Dubai and the magical waterslides and malls and sheesha and stuff

Eliot here: been scarce on my entries lately as my means of entry ain't been cooperatin', so here's a whole truckload of thoughts and such:

Dubai is amazing and huge and crazy and wild, etc. This you know.

What you don't know:

We're staying with my parents, who currently live in Dubai. Living with the folks has been really great (thanks again, M&D) - Drew and I get up pretty early here, like around 5:30-6am (when you listen out the window to hear the mosques pouring out the first call to prayer of the day), make tea and figure out what the day is going to be like. Been truly nice to have a peaceful, quiet, homey place to get over jet lag and adjust to opposite-world time zone. I hit the bed every night and immediately sack-the-funk-out. I'll often wake up a few times during the night to hear the screeching of tires on a Range Rover or Prado, or sometimes I'll wake from a "vivid" dream to look out at the city sleeping and hear just the buzzing of electric lamps and insects. Then when the mist dissipates and the cars start moving and the Indian guys bicycle by and the city comes alive, so then do you. It's pretty great, actually: I look forward to sleeping and waking up as a means of finding peace amid the fracas that the day supplies.

The Fracas: we've been visiting the various amazing sights that the city has to offer, from the tallest building in the world to simpler historical bits like the Dubai museum. Amid the forceful slap-in-the-face of amazement and wonder the city has to offer, I've been finding that simple things tend to stick with me just as much, if not more so, than the greater things. EXAMPLE: We popped over to the neighborhood sheesha (hookah) joint the other night and sat out on the sidewalk, had mint tea and puffed like a caterpillar. We people-watched as many Emirati youths piled in via their Range Rovers and grouped around us at tables to smoke sheesha and hang out. One large group of kids looked about 19 or so, and though they were all speaking Arabic, I could tell I had had that same conversation with my friends when I was 19, too. It was funny and true: despite the tall buildings, enormous malls, sprawling civilization and 190 different nationalities, I still felt an immediate sense of similarity and camaraderie with the offspring of this ancient culture. Pretty cool - thanks, travel!

Jet lag sucks. I sleep at weird times of the day, feel like a total sloth and then get bursts of energy out of nowhere. But you know what helps jet lag? WATER SLIDES!!! Wild Wadi, i.e. Arabian Schlitterbahn, was a total kick today. Good for the body and the soul. We're getting this overdose of luxury and endless personal service right as we're about to hop 3 hours over and find ourselves sleeping in a tent on the side of the road in India. Whiplash, but it has been a pleasure, and will no doubt crank the juice on our perspective-o-meter for this trip. For now, we're enjoying it. It's an interesting time to be alive, and Dubai is an interesting place to be alive.

We got tomorrow left here, then Thursday we ship out to Mumbai for the start to India. I'm truly excited to get started and get acclimated - I remarked to Drew today that I am already dreading the return at the end of the trip, as my travel "drug" will be no more. Interesting.

Tomorrow, we'll pop inland to the glorious desert and visit Al Ain and the highest peak in the Emirates, Jebel Hafeet. The view is supposed to be gorgeous and the drive dramatic. And if all else fails, we can hang out with some camels. They're known to wander around near the highways out in the open sections of the emirates. My dad's office used to have a heard that hung around, but the recent construction activity has booted them off to more remote pastures. Bummer.

I could like here, I think - for a year, maybe. It's like Las Vegas, and in such can be truly tiring and exhaustive. But, not to be descounted, the place is doing it's darndest to set a name for itself, and for cultural overload and exposure, one can't really find a better value. But what do I know? It could all be a mirage, sprouted up a few years ago and gone as quickly. Whatever the case, it's pretty cool to be here now. Yep.

Burj Khalifi

Today I stood at the foot of the tallest building in the world. Moreover, I stood at the the foot of the tallest man made structure ever built - the burj khalifi. It has 160 stories, 57 elevators, 2700+ ft tall and weighs 500,000 tons - empty.

Next door is the burj mall which, like the tower itself is sort of difficult to quantify. Aquariums, four levels, a waterfall installation, a star dome, it's own gold souk ...

