When: 25/04/2010

Where: Dubai, UAE

Stayed: Atlantis Palm

We arrived suitably jet lagged in Dubai and as predicted it was roasting hot getting up to 40+ degrees each day. The hotel where Justin’s conference was being held was ridiculous. It was massive, lavish and extravagant and I felt as though I should be wearing a cocktail dress just to walk through the lobby. To give you an idea, there was a full acquarium inside the hotel as one of the many hotel features and a complete water theme park. There were staff seemingly coming out of the walls wherever you went and every time we walked into the lobby felt a bit like entering the Colosseum. I found myself holding back on doing a ‘Coooooweeee’ as I didn’t think it’d go down too well…probably good decision.

We did the usual touristy things: saw the world’s largest Shopping Mall (1200 shops), the world’s tallest building (Burj Dubai – they simply kept adding layers to make it the tallest) and the world’s only indoor ski centre which is inside a shopping centre and sits at a cool minus 3 degrees. The slope is 400m long and 85m high.

However despite the enormity of everything, there was so much empty space and so few people around that it felt a little lacking in atmosphere. Walking through the Mall we were sure we’d missed a fire alarm or something – it was so empty that we felt as though we should say hello to the people we walked past! The culture also seemed to be quite confused with some women in full burkas and others in little skimpy western outfits. I found it kind of sad and very hard to understand the traditional customs as a foreigner. I hiked over to ‘old Dubai’ to get a better feel for the origins, just so I could leave with a clearer picture of the UAE culture – was interesting but a mistake to go on my own. I was a bit rattled by the time I got back to the hotel after being stared at and spoken to rudely; especially by the cabbies. I stuck to being poolside with a book after that – figured I’d have to appreciate the true culture from a plate (food was fantastic by the way!) and a distance.