I'll admit, this was one of the most eagerly anticipated trips of my life (I think only Egypt and Morocco can rival the pre-trip excitement). And it...totally delivered! I had a fabulous, unforgettable trip, and I'm so incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to travel over halfway across the world to a country I've only dreamed about.
Where do I begin?
I managed to avoid a stopover in Honolulu and flew 5 hours direct to LA. We spent the night there to avoid doing back to back flights. Because our flight wasn't until almost 11pm that night, we spend the day (at Ryan's request) cruising the Santa Monica Pier so he could go Poke hunting. (If you're a Poke hunter, you will know that it's rumored to be one of the best places to catch 'em all)! He had a great time and was able to evolve FIVE new Pokemon as a result of his Pokehunting. This is a big deal, folks. Huge. I can't even believe you're not standing and applauding right now. ;-D
After that, we managed to satiate our Five Guys fix and did some retail therapy at a nearby mall (remember, Hawaiians VERY eagerly go to malls on vacation because we live on a mall-less rock).
Later that night we checked in to our Emirates flight, and lordy, lordy...did it exceed our grandest expectations. Flying for sixteen hours was a breeze...said NO ONE ever. But if you've got to do it- here's how we did it up BIG:
- Find a steal of deal on Emirates. I think because it's an oil-rich, government-subsidized airline with oil...the prices are insanely lower than you'd expect. Not so low that we could afford first class (which seems to average about $14-16,000 RT if you booked something today), but shockingly low if you compare it what we pay for Transpacific flights on American airliners.
- Fly at the end of the high season when flights aren't as full. We each got our own row to sleep in, both ways (though coming back it was much harder to do this and took some effort on our part to secure). This incredible luck made ALL the difference in the world. Sitting upright for a 17-hour flight would have been murderous on my butt and mental health. I can barely even remember when flights used to be like this in America- before the mergers and code-sharing ensure that there are almost NEVER more than a half dozen empty seats on a plane anymore.
- Drug thyself. Say what you want about the evils of Big Pharm, but when I want to pass out, I turn to a beautiful pink pill manufactured under the brand name of Benadryl...and it usually delivers. I slept for about eight of the 17 hours on the way out, and managed to entertain myself for the remainder of it by watching six straight hours of broadcasting about people born with Down Syndrome. I thought the show (Born this Way) was going to be about Lady Gaga or the LGBT community, but I was very, very wrong...but still nevertheless captivated. (Go 'get 'em, guys! No limits!)
- Enjoy the added amenities, which on Emirates includes:
- Forward and rear flight cams on your seat backs that allow you to feel as though you're in the cockpit with the pilots.
- The usual flight kit...they weren't overly spectacular (the usual socks, toothbrush, eye mask, ear plugs, but they came in a soothing, gray zippered pouch with decorative Arabic script on it that I just adore.
- Allow yourself to look skyward at the twinkling star lights on the cabin ceiling to get your brain into sleep mode!
- The faux wood paneled bathrooms were slightly prettier, but not overly impressive...although you could control the temperature of the water, which is rare in a plane.
- Slightly above average meals also helped. They were also prepared halal if that's important to you. Apparently, the flight crew also walk the aisles with candy & granola bars mid-flight, but I was snoozing and missed it both times.
Once we landed, the airport was sprawling, massive and immaculate (free MacClaren strollers were available for passenger's children's use, because that's how Emirates rolls). I was impressed. We caught a late night luxury cab (not deliberately)once we landed that still only cost about 60 AED ($16) to get to our hotel about 20 minutes away.
Our hotel was a 2/2 apartment, fully furnished. Ry's bedroom was the largest, since it was the entire living room! ;-) The living/dining areas and bedrooms were great, but the bathrooms and kitchen were...okay (aged a bit and rather utilitarian).
I don't think we fell asleep until after 3:30am (since we landed at 1:30am), so we slept in the next day and decided to spend the day in the area surrounding our hotel. We chose to stay in BurDubai (Old Dubai), as we figured it'd be a nice opportunity to soak up some of the rare ;old' culture of the area vs. the general futuristic vibe of the emirate.
We started off with the restored, high-walled Bastakia Quarter, which was pretty slow/half closed (apparently it comes alive at night, when we turn into pumpkins).
When we got the market area, it felt very much like we were back in any bazaar/open market of Morocco, Egypt, Turkey or Greece...lots of spices, herbs, dried fruit, nuts, endless silk scarves, head coverings, tunics, sand art, hand painted pottery, etc. Despite their offering anything I actually ever need, I still crave the smells and sights of these markets and enjoy wandering through them. I could do without the overly aggressive touts, but I try to focus on the fact that most of them are earning money for their families just like you and me, and have found that like anyone else, they enjoy taking a break from harassing tourists to chat and laugh a bit. 90% of them greet me in Chinese or Japanese (not a single one of them had ever heard of Hawaii), so it's always amusing greeting them in a language they do not expect (I do love to impress people with my mastery of the English language.)
We also hit up a variety of galleries and viewed quite a bit of public artwork (which included models of traditional dwellings from the past, portraits, sculpture, etc.). Most pics feature Ryan quite prominently since he's cute and photogenic, but here are a few that don't:
We loved this shadow artwork! Apparently a husband and wife team work to create these 'carvings' (they're not actually carved wood, I believe they're resin?) that form the shadow art. I'd imagine that after time it becomes second nature creating this work, but my mind is way too confused and muddled to ever be able to strategize/create 'backward/upside down' work like this.
Later, we walked along the Dubai Creek and saw all the older wooden dhows (traditional sailing ships), abras (water taxis) and cargo ships (most exit via the Persian Gulf and trade with nearby countries like Iraq, Iran and Pakistan. After we cruised the textile markets of BurDubai (and indulged in an adorable outfit for Ryan), we took a water taxi across the creek over to the Deira gold and spice markets.
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| Deira...the view from the BurDubai side of the Dubai creek |
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| A water taxi (only 1 AED each!) |
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I kept telling Ryan with his new outfit he'd likely be able to return home with at least a few virgin brides, but he wasn't having it. I also tried to warn/prep him that Americans/westerners may not find his outfit quite so endearing as the people of the Middle Eastern region, but he wasn't having any of that either. Still, isn't he a pretty adorable Saudi sheikh?
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| We bought two bowls here that we hand carried back, one for my mom and one for me. ;-) |
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I've been angling for a lamp like this for eons...I keep seeing similar ones at stores or online here, but I'm always worried about shipping/breaking! One day...one day.
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| These pics were taken while we were on board the abra boating over to Deira. |
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We had to buy a number of long sleeved shirts for our trip (standard dress code of the region). so I bought my mom and I matching shirts from Macy's so we could 'twin' for a few days. ;-)
Here we are with the largest ring in the world at the gold souk!
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This is the subway station near our hotel apartment...BurJurman...which is also connected to a large mall.
The mall's posted etiquette rules (we saw these for every mall we went to) that we dutifully made efforts to abide by (even though it meant spending ten days in long sleeves/pants in 85-88 degree heat). :-O
That first night, we all fell asleep about 9, but woke up around 3am and could not go back to sleep! Painful.
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