sorted before I left - a special thankyou to Steve for coming around and getting the pedals off Edward when I couldn't! I was a little scared as I said goodbye to everyone, but once I walked through the gates that was whisked away and replaced by confidence. After the chemical test I am without fail subjected to, I boarded the plane and we headed off to Dubai. I sat next to Dave, a Melbourne Arhichitect currently living in London who beat me at the inflight trivia and watched a few movies and then hit the sleeping pills (drugs already...).
I stashed Edward in left luggage - the box was rattling more than I would have liked but I decided to let that go - and hopped the bus to the city where I checked into The Pacific Hotel, which seemed to be right in the middle of things. After a nap I wandered out onto the streets to check out Dubai. I'd ditched the map before I even left the hotel because I didn't know which direction it pointed in, most of the streets weren't on it and there was no scale anyway, and It only took me a little while to figure out which way the traffic goes (its opposite!). It was sort of lonely at first, just me, walking around with no one to talk to, but after a while I forgot to be lonely as I passed by The Manboob Restaurant, The Kwality Trading Company, found myself in the fish maket (which today was playing the role of a vegetable market), checked out the gold souk (more just a bunch of shops under cover which is filled with guys trying to offload handbags - I only realised I was actually at the souk when I overheard a Canadian on the phone) and discovered the spice market (which smells awesome and sells anything from frankenscence to myrh to breast enlarging soap). This morning I went on a boat ride up and down 'The Creek' on a boat.
Dubai isn't exactly what I expected, but its a really interesting place. For example, when I was having a juice this morning, a guy came up and told the juice man he would fine him because the footpath outside his shop was too messy... so he he had to come out with a broom and clean it up. There aren't many women on the streets, and everyone I talk to seem to have moved here from Pakistan, India or Ian etc... there don't seem to be any originals floating around!
Anyway this has gotton really long... so I'm off to the airport now, bound for Egypt!
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