Dubai - Salam Alaikum

And we are off...With backpacks stuffed full, The Saunders (3 of them at least) are heading to Europe!

Dubai Aquarium, Dubai Mall.

Dubai Creek, Dhow cruise.

Sheik Zayed Rd, Futures Museum building on the left side.

Dubai Frame, cleverly built so when looking from west to east you see all of the old town Dubai, whilst the east to west view frames the new modern Dubai city.

Hitting the Gold Souk $$$

The PINK shop, cake and desert shop.

One of the hundreds of spice shops within the, you guessed it, Spice Souk.

Bit of a worry, she found the hotel robe and fell straight into character.

Yummy gelato at the bottom of the Burj Khalifa building.

All aboard the Big Bus...great way to see a city's sites and main attractions if pushed for time.

Taking in the incense and rugs shops, such fun and a great experience.

Super models everywhere in Dubai!  Found this beauty poolside at our hotel.

The winding alleyways through the Dubai creek foreshore.  The old-style buildings are incredible, throwing cool shade and splashes of colour.

End of day at Atlantis, sitting in Poseidon's chair...we were shattered by this point.

Dubai only really comes alive once the sun has set...the crowds are something else, but we found a little slice of space for this picture.

Atlantis...take your booties (foot protection), the pathways will scald your feet otherwise.

Cheese Manokeesh...heavenly street food.

The sign says it.

Aboard the Dhow...loving the leisure wear outfit.

Market stall vendors will simply throw your hat away and start putting their garments on you...take it with some fun and enjoy.

Poolside fun...springtime in the UAE produces great weather.

Poppy is such a great traveller, no fuss, hooks in and seems to be thriving on the adventure...or the fact she is missing an entire term of schooling.

Wouldn't be the UAE without a photo with a camel...albeit this one was made of steel.

Winding our way through the market stalls.

The vibrant colours burst out at you everywhere.  Iranian spice stall.

Setting out on our 3-month adventure and trip of a lifetime, we've kicked things off in the UAE, Dubai.  It's been 12 years since we lived in the UAE and on landing both Fran and I were hit with a wave of nostalgia...the distinct Arabian smells of incense being burned at the airport customs desks, the taxi ride from the airport, the date palm lined streets, the speed of the cars flying past, the sheesha wafting from cafes we passed...and whilst I'm not sure if there is a distinct aroma for it, but the smell of money was everywhere too....well, almost everywhere, the subcontinent labour force was still prevalent, keeping the whole joint looking sparkling.

We stayed at the Heritage Boutique Hotel, located in Downtown Dubai.  It was a perfect location, a date's throw from the Burj Kalifa and surrounding entertainment district.

We may have lived here for more than 5-years, so you could say that we should have been immune to the spectacle of it; but one thing was clear, Dubai had not stopped growing and the number of new developments and record-breaking engineering marvels that Dubai is so well known for, has not slowed down either.  

It is May, early spring, but the temps are already getting hot here, we had perfect 34c sunny days which made picking the British tourists super easy...covered in coconut oil and sunning themselves like a basting turkey, they had a distinct volcanic-red glow that no amount of aloe-vera cream was going to fix anytime soon.

Poppy, Fran and I were keen to hit the streets and explore Dubai (this is Poppy's first time in the UAE), so we were keen for her to see some of our favourite locations such as the Gold Souks and Spice Souks, as well as take in the new parts of Dubai.  We took the Big Bus tour to access everything and more, loving the jump on, jump off concept at your own whim (highly recommend this to anyone travelling here).

Not wanting to overstate it too much, but the high-rise architecture in Dubai is simply incredible.  There's definitely a few, "why did they do that" moments, but overwhelmingly we were lifting our jaws back into place at the size and structure of the continually emerging city.  Our two favourite structures were the Futures Museum and the Dubai Frame.  The concept behind both is very clever and place a nod to Dubai's past, present and future.  Whilst the UAE is only a very young country by federation standards, their recognition of their own history is to be admired.

We finally hit the Old Souk, where once again those indescribable aromas coming flooding back.  For both Fran and I, this is our favourite place to visit.  The hustle and bustle, the colours, the people (did I mention these places get super crowded) but there is such a great vibe, including the bartering with the local vendors. Poppy was a little overwhelmed on her first experience, with one of the Afghani vendors trying to adorn her in head scarfs and garments; I think the whole 'in-your-face' exposure caught her a bit off guard at first.

But just went things could possibly have gone off rails, we discovered it...the wholly grail of Arabian street food and the two dishes that our 4 boys back home had pined for and were most jealous they would miss... the Cheese Manokeesh and the Chicken Shawarma.  Yes boys, it was as good as we all remembered and Poppy who only moments before was feeling a bit upset, completely turned that frown upside down with her first bite...she was sold and now felt like she could relate to the boy's passion for these foods. With our bellies full and Poppy now feeling confident on how to politely dismiss the shop keeper salesmen, we hit the Spice Souk and Gold Souk, and that is when I started to worry.  Fran's never really been much of a shopper, Poppy on the other hand seems to have her Nanny's genes and couldn't believe her eyes at the extravagant gold adornments and jewelleries on display...I must admit to feeling nervous, but ultimately Poppy's savings from her 'return & earn' back home in Australia was never going to get her into the gold price market. 

We took a ride along the Dubai creek in an old Dhow boat, walk for miles along the foreshore, and dined out at night watching the spectacular Dubai Fountain light and water feature show, located at the base of the 820m high Burj Khalifa building.

Atlantis Aquaventure park consumed one of our days, exhausting us all with the endless rides, shark tanks and action-packed fun.  Trying to avoid using taxis for everything (they've become expensive too), we hitched a ride back on the Dubai Metro, which was pretty cheap and super-efficient.  Although, the last ride was taken during peak hour, and we became one of the thousands of people being jammed into the carriages by the attendants...Fran and Poppy probably should have used the 'females only' carriages and would have scored a seat, instead they joined me and found themselves squashed in for the 30min ride back to our station.

Only three days in and we were feeling absolutely shattered.  We spent our last day in Dubai lazing pool side back at the hotel before flying out to London later that afternoon. 

Mah Salama Dubai, we had a blast!