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 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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Micheline - Coucou Britt,
Alors cette fois je les ai vus… et bruno ne peut pas les avoir ratés… Il y a plein de bijouteries dans ces shoping centers…. Montre lui !!!!!Bisous à vous deux.
ladepluzenplubellesoeur
Brittany - Justement je lui disais ce matin qu’il me doit DEUX bagues! Et alors, puisque je les veux pas, j’ai le droit d’acheter deux GROS cadeaux de mon choix, n’est-ce pas??? 🙂 Et les Ferrero Rochers que Bruno vient de m’acheter pour remplacer les branches ne comptent pas!
phil and angie - Hi you two.
Just been reading your dubai camping details.
superb.
a real pleasure to read. thankyou.
envious of your yoga regime, we miss ours, too darn cold n wet here at moment.
keep the details of that dubai > iran ferry, we’ll be needing that later this year i expect.
see you soon.
Phil.
🙂
Brittany - Thanks for the hello – we’re still looking forward to our Turkey meetup in a few months! You there yet? (cold? wet? really?). Hope you’ll still be in Turkey in May – The Arab Peninsula is holding our attention longer than we thought, and we don’t expect to take the boat until early April…
Let’s do yoga together soon!
BB
Armand Doucet - Brittany, you are doing a phenomenal job with your blog!!! Frommer’s should be hiring you soon!
Brittany - Can’t believe you had a moment in your busy life to stop by for a read – thanks for that! 🙂 I guess I’m now the Moncton area’s Dubai expert, so if you want more tips/advice for your upcoming trip, you know who to ask! Wish I could be there, but Oman is too wonderful to cut the visit short. Wish you had time to pop over for a few days!
My best to you and your lovely little family!
Brittany - Here you go dad – I added a photo of Ski Dubai into the blog. Regarding the lack of people at the beach, WE thought there were lots of them, but that’s because we’re used to the wild beaches of Canada and Africa, I guess. But we were in one of the more remote beaches, further away from central Dubai. Closer to the city the beaches were indeed packed! Lots of good women-watching for ya! 😉
rcs - I was looking forward to a pic of the ski hill. I was surprised to not see more people on the beach. Is there a reason for this?