Dubai here we come!

THIS EVENING we are going to Dubai for a week! I am excited to go... not for the shopping like most people, no I like the OLD WORLD of DUBAI and the overnight desert safari we have booked!!



We will be doing some dune bashing, camel riding, getting our hands painted with henna, seeing some belly dancers while we smoke some Sheesha and have a delicious four course Arabic dinner at a tented camp in the middle of the desert... EXCITING!!



I want to go and see the Souks, the Gold Souk, the Spice Souk and the Textile Souk... These are great places to photograph, and I need to test my new camera, the Nikon D300s, that I will be buying on one of the first days I am there... so YES the new world is good for something :-) To capture the OLD world... LOL



But Dubai has 2 faces, the old and the new, which makes it an interesting mix... so I am sure we will not be bored to visit this interesting city on the Persian golf.

OH... and the weather is not too hot now (just kidding ;-).. around 97/99°F = 36/37°C. I mean it could be worse :-) But since we have a nice hotel on Jumeirah beach, we will be doing some relaxation at the pool and beach as well, since how much can you bear to do in this kind of hot weather??



So please let me know which were your highlights when you visited this city, which old or new things do I have to see?? I still have some time to add some trips or visits...

And last but not least here some Fun & Interesting Facts about Dubai:

-Dubai is the second largest member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
-It is the most important port and the commercial capital of UAE.
-Dubai is the fastest growing city in the world.
-Dubai has one of the highest per capita incomes.
-In Dubai, there are no taxes on income and there are no personal taxes either. (That's why so many expats like to live there!)
-In Dubai Emirates Mall, you can ski indoors while shopping, measuring 400 meters and using 6000 tons of snow.
-Burj Dubai is the world's tallest building, along with the world's tallest man-made structure.
-Eighty percent of the residents of Dubai are foreigners.
-Dubai is the Middle East supply hub for the jewelry market.
-Dubai is the world's second largest distributor of bullion (=precious metal).
It imports 360 tonnes and re-exports almost all of it (350 tonnes).
-Dubai made the world's longest gold chain during DSF-1999. The chain was made in 22k gold and measured 4.2 kilometers. --9,600 people bought the chain, in necklace wear and bracelet size pieces.
-In Dubai, jewelry is sold on gold price plus making charges, unlike in the West, where it is per piece. 95 percent of all jewellery
sold here is above 21 karat; the rest is 18 karat.
-On an average, one in every five person buys five pieces of gold jewellery every year in Dubai.
-Dubai has build the first man-made island in UAE, the Palm Island.
-No matter in which part of Dubai you are in, you will hear calls to prayer at least five times a day. Even in shopping malls, the
calls to prayer are put out over the speakers, to remind Muslims that it is time to pray.
-Dubai shares legal, political, military and economic functions with the other emirates, within a federal framework.
-Dubai has the largest population of all the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
-Apart from Abu Dhabi, Dubai is the only emirate to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the
country's legislature.
-Since 1833, Dubai has been ruled by the Al Maktoum dynasty.
-Trade, real estate and financial services provide Dubai with majority of its revenues.
-Revenues from petroleum and natural gas contribute less than 6 percent to the economy of Dubai.

Have a good day!
Mireille