Last night my dad, AT, and I all converged in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai is one of the seven emirates and has been a top destination for me for quite some time. It's a crazy modern city built in the middle of the desert and has gone to all extremes. The world's tallest building is here! The largest all-suite hotel with a helipad is here! There is a man-made island in the shape of a palm tree! The mall has a black diamond ski slope! I mean, come on!! I want to see that!!!
We arrived late in the evening and rendezvoused at the hotel for a good ol' cheeseburger with none of the Indian food worries. From the airport to the hotel AT and I marveled at the first-world-ness of it all. The litter was gone, cars drove in lanes without honking, and I've yet to see a cow or any of it's trappings.**
This morning we had a car trip planned to see four of the other emirates (and every one of them is a point!). We drove directly to the farthest emirate, Ras Al Khainah, and then worked our way back to Dubai from there. We drove through three emirates on the way which brings AT to a whopping 107 countries, me to 88, and Dad to 67. But who's counting?***
The views along the way ranged from barren desert
From there, we backtracked to another emirate, Umm Al Quwain. In it we had a seaside stop and some lunch. Lunch will be a difficult time this whole trip because we are here during the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a period of reflection, charity, and gratitude for Islamic people and they fast during the daylight hours. This means many places are closed and it's even considered impolite to eat or drink in public. Accordingly, we had fast food in the car. Shameful, I know, but a necessity. The McDonald's**** is not pictured, though I definitely should have!
We continued on back to Dubai with drives and quick stops in Ajman and Sharjah. Ajman was full of palatial private residences and official buildings while Sharjah was the big honking city (pictured toward the top) where all the people live. We also learned about the royal families and, thankfully, there was a billboard to illustrate.
*I know I've talked about this before but it was an entire blog location ago. AT is a current member of the Traveler's Century Club and my dad and I are hoping to make it as members one day! To join, you will have traveled to at least 100 countries on their pre-approved list, which is available here: http://travelerscenturyclub.org/countries-and-territories Go ahead. Count yours up!!
**"Trappings" is a very polite code for something else.
***WE ARE! And we're more than a little obsessed. Obviously.
****I know. Don't even start with me, I don't even eat there at home. If there had been a Wendy's...
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