Category Archives: Asia Most tourists in Dubai visit the world’s tallest tower, only seven-star hotel, and glittering malls (complete with ski hills and aquariums!). Instead, I have been doing yoga, getting bikini waxes, interviewing for jobs, and talking to more people in a few short weeks than I have in my entire almost-three years of camper van living! Is it strange that I kind of like Dubai?  I left Bruno and the Arabian Peninsula behind and took advantage of cheap Dubai flights to jet-set to Singapore. Despite seeing and eating my way through much of the country, this wasn’t a touristic trip, but a chance to spend a week with my long-lost best friend, Alex. A fantastic, rejuvenating and inspiring week it was – thanks Alex!  The United Arab Emirates is the country of Superlatives – world’s largest tower, largest mall, best mountain road, only seven star hotel, only artificial islands shaped into palms and the planet… And yet, between the surface of modernity is a country that still holds a few surprising cultural traditions for those willing to look.  I’ve only ever overlanded in Africa, a continent full of campsites. In the United Arab Emirates, where there are no campsites to speak of, I’m having overlander-adjustment issues. Sleeping in petrol stations, showering with bum-guns over mosque squat toilets, and using the toilet, ummm, whenever and wherever we can is going to take some getting used to.  It’s impossible to visit Saudi Arabia as a tourist, so our three-day transit visa would have to suffice. A country suffused with mystery and forbidden exoticism, I was looking forward to the glimpse I would get into Saudi Arabian life. The journey., however, was filled with unexpected challenges that left us racing for the U.A.E. border. |
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