Sky high

Stunning Dubai from the sky...

Camels, camels, camels...

Because of the desert heat, the camel racing circuit runs either very early in the morning or late in the afternoon.  Concerned about the heat still being too intense in the late afternoon, we decided to head to the races early morning.

With little race information available either via the internet or numerous phone calls, we decided to arrive at 7am, halfway between the potential 6:30am and 7:30am start times that had been tossed around.

After almost an hour of driving, we were nervous to walk into the racing stadium to find ourselves the only ones there! Luckily, after a few minutes of watching some camels training on the track, our fantastic driver, Bilal, came running to tell us that he had spoken with some of the camel trainers and had been informed that the races were not actually taking place at the race track that day but along a random road just one street over.  We jumped excitedly into the car and headed over to watch, strangely finding ourselves in a hoard of charging cars rushing down the street honking at their camels.

The honking drivers are actually trying to direct  the remote control "racer" robots perched on the camels' backs.  These robots had replaced child riders a number of years ago but required the remote control operator to be within a certain distance in order to give instructions to the camel.

When we got our of the car, we realized we were still the only tourists and thus gained the attention of the numerous camel trainers and owners who thought we were a hilarious group.  They happily answered all of our questions and even took us into the paddock to see some of the camels up close.

There were about 20 races with 50 camels per race so it felt like there were camels roaming everywhere. Nonetheless, the whole event was remarkably well organized and camels moved quickly from training grounds to the race track and off along the race course with a very short turnaround time.

Camels are adorable when they run.  Unlike horses, camels actually run with the front and back leg on the same side moving at the same time.  This can make for quite an awkward looking run even though they manage to get up to speeds of 40km per hour.  By the end of the race, if they managed not to get distracted and simply stop or turn around and run the wrong way, they have clearly exhausted themselves as they move around slowly with masses of saliva flying out of their panting mouths.

The winning camels here only receive 750 AED but the real prize comes if the owner can sell his camel to the wealthy buyers who are watching as they too race alongside the track in their cars.

Although we got off to a somewhat slow start, the camel races were definitely a winning highlight of Fred and El's visit!

Dubai - The Culinary Tour?

We were thrilled when Beth's parents stopped by for a visit after their trip to Turkey.

Although they were here for just under a week, we had an aggressive schedule of touring in store for them and managed to cover many of Dubai's highlights.  

Our first stop on the trip was the Burj Al Arab - the world's first seven star hotel - for afternoon tea and a good catch up.  We lounged for much of the afternoon, eating far too many sweet treats and sipping on champagne and sparkling date juice.

This definitely kicked off an aggressive eating schedule as we hit many of Dubai's hotspots to taste what they had in store.  These included:

• Riding the Mina A' Salam's hotel gondola along its man-made waterways to get to Zheng He's Chinese restaurant
• Venturing onto the man-made Palm island for seafood at the Sofitel's Moana restaurant
• Savouring a five-course dinner in the desert at the Al Maha hotel
• Enjoying an evening of dancing fountains and Italian fare at the Armani Hotel 
• Savouring a regal lunch at a former palace turned Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi

At each of these places, we marveled not only at the incredible food but also the way they could blend it with such spectacular architectural backdrops.

Although Dubai city may not have the long history of some of the other great cities of the world, it certainly can offer visitors some truly divine and memorable eating experiences.

Still hot in Hatta...

Having settled comfortably back into life in Dubai, we decided to take another step towards full integration by driving the Dubai highways rather than relying on taxis to navigate the wild and speedy traffic.

Securing a great deal through our finally operational local credit card, we picked up our Budget rental car and headed through the city en route to Hatta, an inland enclave located on the eastern side of Dubai territory.  Situated in the Hajar mountains, Hatta is a little bit cooler that downtown Dubai and thus is a popular summer getaway for the locals looking to escape the intense summer heat.

