Dubai, United Arab Emirates (days 21 & 22)

 It's gonna be a long one today :D

Day 21 - January 27, 2023

Today was a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of part of the city. As I mentioned in one of the Istanbul posts, it is a great way to get a quick overview of where things are, and what places you might want to check out for a longer stretch of time. It was a bit rainy today so places were a little less crowded, right up my alley :) Always find it entertaining when people scramble for cover as soon as they feel one or two raindrops. Maybe rain is something I am used to from growing up in the Pacific Northwest, but most of what fell today hardly classified as rain :D I won't spend too much time today describing every place I went, I will let the pictures I took tell the thousand words.

Inside this oval shaped ring structure is the Museum of the Future.

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This is as close as you are allowed to get to the palace. This is where the royal family of Dubai lives.

The Burj Kahlifa can be seen from many locations around the city.

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Just in front of Za'abeel Palace is this roadway. In the distance here you can see Sofitel Dubai the Obelisk, which is in an Egyptian themed area of Dubai.

At the right side of this photo is the Dubai Frame.

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My favorite area today was an old souk (market) district. It sits along the bank of the Dubai Creek. The majority of the shops were closed because it was Friday, the Islamic day of worship. That coupled with the light rain made for a nice quiet area to take pictures. Stopped for lunch at an Egyptian restaurant and had a chicken meat pie (Egyptian goulash). It is kind of like pizza, but with a very thin crust on top as well. Best thing was the fresh squeezed mango juice I had.

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Sofitel Dubai the Obelisk (on the right)

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Dubai Frame

Oh fer sure bud! A bit of Timmies eh?

A few observations from my time here so far: There is so much to see in this city and lots of great photo spots. The locals are very friendly to travelers. English is spoken well by the vast majority of people I have run into so far which has been nice. Traffic seems to flow really well here, maybe because it is not peak tourist season. When it does rain though, there is lots of standing water on the roads due to poor drainage. Guess it probably doesn't rain a whole lot here in the desert. The city is quite green due to the use of recycled seawater. The downtown area of Dubai is kept very clean and the plants and gardens are well taken care of.

Day 22 - January 28, 2023

Started the day nice and early for the 5:30am opening of the Burj Kahlifa (world's tallest building) observation decks at floors 124 and 125. Traveled through the Dubai Mall, lower ground level, to get to the tourist entry location. The elevator ride up took only 60 seconds. By the time I reached the 124th floor, (there are 163 floors) it was round 6:30am. Sunrise was at 7:03am. It was quite a spectacular view from way up there. People crammed together against the glass, trying to get a good view of the sunrise. The observation platform on the 124th floor is open to the air above. A nice wind was swirling around up there which had helped clear last nights clouds away. 

After taking in the views for a few hours, I made my way back down the elevator and grabbed some breakfast at one of the cafes. The mall was now starting to slowly open up for the day, walking though at the beginning of the day was nice and quiet. Only the security and janitors were working when I first arrived today.

Had to stop here once they opened.

Outside the mall is a man made lake with lots of vibrant colors and different architecture around. 

Walked back through the mall to the aquarium which is also a small zoo with reptiles and some nocturnal animals. All sorts of interesting fish and animals to see here.

Went back to the hotel to recharge my camera batteries and my own battery for a couple hours around 12pm. Went for a walk towards the Museum of the Future for a few more hours before stopping for dinner. 

It has been a busy day today. So much to see and experience in this city, it has been a really great time so far. That's all for today, goodnight!