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Welcome to the balmy United Kingdom, soon to be summy and a roaring 15 degrees. Yummy, break out the jackets.
So Dubai- AWESOME!!! Definitely recommend it, so incredibly cheap- I was only there for a day and a half so next time will go for a few days anyway. And in winter-- I was there at by about 8 or 9am you're well into the 20s and both the day I arrived and the following day it was over 30-- the taxi driver said it'll often be above 50 in summer, so way too hot. I stayed at the Dubai Palm Hotel which is actually pretty nice- looks a bit precious from the outside, as do all the buildings there (must be the sand), inside looked like a Chinese hotel- you'll know what I mean if you've been to China. After checking in I rocked up to the room with the dude assisting with my stuffed backpack (all luggage total weight 25kgs, love it!). The room was lovely, gold embroidered brocade curtains, nice bedspread, western style loo, it was great!
I got to the hotel about 8am, and around 10.30 decided I couldn't go to bed yet so wandered out in search of the Gold Souk (market) which everyone talks about. 20 minutes of walking later and I finally got there. Janine--- do it, you'll be in heaven! I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting- probably something like a flea market with little guys in turbans with rows of gold on their table- not secure but very picturesque. Wasn't anything like that-- if you can imagine Michael Hill, Pascoes, and I don't know any other jewellers, all displaying only gold and diamonds, with the odd bit of silver or gems thrown in, that was it- rows and rows and rows of sparklies everywhere! I almost bought some sapphires and silver which the guy was going to make into earrings for me, when I discovered the price was in US$$, not the local Dirham-- meant the price was about 4 times what I thought.. nope! So I went and got some awesome fruit juice instead.
In the afternoon I was back at the hotel room working (still) on Europe, it's nearly almost done. Well, it's over half way now anyway. I was knackered though so was in bed asleep by 7.30... though the bloody planes and the random calls to prayer took a bit of getting used to!
The next day was the Dubai- Heathrow flight. Got to the airport in heaps of time, sat around waiting for the plane. Plane arrived, flew here-- immigration in Heathrow was a breeze! The queue was quite short and they were rocking through a hell of a lot faster than in DXB (Dubai), the Nice Lady at immigration had a chat for a couple minutes, stamped the visa and I was through. Luggage turned up so I grabbed that... going through customs there was no-one. I've got some bikkies and lollies in my backpack so went to the 'something to declare' aisle- nobody. "Hello, anyone here?" brought a guy, when I said I had munchies he just said sweet as and to go through-- there were no scanners, x-ray machines... no officials either, it was incredible! Walked out with my 25kg checked luggage and hand luggage, found the metro, and an hour later ended up at Kings X/St Pancras. After getting slightly locationally confused- Kings Cross Bridge is not Kings Cross Road-- that's the next one over- I got to the Clink, yay! It's a 200 year old prison so the rooms are a wee bit (actually a hell of a lot) cosy, and the internet cafes is in the old courtroom, but the beds are comfy and the staff good- haven't tried the showers yet as I need a towel. Oops, knew I'd forget something!
Anyway it's now 8.25am on Thursday morning, so I am off to explore London! I have my laptop with me so in between "Ooooo, Buckingham Palace!" I'll be plugging away at everything still to do. Happy Days.
So, visit Dubai, take a headscarf (good for shade as well as modesty). And wear SunScreen!
Till next time!
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