Arabian Nights: Day Four

I have had an enjoyable 24 hours of mingling with other tourists and locals alike. And stuffing my face! After a leisurely sleep in this morning, following a big night of camel pizza (essentially), I made today a day of no spending. I figured I'm going on tour at lunch time, money well spent, and I don't need to buy anything else.

It didn't work.

Dubai is like one giant subliminal message to go forth and shop; I can't help it! But I did spend selflessly – nothing for me, just really cool kitsch stuff for others :-). Actually, the one thing I did buy for myself was a packet of Dubai's famous dates. There are 42 million date palms in the United Arab Emirates, so you can imagine how annoyed I was when I discovered the ones I was munching on were from Tunisia! Kind of dry and leathery too – I will always wonder now if UAE's are any better, but if they're going to import their national product (apart from oil, obviously!) I'm not going to bother finding out!

After eating some more great shawarmas, I was picked up at my hotel for what would become the hightlight of my time in Dubai. Now, I've been on some pretty naff tours in my time – I think they're pretty much obligatory in countries that are trying to sell a concept that isn't really real – but this Arabian nights thing I went on today just blew every kitschy, ridiculous tour I've ever taken out of the water. Except maybe for The Sound of Music Tour! Along with 4 other tourists from the Burj Arab area, we were transported about an hour out of Dubai to hit some serious sand dunes. Called dune bashing, here were my thoughts as we hurtled along:
1. We are going to die.
2. We are going to have a head on collision on the other side of this dune with another 4 wheel drive (there were cars everywhere. Madness!) and die.
3. We are going to have a head on collision on the other side of this dune with a CAMEL.
4. I AM GOING TO BE SICK!!!!
Unfortunately for another traveller in our party, he was sick – quite violently so – and our driver barely even shifted a gear!!!

After the dune bashing, there was camel riding, dressing up in traditional Muslim clothing, smoking a shisha pipe, henna tattooing, traditional bedouin coffee (which I swear was tea) and – most importantly – eating. And then eating again. It was insane how much food they forced down our throats. I am going to need my own chador-thingy soon just to hide the bulge. And it's only been a week!!!

Best of all, there was lots of mingling with other tourists. A really great way to end my time in Dubai.