Thanks to Geoff's excellent road skills, we enjoyed an easy drive across the territory and arrived in just under two hours.  Unfortunately, our arrival at the Hatta Fort Hotel - the nicest AND the only hotel in Hatta - was not quite as smooth.  Although we had a hotel confirmation about our booking, they had somehow forgotten to enter it into the system and at the same time overbooked for that evening.  This left us in a bit of a predicament, especially after their initial offer was to put us up in a hotel "right down the street" which actually turned out to be steps away from our apartment in downtown Dubai!  Unwilling to accept anything less than the room we had paid for, we eventually managed to find a solution and settled into our lovely lodgings.

Unlike most of the guests who opted to laze around the pool and enjoy the relaxing surroundings and slightly cooler temperatures, we had a busy 24 hours.  We  started with a visit to the Hatta dam, then checked out the historic fort (and another fort, which actually turned out not to be a fort but rather the enormous private home of a local), toured through the town and then made several turns around the pesky roundabout in front of our hotel before heading in for dinner.

After watching the hotel concierge quietly laugh at us for thinking we could make it out to the Hatta Pools the next morning in our tiny Chevrolet Spark, we opted to hire a guide with a four-wheel drive vehicle to take us to Oman to swim in the Pools.  This proved to be a good move, not only because we would surely never have made it through the rough and rocky terrain in our compact car but also because our guide was a 28-year touring veteran and a superb host.  He was knowledgeable not only about the pools and its role in supplying water to the surrounding areas but about all parts of the Emirate culture.

As we approached the Oman checkpoint, the customs officer checked our passports and allowed us through because we looked "European" and thus he felt confident we would not litter.  The officers had made the unusual decision to start limiting access to Europeans (aka. the people they felt were "least likely to littler") earlier that week after some spirited Eid celebrations left far too much garbage at this wonderful tourist site.

We arrived at the Pools to find some celebratory leftovers and some unfortunate graffiti sprayed on the rocks.  Nonetheless, we plunged in the gorgeously warm waters and were not disappointed.  Being the first ones to arrive at the pools that day, the surroundings were calm and quiet and we swam in an almost hushed tone so as not to disturb the majestic surround or incredible sounds of rushing water making its way through the crevices and over the rocks.

After an easy trip back to Dubai and a car returned to the dealer before the deadline and without any "driving fines", we were thrilled about our first Dubai road trip and couldn't wait to start planning the next one.

Home sweet home!

After a whirlwind summer of travelling, we are very happy to be back in Dubai.  The weather is still incredibly intense (high 30s and humid) but it has been lovely to reconnect with friends...and also meet some new ones!

In her time back, Beth has also learned about the "ladies night" culture here where they spoil women with free glasses of champagne and sushi.  Even at the Ritz.  What a sweet and unexpected "welcome home" treat!

Drying out in the sun...

After multiple days of wine tasting and comparing more bottles of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay than we ever thought possible, we decided to dry out one day poolside at the Francis Ford Coppola winery.

Oddly, this winery is known more favourably for its beautiful grounds and vistas than for its wine.

Having hired a "cabine", we spent our afternoon swimming and reading at the serene and picturesque estate...and of course playing a few more rounds of euchre until the staff actually closed up shop and sent us home.

The Newlyweds!

It was a treat to meet up with newlyweds, Laura and Scott, while they were honeymooning in California.  With a fairly opposite travel schedule and a strong reluctance to bother them too much on their honeymoon, we were thrilled that they were able to find some time to meet us at the Mondavi winery, the winery Beth was most excited about visiting on the trip.

The exterior of the winery looks just like it does on the Mondavi wine bottle and its surrounding grounds are immense.  We were surprised to learn, however, that Mondavi actually makes several other brands of wine on their properties as well, including the Woodbridge brand which sells 10 million cases of wine per year!

Our tour guide was a wine (and life!) enthusiast and passionately led all the "Ladies and Gentlemen" through the wine making process, telling us happy stories of wine and the Mondavi family as we wandered the estate grounds.   The look of happiness he exerted as he smelled the cork of a newly opened bottle of wine was so gleeful it was almost unsettling.  He clearly loved his job.

Although the guide was very committed and knowledgeable, Beth and Laura truthfully didn't take in too much, preferring instead to chat and catch up about recent happenings.  A delightful catch up over a delectable glass of Mondavi wine is hard to beat.