Day 39 : Midnight At The Oasis (2/08/09)

Our final day was spent living the high life in Dubai. After a long and somewhat intimidating wait to get through customs we were taken to our hotel in the early hours of the morning and slept well into the morning. After breakfast we ventured outside into a city blurred by a huge dust storm that made everything hazy. Our first adventure was a visit to the gold souk. The quantity and variety of gold and diamonds was incredible, as was the heat. The only escape from the heat was in the stores, so we had to buy our share of goods. Our first experience of haggling went well as far as we can tell; might have to wait for the valuations back in Australia to be sure!

We then left the gold souk and it's street merchants (offering genuine, fake Rolex if you like to go the side alleys) and headed to one of the huge shopping centres. Again, it was an overwhelmimg experience, with a large indoor ice rink, a three storey aquarium and thousands of stores.
The late afternoon and evening were spent on a desert adventure. Four wheel drive vehicles take tourists into the desert and over endless sand dunes before arriving at a bedouin "camp". For those who survived the four wheel driving with their stomach contents unchurned there was the option of camel rides. We declined and went in for a welcome drink and a very tasty meal. Following the meal, there was belly dancing entertainment, with Carmel's efforts providing some amusement for the professional belly dancer.

Our time in Dubai, and our holiday were then nearing the end, with the long flight home the final stage in a truly memorable experience.