Day 2 - Dubai City Tour

After getting a good night sleep to shake off some of the jetlag, we had a quick breakast at the hotel and then headed off on our scheduled city tour of Dubai. Actually, the hotel breakfast deserves a special mention - the food was so good, I think I could have just stayed in the restaurant for the rest of the day. But, we were all interested in doing some exploring so we prepared or another day in the heat and waited or our pickup. Things got a little uncertain when the tour guide didn't turn up on time and we thought that a last minute plan-B might be needed. But, the bus eventually turned up and off we went.... The pace of development in Dubai really is extrordinary - the Palm islands (the man-made set of islands that houses over thirty hotels) took only six years to build. There's actually been a runway built over the top of the water just for planes to take skydivers up. Talk about extravagant! And, of course there's the famous Burj Al Ararb - the most prestigous hotel in the world with a suite that costs a mere $24,000 a night. We were thinking we might try it out the next time we're here, but apparently the hotel makes more money from tours of the room than from anyone actually staying in it. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to slum it. Then it was off to a whirlwind tour of "Old" Dubai - which is still actually only about 60 years old. We whipped through part of the spice and gold souks (markets) and even succumbed to being dressed in traditional headwear. Just a bit of fun, although Barb did buy a wrap, I wasn't convinced it was the look for me. After being in the full 42 degree heat at the souks, it was bliss to wait in the air-conditioned bus stop for our ride to return. We headed back to the hotel where we once again had the pool bar to ourselves. Then dinner at the hotel and an early night - off to Venice tomorrow.

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