... I'll let the pictures speak fir themselves. Frankly, my head is swimming and I'm far too overwhelmed to try and sum this place up. I'll post a word-only blog about my impressions once I get over the neon-advert-bombardment-nausea.












































Found burritos in the food court!!!

























Sums up the burj mall in a single image, all of Dubai perhaps: the very oldest next to the most contemporary. Is it good? Healthy? Progressive? Destructive? Food for thought ...

Location:Dubai,United Arab Emirates

A full day's touring

Today we rose early and worked out at the gym here at the apartment. A ten hour time difference is really bearing down on us at this point but a good half hour working out feels good. Afterwards we have some breakfast around the kitchen and head out for a walk. We grab coffee (there are starbucks and caribou around) use the Internet and head back in time to meet the parents, get in the car and make our 10 o'clock at the mosque.



We pay a modest fee and gain access to the mosque where two women in floor-length black gowns go over the tennants of Islam. I'm struck by the contrast of the place: compared to the white heat outside, the place is cool and comfortable. We sink onto the carpet as our guide talks. I tune her out and remark the intricate calligraphy circling the inside of the dome. More contrast: plain walls dotted with elaborate windows surrounded by complex carvings and paintings. There is a ferocity in the Islamic aesthetic. The patterns take on the shapes of thorny bushes or flames. But there's also so much practicality built in to the mosque: like the small low windows to let the cool air in and the high windows around the dome to let the hot air out.











We rise and I take a family's picture for them. They're Americans I discover. Moreover, they're Texans! We chat for a while and me and the father wax Islam. He's an opthomologist that travels the world helping to raise money for and awareness of the need for medicine in developing areas. He's on vacation here but headed to Egypt. He indulges a couple of gringos intent on biking India and is one of the few who we've told that seems niether unimpressed or shocked. He instead comes across as ... sympathetic?



From the mosque, we grab a quick bite at a restaurant nearby. The place is imaculate and serves a version of local quisine that is clearly adjusted to the western palate. It's good, very good in fact, but the atmosphere and the Aussies & Brita chatting loudly around us hasten my leaving. We're off again shortly - this time to the Dubai Museum.




The place is a pretty typical museum complete with dioramas, video and explanatory plackards. What's interesting about the place is 1) it's built in one of the old forts that used to protect the bay and 2) it's focused entirely on the history of Dubai. The people, traditions, flora, and personal history of the place is laid out. It's amazing to chart the city's growth even over the last fifty years. I won't try to do it justice here, but the city went from tens of thousands to millions in under fifty years. The changes have, accordingly, been extraordinary.



We hop a boat over to the other side of the creek with the intent of seeing one of the souks (markets). It was closed so we grabbed a mango smoothie and headed back. After a quick nap (that sun'll kill you) and a tea, we're heading out for dinner, shopping and a hookah.

Sci-fi o-Rama

Emirate air is amazing. Just hands down the classiest flying experience i've ever had. From the helpful stewardesses to the immaculate bathroom with complimentary scented oils and lotions, to the kind Pakistani dude seated next to us, everything was just tops. Highly recommended fir your travel experience.






Stars on the cielings at night time







Second glass of wine and some Iron John







Eliot watching movies

Dubai's airport was cyclopean. Like Kazad-Dum sized. Just unbelievable. Planning ahead at Houston paid off and extensive weighings of the gear and measurements of the bike boxes meant that everything came through perfectly fine on the other side. I'm happy to report both boxes and all gear is present and accounted for!






































Landed in Dubai about 6:50. It's now ten till midnight, and it's hard to say where the time went. After eliot's parents picked us up, we went back to their place and cleaned up before having dinner. Now we're back at the apartment bedding down, less than 24 hours from when we arrived at the airport. This place is built on a scale that's hard to understand. Oppulance, commodity and crass consumerism already seems so rampant that more than once tonight i had to take a break while walking around festival city. Everything here, as Eliot wisely put it, is built like the stuff they CG in most movies. The whole time you feel like your an extra in some grand sci-fi epic that's being filmed just over there a bit.

Location:13 B St,Dubai,United Arab Emirates