India Part V

Monday May 12th 2008

This will be my final entry of my trip to India and Dubai. We took an overnight plane to Dubai and arrived in the early morning, about 7am. We were picked up by the hotel van and taken to the hotel so we could check in. There was some confusion with the front desk and our rooms were not ready as requested so we went upstairs to the breakfast to wait. The hotel staff was not going to let us eat breakfast that morning but Steve convinced them that they should provide the food while we waited. We were supposed to go on a tour of the city after breakfast but again there was some confusion with the tour company and it was not ready. When we were finally allowed up to our rooms Gretchen and I passed out in our beds until 1 pm. We had to get up and get ready to go on a business visit to the Dubai International Finance Center. Since we stayed in bed all morning we had no time to procure lunch but our great friend N came to our rescue with a bag of French fires for us to eat while we were getting dressed. This part of the trip was the most disorganized of the entire adventure. However, traveling in such foreign countries I had to expect some problems.

We arrived in the business center and it was incredible.

There were tons of skyscrapers and so many buildings that were under construction. I had never seen anything like that before. I couldn’t imagine downtown Indianapolis having so much construction at once. We had a business meeting with two people, the first guy was a professor and he would be in a similar position as Ben Bernanke in the US. He gave us a slideshow of information on the UAE and several statics about their country. One interesting thing he said was that 90% of the Dubai population are immigrants. It made me think of the US 200-300 years ago and immigration was the foundation of our society and here is Dubai creating its own melting pot. They do have a long way to go in the area of social issues but it is a place to go if you need a job.

After our meeting we went on a city tour and it was customized to where we wanted to go and to the things we wanted to see. They took us to the Harley Davidson shop where a few people purchased gifts for their friends and family. We also stopped by The Hard Rock Café. They took us out on one of the Palm islands and which is still under construction. I had read so much about them prior to going on this trip it was one of the things that I defiantly wanted to see. There were several apartment buildings and hotels in the midst of construction as well as some finished buildings. The tree portion of the palm was the bridge to the island. We drove by all the rich people’s houses on the beach as well as the Sheiks family residence. As a side note there were billboards on the side of the road with pictures of the Sheik and of his sons. I just couldn’t imagine a billboard with a picture of Bush as I was driving on 69. The bus took us to a local beach were we could see the ocean and see the 7 star hotel shaped like a sail boat. The beach was beautiful and clean, I was disappointed that I was in my dress cloths because I would have liked to go farther into the water. Next, the bus stopped by a Muslim mosque and we could take photos. They had speakers outside playing Muslim music. That was different.

By this time of the day I was exhausted and starving. Kathy had arranged a special dinner for us and made it a surprise. There was a river cruise that had a buffet dinner and live music. We got there and it looked cool. One person from the group got nauseous and motion sick from the boat rocking so she decided to get off and go back to the hotel. About five minutes after she left N told me that he was feeling sick and he wanted to go back to the hotel. I was completely exhausted myself so I guess I was feeling a bit selfish, but I told him that if I had to stay then he did too. He did stay and was miserable the entire evening. I guess misery loves company. I did feel a bit guilty the next day.

Tuesday May 13th 2008

This was our free day in Dubai so we could do what ever we wanted. I felt that I needed to pack in as much as I could, so we had the whole day planned out. We got up early and walked to an area bakery for some lovely dessert for breakfast. I had a piece of cake and some type of pastry with a Diet Coke. I tasted heavenly. We met up with the other members of our group and headed over to the market shopping area to buy some souvenirs. I had great fun bargaining and trying to get a good deal. I bought several things here including a hookah pipe. This is a traditional eastern pipe used to smoke tobacco. I thought it would be a fun decoration for my living room.

