Sitting in the Sun

Here's a great spot along the Creek to have a drink and whtch all the water traffic go by. It's right at the top, so all the boats etc have to turn round there and go back down to the other end where the sea is.

Eat Like an Egyptian

Here's another view of Wafi City shopping mall. You can tell the scale of the figures by the people standing close to them. Incidently there was a big dinner going on in the restaurant, and the waiters were parking the guests' cars.

Sleepyhead

what's better than having a lie-in on a Sunday morning? Hopefully finding a very comfortable and relaxing bed. Here's Dubai's branch of a top bedding store.

Flying Horses

This tiled mural of Arabian stallions in full gallop can be seen at Dubai's international airport. You aren't supposed to take photos inside the airport, but I couldn't resist taking a snap or two, which is the reason why the photo isn't the best I've ever taken.

Meter in the Heat

Up till around 2 years ago parking in Dubai was free, but now parking meters have sprung up all over the place. I have never driven in Dubai, as it is far too scary. I think tailgating is one of the rules of the road. I have not seen any traffic wardens or indeed parking tickets on our visits. So maybe they are not taken too seriously.

Plain Sailing

Here's a shot of Jumeriah Beach close to the Hilton Hotel. I liked the look of this small boat with its colourful sails. In the background you can see the usual cranes which seem to be a standard feature of the Dubai skyline these days.

Past Times

This model of a wind tower is at the entrance to Sheikh Saeed's house. Although it's not some much a house in the normal sense of the word, but more of a scaled down version of a castle. Most of the rooms show photograps of Dubai as it changed over the years from a small fishing village, to the metropolis we all know today.

Licenced to Thrill

The title is a bit of an exageration for today's photograph, a Dubai car registration plate in Arabic. The first 5 characters of the licence plate read 683HH. I'm not sure what the last character is, althought is really the first, as Arabic script is read right to left.

Night Tower

Here is one of the Emirates towers taken at night, without a tripod. I'm not sure whether this is the office block or the hotel. But they are a prominent feature of the Dubai skyline.

On the Buses

Here's one of Dubai's more unusual forms of transport. It's called the Wonderbus, and it picks people up outside the Burjuman shopping centre, drives off towards the creek, then hits the water and gives passengers a different view of the city. The vehicle itself is commonly known as a DUKW, or Duck.

Sign of the Times

I think it's always interesting to see what another countries' road signs look like. Here for your information and pleasure is Dubai's.

Taxi!

Here's one of the abra, or water taxi stations, that are dotted up and down the creek. It's a very cheap and enjoyable way of crossing the water, plus you get to see parts of Dubai from a different angle.

Money Makes the World Go Round..

It certainly does in Dubai, where it can be seen everywhere, cars, yachts, designer shops. Obviously it has to come from somewhere, and where better than you local branch of the Emirates Bank?

Which Is my Room?

This is a shot of the Hilton Hotel on Jumeirah Beach. We didn't stay there, but visited for a day. I was interested in the symetry of the windows, balconies and that each one has a patio set on it.

Pole Position

Here's some real Formula 1 cars on display at Wafi City. For some reason they remind me of scale models on a display stand.

Petrol Heads

Whilst in Wafi City, I came across an exhibition of Formula 1, drag and other racing cars. This shot shows some of the vehicles used by a local racing school, where people can pay to pretend to be a Schumaker, Coulthard or Button.

Having a Pharaoh Time

No, this isn't the inside of one of the pyramids in Egypt, but a shopping mall in Dubai called Wafi City. The whole centre is decorated with hyroglyphics, statues of mummies and outside are a couple of large statues of some ancient kings. The shops in the mall are a lot different to City Centre shown yesterday, as they are nearly all designer clothing names.

Song of Life

The summer surprises' festival consisted of a different theme every week. When Gail & I were there, the theme was about the heritage of Dubai & it's people. This show was at the City Centre shopping mall & aimed to demonstrate the music & dance of the Bedouin tribes that lived out in the desert.

