Tag Archives: Dubai

Dubai United Arab Emirates Apartments

Dubai  United Arab Emirates Apartments

Dubai United Arab Emirates Apartments

This is a picture of the area of Dubai out near The Marina, a section of Dubai that has a lot of high rise apartment buildings. This is just a picture of a few of them. There were dozens and dozens of building like these. Dubai is an up-and-coming location. They have had a building boom that can only be characterized as spectacular in the last 10 years. There was ample evidence of it everywhere.

Dubai United Arab Emirates Metro

Dubai  United Arab Emirates Metro

Dubai United Arab Emirates Metro

This is a picture of me on the Dubai Metro. I caught the metro from the airport into the center of town and then took a bus to the hostel where I was staying. The metro was cheap. I bought an all-day pass for $5 and it came with unlimited rides on the metro trains and the buses. The Dubai Metro is one of the best metros I have ever been on. It was very modern, very punctual and it was the first metro system that I had ever been on that had wi-fi on the metro trains. The picture is one I took when the train was relatively empty. It was rarely as empty as you see it here. I found that I often had to stand on the metro. It wasn’t as packed as I’ve seen some metros but it as often well occupied, especially in the more heavily traveled sections of the city.

Chobe Botswana KFC Africa

Chobe Botswana KFC Africa

Chobe Botswana KFC Africa

There was a KFC at the local shopping center. I think it may have been the only fast food restaurant that I saw on the entire trip so far, excluding Dubai. I didn’t eat there. I have had some experiences at foreign KFC’s that were not encouraging during trips I have taken in the past. However, I was told by some of the people on the trip who did eat there that they not only had original recipe, it tasted just like it does in the states. While I found that reassuring, I did not want to spend $8 on a couple of pieces of chicken to find out if it was true.

Africa 2012 Map

Africa 2012 Map

Africa 2012 Map

I spent the summer of 2012 wandering around Africa in an overland truck. We camped out for almost two months, living in tents and eating camp food. Showers were taken less often than I would have liked, but at some point we stopped caring. This is a map of where the truck went. I heard that we covered over 9,000 kilometers. That would be over 5,000 miles if it was correct. It was an interesting trip, to say the least. I had never been to sub-Sahara Africa before. I have now been there. At the end of the trip I stayed in Cape Town to acclimate myself to civilization again. I also stopped off in Dubai for a visit on my way back. Ramadan in 115 degree heat is… well… special. There are 260+ blog entries that follow that are about my trip. There’s a quiz at the end. Good luck.

Welcome to Dubai

Welcome to Dubai

Welcome to Dubai

Anyone who says Dubai, UAE doesn’t have a nice airport is pulling your chain. This was my first stop here, but it won’t be my last. I come back in August for a visit and a little tourism. This time I only saw the airport and the city from the plane. It was quite comfy. I’m not sure what the ratings are for staying overnight, but I’ll bet they are reasonable. I’ll have more to say in August. 20120529