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Dubai made for an interesting comparison with Sydney. We only passed through Sydney briefly - we had to get off the plane, go through customs and security (and some very surly Australian border guards), and then wait in a departs lounge for an hour while they spritzed the plane up - but the level of scrutiny and inspection made you think we were moving in for good. Dubai, however, was a breeze. Immigration barely glanced at us, and walking through the "something to declare" gate at Customs was a laugh. There was a single security guard there. I walked up to mention that I was carrying my grandmother's ashes (just in case - better safe than interrogated and probed in a Customs Interview Room, I always say), but he just waved me away in a frustrated manner. Obviously not too worried about the contents of my luggage then...
But the heat! By the end of our two days I think I was starting to acclimatize, but on that first day I was melting within minutes. I was pretty wiped out by the flight, and spent most of the day asleep, but the temperature outside the hotel was simply oppressive. We went to Dubai Mall on Friday to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa. We missed out on that because the tickets all sold out within minutes of our arrival so we had to settle for taking photos from the outside. (That in itself was a feat. Standing at its base, I had to bend in unnatural ways to photograph the top. I've taken some photos which will need to be stitched together to capture the full height of the tower. It's a beast.). But it was so hot, I could feel my skin almost melting, and sweat was pouring off me. After about 5 minutes we had to retreat to the airconditioned mall to recover. We went back out an hour later to finish taking photos. How anyone can stand the heat long term, I have no idea!
All up, Dubai was interesting. It was never going to be more than a stopover to recover from the flights (which we definitely needed), but if I had a few more days then I could find plenty of things to do - a dinner cruise down the Dubai Creek, breakfast in the desert, actually going to the top of the Burj Khalifa. But I might have to prepare myself for the heat - sitting in the oven for a few hours might be a start.
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