There were five of us in the group and we decided to take a cab to the mall to try out the indoor ski resort. They have a local law that you can only have a total of 5 people in a cab (including the drive) and we had 5 people in our group. We had to bargain and convince the driver to break the law to let us all ride together. We had one person in the back lay over the other people’s laps so she couldn’t be seen from the street. They also had a law that the front passenger must wear a seatbelt. We arrived at the mall in time to take a 12:30 ski board class. It cost $40 for a one hour lesson and the rental of the clothing and board. We each got a coat, ski pants, and boots to wear. My ski pants didn’t fit and I was so embarrassed. I went into the dressing room to try them without my regular pants but they were still too tight. While I was in the dressing room I saw several Muslim women in burka's putting on their ski attire under their long dresses. I could hardly ski in regular clothing, I couldn’t imagine skiing in a cumbersome burka. After we were all dressed we took our class and it was hilarious. You had to try to walk with one foot clamped to the board and drag it along behind you. I assure you it was very awkward. The next step to our training was to hobble up the tiny hill five feet and try to ski down. The instructor would hold you up and let you get prepared and then she would let you go and you would try to slide down the five feet. I not at all graceful and I had a very quick fall onto my side and but. Then I had an incredible fit of laughter which made it all the harder to get back up. We did this a few more times and I was only able to stay up once, but I was so proud of myself. Our next obstacle was to get to the top of the mini hill and then snow board down. There was this conveyor belt that you stepped onto that took you to the top. Since I am so clumsy I decided to take off my board and just hold it while I stood on the conveyor belt. When we got to the top of the small hill we were to sit down in the snow and then she wanted you to stand up and go down the hill doing this weird hopping motion. I thought that this looked crazy and I decided that I didn’t want to get hurt in Dubai and I didn’t partake in this part of the adventure. I went to the bottom of the hill and took photos of my friends.

We got done at 1:30pm and we went to the food court for lunch. We were in a hurry because we had to get back to the hotel and get ready for our second adventure of the day at 3pm. We were not able to convince another cab driver to break the law so we had to take two cabs back to the hotel. I took the second shower of my day and got ready for the most exciting part of my trip. We went on a dessert safari. We had these big Jeeps pick ups up and they had three rows of seats and there were roll bars on the ceiling. Two minutes after we left the air conditioning in the jeep stopped working and it was only 110 degrees out. It took about 45 minutes to drive out to the dessert and it worked intermediately through out the ride. The driver took us to the city mansion of the Sheik and in the side yard there were several peacocks with their wonderful feathers fully extended. We had a 30 minute stop at this place you could rent quad bikes and drive them around the sand dunes. I decided to rent one and it was great fun. There weren’t any rules except to stay in this large fenced area and you could drive as fast and crazy as you wanted. If you went up a large hill you could find yourself on the edge of a steep drop to the desert at the bottom of the hill. The steep hills scared me so I tried to stay away from them. We got to drive around for about 20 minutes and I had a great time. I think that there was three of who rented the bikes. I don’t have a photo of this so if anyone has a photo me on the bike I would love a copy ;)

The next adventure was even better. We got back into the Jeeps and our driver took us out for some crazy off road adventure. We would climb to the top of the hill in the jeep and the take a sharp turn off the side of the hill and slide down. It was like we were a child’s tanka truck. He would drive real fast and then make sharp turns and the sand would fly everywhere. It was the ultimate guy’s adventure. I loved it the entire time. The first time we went down a hill I had to close my eyes I was so scared. But then I got used it and came to anticipate the adelrine. This was certainly a very unique experience. I don’t think that you could ever do something like that in the US with all of the laws and lawsuits.

Check out me on the Camel.
After the fabulous jeep ride they took us to this dessert camp where they had a BBQ buffet dinner for us. They had free henna tattoos and a show after dinner. I got a temporary tattoo on my leg and within two minutes I had it covered in sand. But it was fun. The tables were low to the ground and you sat on pillows on the sand to eat. After dinner they had a belly dancing show that also included a man doing tricks with a large multicolored cape. The cape dance was a bit cheesy. After this was all done we went back to the hotel and I had my third shower of the day. A few of my friends decided to go to the beach for a midnight swim but I really needed to sleep since I never sleep on the plane.

The next morning we had to leave the hotel at 6am to come home. After we checked in at the airport we all pigged out on McDonalds and Dairy Queen Blizzards for a decadent breakfast. The plane ride home was extremely long and uncomfortable. The people who sat next to and behind me were in great need of a bath and deodorant. I am so glad that I had this wonderful opportunity to travel to Asia and see go to these business meetings that I would never have the opportunity to due on my own.