Its been 4+ months since that fateful night I wrote my last post and we flew back home to resume life in the U.S. As Sarah is back in Asia for work and there is 4+ inches of snow outside, this seemed like as good of a time as any to try and warm up and test my memory of those last few weeks we spent travelling around Asia. It is fitting I left off in Dubai as that was hands down the hottest locale we visited during our 2 years. In fact, I don't even think there was a runner up. Its like Dubai won the hottest temperature award and all the other South-East Asian countries (not exactly known for their mild temperatures) were trying to come in third place. We were never happier for air conditioning and a never ending supply of bottled water.
An air conditioned car was waiting outside the hotel to whisk us off into the desert. We didn't know much about where we were going, only that it was akin to an oasis out in the sands. After an hour in the car, we were not disappointed as we pulled into a re-creation of an old Arabian fortress. Thick adobe/concrete walls, woven rugs, copper fixtures - fantastic attention to detail. After checking in, we explored the grounds while doing our best not to melt, it was easily hotter than 110 degrees. Luckily there were 3 pools, all of differing temperatures that were "chilled" between 85 and 90 degrees. Even at this temperature, the water felt good, you could sit in shade with some bubble jets hitting you or stare out into the vast desert, happy you were at the oasis and not out there, your mind playing tricks on you seeing mirages in the distance like some old Looney Toons Cartoon.
We only had two nights, but we planned on making the most of them. The first event involved checking another item off the bucket list - camel rides in the desert! The ride itself was relatively smooth, but the mount and dismount were another story. It turns out that camels are 1) really tall and 2) when they stand up sit down, you are suddenly at a near 90 degree angle, threatening to fall face first onto his neck and/or the sand. Good thing for my terrified grip of steel to hang on tight. The heat and 10 minute camel journey had left us hungry and parched so we retired to a tavern similar to Rick's Cafe in Casablanca to wait for the sun to set. Happy hour and a light dinner of hummus, tabouli, cheese and olives helped the time fly by and we headed back to the roof deck to watch the US play Germany in a World Cup soccer match. The host was nice enough to give us a front and center seat (we may have been the only American fans there). The US ultimately lost, but advanced to the next round, so we celebrated local style with an apple flavored hookah.
Day 2 was mostly about beating the heat in the pool again, but the hotel was offering desert safari rides that we couldn't pass up. Especially considering we had just spent time the prior week bouncing around the dusty trails of Sri Lanka looking for leopards and elephants. This open air jeep tour did not turn up as much wildlife, but more than expected and was a pretty crazy roller coaster ride to boot. At one point our jeep crested a large hill with a valley spread out below us. Not sure where we were going to go next, we were suddenly off roading, spinning and sliding our way down the sand, leaving what little evidence of civilization there was, far far behind us. We passed multiple herds of racing camels - each worth more than a Ferrari apparently - as well as deer, birds and a smattering of vegetation. We hopped out for a few photo ops, but the blowing sand felt like a million little pin pricks hitting your skin so we did not linger long. As the engine roared to life I was trying to determine which way we had come from and how we were even going to get back. Again, we slipped and slid our way up a hill and upon cresting it, suddenly there was asphalt ahead of us. Easy to see how you could get lost wandering in the wilderness.
It took about half an hour afterwards to remove the sand from my hair - it was like going to the beach x10. With the sun dipping below the horizon again, we settled in for another light dinner on top of the ramparts of our desert fortress. The city and the desert could not have been more different, but we were extremely happy with our 4 day trip to this tiny country. Tomorrow we would head back to Singapore to begin packing up for the move back to the States. The good news - one final trip before the 20 hour journey home - Australia for some more wildlife and wine tasting with a final stop in Bali to see just how much we could mellow out. More to come on that when I find the time again.
No comments:
Post a Comment