So, it's Sunday here...we're leaving Dubai this evening. Our hosts are back to work today, but their daughter took us around. Things to do:
Ride the "light rail"
Try to get as close to the Burj Dubai as possible
Eat some more middle-eastern food
Shop for souvenirs
Pack
Visit the Gold Souk (market)
The metro rail was all above ground - pretty cool and very smooth. I guess that's what you get when you have money, unlike the crazy at-grade rail we have in S.Seattle. Their metro stations reminded me a lot of the ones we had in Hong Kong and Guangzhou...very nice. Also, you're not allowed to eat/drink on the train. If they catch you, you're fined like 2-300 AED (that's almost $100) - they're pretty serious about keeping this thing clean. I say, good for them.
We were able to walk up to the area around the Burj, but there's still some landscaping work to be done, so a lot of it was roped off. I think you need a decent amount of moola to even get close to it. Oh well, we got a couple good shots.
We also visited a couple places that are great for souvenir shopping...Karama Market and the Gold Souk. I wish we had more time there, but maybe it was good that we didn't...i can see myself spending a lot of time and possibly money. Karama Market reminded me a lot of Hong Kong with peddlers trying to sell stuff like purses, perfumes, watches, etc. The Gold Souk reminded me more of the night market in Thailand. There were different concentrations like: spices, gold, textiles,etc. and many of them are sold wholesale, so you had to buy in bulk. We just looked around, but maybe i'll be able to check out the textiles on our way back...the spices looked fabulous too.
Off to the airport...next entry will be from India
