Dubai- the most ridiculous city in the world 10/26/18

We got to the hotel by the airport at 12:30am. We thought we were making good time since we landed early, but the bus that took us from the plane to the gate drove for about 20 min, the walk through the giant airport took another 20, traffic at arrivals was nuts. Ironically immigration was easy, the dude didn't ask us one question.  I saw some people sleeping outside a mosque. I had a hard time getting to sleep I was pretty stoked to be here.

We stayed at the Premier Inn by the airport which was nice, mostly due to the free shuttles to various locations downtown (I'll take anything free in this city). It has a sticker on the ceiling of the room to show which way you can pray to Mecca. We took the shuttle to the Dubai Mall/Burj  Khalifa area at (9:30). It dropped us off at the most ridiculous mall I've ever been too. 1200 stores, every store in the world basically. It has waterfalls, an aquarium, ice rink, museum, movie theater, everything you need to never go back outside. We were very surprised at how diverse this city is. People from all over the world are working here (maybe they are just here to do the job's the locals don't want?).

We opted to do the Burj (tower) Khalifa first since tons of tourists were heading that way and I read the lines can be long. The tickets for the mid-level observation were sold out already so our only option was to go to the top (duh we are here we are going to the top). The cost was $150 fucking dollars. I was shocked since I was expecting $30 from a blog I read. WTF??!! Well, I guess we are here and that's what we are going to do- go all in. It was really a lot of fun. We cut in front of all lines, waiting in a special room, had snacks and tea and coffee, and we got to go to the 148th floor with the observation deck! It was really remarkable!! Everyone was giddy with excitement. The views are ridiculous and it's not crowded. You could see all the construction going on in the city. Some construction for the Olympics in 2020?, the Persian Gulf. All over when the building is 2.5x the height of the Salesforce building! I think it was worth it. It's fun to get some VIP treatment in a city that knows how to treat VIPs (I'm not getting used to this though). I got suckered into buying a picture for way too much because I did the conversion rate wrong (dammit!).

We spent the next several hours in the mall. You would not usually hear me say that, but this mall is different. We ate (McDonald's was finally eaten, it was delicious, don't judge), walked by stores we'd never walk into that had 5 shirts. Andy got a deluxe haircut and beard trim and looks proper now. He was waiting for a country where he felt comfortable since they use a straight razor and all. I was hoping for some maintenance myself. A lady was walking me over to show me the salon. I told her how we are on a day layover and we forgot all our stuff in our checked bags. She said, oh that's why you look like you are on a safari (damn!). LOL. Not appropriate attire in this place. But not inappropriate like many women (cough cough Russians) who don't give a shit about customs and are wearing fucking halter tops. Seriously people. Even the mall guide gives this guidance, along with no touching or hugging (no PDA). The mall plays the call to prayer over the loudspeaker. Not the guy one but a woman (I've never heard a woman sing it- I’m surprised that’s allowed).

By 3 I was done with being inside. We checked out the outside fountain, it was damn hot, especially with the sun reflecting off the water. We took a cab (a stupid fancy cab, not a regular one) to the Spice Souk in Deira. The spices are amazing and we bought plenty. The salesmen were very fun. Bargaining is always an event, then they throw in some freebies at the end to make sure you feel like you won (we don't but we had a good time). We then took a water taxi for 1 Dirham (finally something cheap!) across the river to the Bur Dubai Souk. We found some beautiful mosques in this area, amazing tiles work and elaborate doors. I got some awesome pieces of textiles from an old man who set up shop on a cardboard box. They were left over pieces I'm sure. I'm not sure of his bargaining power. We settled on a price, then he threw in 2 more pieces.

A taxi (regular, not fancy) took us back to the hotel where we had a bite to eat before heading to the airport. We'll be in Cairo tonight (with our luggage)! I highly recommend a layover (1-2 days) in this crazy city. There's no place I've ever been where you can see this much extravagance mixed with the old world.