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AFS Arabian Desert
Fantasy
"Fantastic experience in Dubai & Cairo
Suzy! I felt like royalty staying in such elegant hotels. I
can't believe how much we covered in 8 days, yet never felt rushed and
still enough free time to explore on our own" -- J. Shultz
Our Dubai and Cairo journey was a perfect
juxtaposition of ultramodern with the ancient.
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Group One in ancient Cairo May 15-24, 2008 |
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Group Two in modern Dubai May 23-June 1, 2008 |
We came to planet Dubai to be astonished and
this 21st century wonder did deliver. Since my visit last
year, it has exploded with even more growth. Dubai seeks to become the
world’s premier tourist destination. With favorable tax rates, it is now
home to worldwide mega corporations. Credit is due to the ruling sheik
with his entrepreneurial vision and super tolerance. He’s the opposite
of xenophobic. The 7 emirates are sandwiched between Iran, Qatar, Oman
and Saudi. Each tiny kingdom is ruled by an emir or sheik. Once upon a
time, Dubai was a sleepy village for pearl diving and camel trading.
Today it expands at an astounding rate with 800 miles of new shoreline
added from the man made islands. The hundreds of new islands in The
Palm and The World are visible from space. This land of sun, sand, sea,
snow and sex is a pocket of freedom in Arabia with such titles as; “Las
Vegas of the Middle East”, “St. Tropez of the Gulf” and “Monaco of the
Desert.” The dichotomy is found in its Islamic culture within an
environment of western affluence forming a total fusion of East meets
West. It was hard to comprehend that there’s a war going on next door
in this clean and crime free city state.
We were welcomed with an Arabian dinner cruise
onboard a wooden dhow. Our city tour revealed that camels have been
replaced by cranes. We saw the new, nearly completed Burj Tower,
tallest building in the world along with countless other architectural
marvels. (“Burj” means tower in Arabic, thus “Burj Tower” ironically
means “Tower Tower”.) We visited the Spice Souks and glittering Gold
Market. We toured neighboring Abu Dhabi, capital of the emirates that
is actually an island. We drove along the rich Corniche lined with lush
gardens set against the turquoise Persian Gulf. We tasted chocolate
dates, visited a fish market and entered the world’s largest mosque. It
holds 40,000 worshippers. There the women in our group had to cover
head to toe in borrowed black abayahs (sort of a burka.)
One evening was our Desert Safari. Our
caravan of 8 jeeps headed deep into the desert for some “dune
bashing”. Our driver Ahend careened like a drunken sailor at sea over
the steepest dunes. As I screamed, he chatted on his cell phone. We
arrived to a tented camp oasis for dining and dancing under the stars,
like the Arabian tale of 1001 Nights. My favorite time was spent on our
leisure day with its endless options. The majority of our group went
skiing in the morning and swam the crystal clear Gulf beaches in the
afternoon. The water was so bath warm, they could have brought soap.
Terry and I began our day at Mall of the
Emirates, world’s largest mall with 1563 stores and Ski Dubai. Envision
a 25 story mountain of 6 acres under one roof with 5 ski runs and
chairlifts. Machines hidden in the ceiling drop 3” of snow daily.
Winter gear is included in the nominal entrance fee. It was 32° inside
and 102° outside. Later I fulfilled my travel dream of dining at the
famed Burj Hotel, the iconic 7 star masterpiece shaped like a sail and
set on its own artificial island. It had been closed to tourists for
months to give its billionaire guests privacy. We were fortunate now to
get a reservation for lunch, albeit at an unheard of 3 figure price.
Entering the lobby was like standing inside a kaleidoscope. The
restaurants gourmet spread of delectable goodies exceeded my expectation
and will never be forgotten. It was Terry’s birthday and at the end of
our meal, a work of art cake was discreetly presented to him. The
chocolate mousse explosion with figs and berries was layered with thick
sheets of Godiva.
We
then flew to Egypt on award winning Emirates Airlines. We felt like the
Jetson’s traveling back in time to this land of Cleopatra. I’ve always
enjoyed the chaos of Cairo, world’s largest capital city of 17 million.
All was eased when we checked into the deluxe 5 star Sofitel Hotel. I’m
guessing this was my 9th visit to Cairo and this one provided
the most outstanding guide ever. Hany has obtained tourism awards and
is the current president of Egypt’s Tour Guide Union. He intended to
educate us in a crash course of Egyptology 101 but did so with such an
entertaining style that brought things to life before our eyes. A full
day was spent at Giza viewing the only remaining wonder of the 7 World
Wonders. It is written, “The world fears time, but time fears the
pyramids.” We were allowed to enter one of the pyramids built around
2500bc to see the burial chamber. Another day we toured the Egyptian
Museum, inarguably one of the world’s greatest, crammed with over
100,000 antiquities. Hany enthusiastically performed a skit with
members of our group to ensure we understood exactly the story to King
Tut and what we were viewing. The crowning jewel was the Royal Mummy
Rooms which exhibits 11 bodies of kings and queens. In our free time,
we intentionally got lost in Khan Khalili Bazaar. “The khan” is a crazy
maze of souks where one can haggle over anything from hookah pipes to
bras. We all said our goodbyes during a farewell sailing by felucca on
the Nile.
There was much more included on this one trip
to two different “worlds.” In Dubai, we experienced magical affects in
a new land with a vision that knows no end. In Cairo, we gained
knowledge, virtual knowledge of civilizations past. Each place indulged
our five senses. We were aspiring “citizens of the world” who felt most
welcomed in those Islamic lands. As we boarded our departing flight,
Belinda said to me, “I feel like its Christmas. My carry on is filled
with gold, frankincense and mir.” Another journey well done.
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