Summer of Fun

This is Modhesh, the character logo of the Dubai Summer Surprises. The DSS is a 10 week shopping celebration in Dubai, where people are entertained and can win prizes with lots of competitions etc. Its aim is to attract tourists to the Emirate during the very hot summer and also to entertain the kids during their school holidays.

It's a Gas

The price of petrol in England continues to rise in price & is almost £1 a litre now. In Dubai it's different. There it is around £1.20 a gallon, or about 30p a litre. It is well known that Dubai's fuel reserves are rapidly running out & so they are replacing it with hotels & houses as a source of income.

Sheikh a Leg

Here is a doorway at Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum's house; the father of Sheikh Rashid, the guiding light of modern Dubai. The building was built in 1896 is now a museum. It displays many photos depicting the emirate from a tiny fishing village, before they discovered oil and the life that people led. The house is situated at the top of the creek, and is part of the heritage area.

Waterworld

Dubai Creek basically splits the city in too and is a very busy shipping lane. This photo shows the sort of number of boats that use it for delivering goods to the country. It's quite interesting walking along the Creek seeing allsorts of boxes, bundles and sacks of things being unloaded from the dhow's, and luxury yachts being taken out for a spin.

Ski While You Shop

Besides the new Harvey Nichols store, the Mall of the Emirates houses Dubai's only ski slope. The snow is real, and the temperture is kept at a constant minus 1-2 degrees centigrade, but drops to minus 8 during the night when fresh snow is being made. Can Ski Dubai hold the record as the largest snow dome in the world?

Going Underground

Sometimes things aren't quite what they seem. Take this poster for instance. You may think it is a map of the London Underground. But you'd be wrong. It's actually advertising the different departments that are inside the new Harvey Nichols store that has opened in the Mall of the Emirates.

Hazy Days

This was taken fairly early in the day, and you can see the misty heat haze surrounding the twin Emirates Towers hotel & business complex to the left. There's also at least 10 cranes in the photo. Dubai is undergoing a large building programme and it is estimated that 8% of the world's cranes are situated in Dubai at this moment.

Jumeirah Beach

This shot is taken from the top of the Burj hotel and shows the neighbouring Jumeriah Beach hotel, together with the Beach Road and surrounding area. Because Dubai is a very modern city; less than 30 years old, the road layout has been styled like that of New York, where everything is in straight lines.

Flying the Flag

This is the national flag of Dubai. There is a huge one on a very tall flagpole as you head towards Port Rashid, but I thought this smaller one on a dhow looks more effective.

Building a Life

Here is a photo of some of the building work on Palm Island. Most construction work in Dubai goes on 24 hours a day. The majority of the construction workers come from the Indian subcontinent. They are bussed in everyday from settlements on the outskirts of Dubai. By Western standards, they don't earn very much, but it's more than they would get if they had jobs in their homeland.

Living on an Island

Well not quite at the moment. But building is forging ahead for the first of the Palm Islands. An offshore housing & hotel complex that is being built out in the Gulf Sea in the shape of a palm tree. This scale model shows what it will look like. Dubai is building another one, together with another one that is made up of private islands that when you look down on the Earth, it makes up the map of the World.

Keep Cool Man!

Before the introduction of air conditioning, this used to be the Arabic way of keeping their houses cool. It is called a windtower, and cooler air circulates down the tower, replacing the rising warm air. Neat & simple.

Taxi!

This little boat is called an Abra, and you use it to cross the creek. It is a great experience which lasts for about 10 minutes, and you get to see both sides of the creek from the water. And all for the princely sum of about 15 pence.

Look up in Wonder

Following on from yesterday's photo of the Burg Al Arab hotel from the outside, today's photo show's what's on the inside. This is a vew of some of the different floors from taken from the centre of the hotel. I think it looks more like a painting or print, rather than a photograph.

Heaven's Hotel

The Burj AL Arab hotel is one of the most recognised landmarks in Dubai & is well known throught the world, as if usually seen on anything about Dubai. It is built on its own island and is rated as a 7* hotel. The building in the foreground is the Mina A' Salam.