By the numbers, part II

Since I'm now 12 weeks in (one quarter of the way through!) to my RTW trip (and since it was requested), I figured it was time for more stats. If you missed part one, you can find it here.

* Ridden on a motorcycle in two countries (Athens and India)
* 1 pickpocket scare (just a scare - the guy behind me was very close behind me, shuffling with his money, and I thought he was going after mine - I checked, though, and all was good)
* 20 nights paid accommodations
* 9 countries and 6 different currencies
* I've learned how to say "go away" in one language (jao, it's Hindi and it rhymes with how)
* 2 random meetings of people I'd met in other places (1st: I ran into a guy I met at the airport in Dubai in Mumbai - a city of 20 million, how is that even possible?! 2nd: I ran into Miguel from Khaj in Agra.)
* 3 offers by strangers for me to stay with them (Do you remember all of them? The last two are recent, so you probably do.)
* 2580 pages read (4 novels, plus 45 pages or so into the 5th)
* 1 bus accident
* Met people from 29 different countries (Should I list them all?)
* 11 flights taken, who even knows how many countless trains, buses, taxis, metro, and rickshaw rides
* 8 CS hosts
* 1080 pictures taken, but probably more by the time this posts
* Longest train ride: 29 hours
* Longest bus ride: 12 hours
* 0 major itinerary changes in India, although there were a couple of places I stayed a day longer because I couldn't get the train or bus that I wanted
* Visited 8 cities in 4 different countries that weren't on my original itinerary

My pictures in others' places

All of the pictures that I upload to Flickr are viewable by the general public and have a Creative Commons license. Essentially this just means that people can use my pictures as long as they give me credit.

I have about 800 pictures in my collection - really not a lot compared to people who take loads of pictures everyday in their "real" life, and not just when they're traveling like I do - but my pictures are being used in other places now, too, and that's pretty neat.

All of my Burj Dubai shots have been favorited by the Burj Dubai's Flickr page. This is no real accolade as they've favorited about 11,000 other pictures, too. But hey, mine are some of them. Favoriting a picture is different from using a picture with a Creative Commons license, but I'm counting it here because the whole reason the Burj Dubai even has a Flickr page is for marketing.

But cooler than that is that one of my pictures taken at Prague's Old Town Square is being used in a Schmap city guide. (My shot is the first one, upper left.) As it happens, the picture is one of my personal faves, so I'm glad someone else liked it, too. I'm not at all trying to say how awesome I am or how great my pictures are, but it's cool knowing that complete strangers are seeing them and enjoying them.

Dubai birthday

No, I'm actually not referring to Dubai's birthday, aka National Day, which just occurred on 2 December (Dubai is 38 this year, btw). What I'm referring to is the fact that last night my Dubai friends helped me celebrate MY birthday, even if we did celebrate five days early.

It was quite nice really. We went to Morgan's house for dinner (he made a turkey!) and almost all of my Dubai friends were there - Amiri, Angelique and Tamer, Sharif and Yosra, George and his wife and son, and Morgan, of course. We ate, drank, and were merry. And then there was cake! Tamer and Angel even got me a gift which was very sweet and unexpected.

Everyone in Dubai has been super cool to me and the birthday party was just icing on the cake (pun intended!).

Everything's bigger

Dubai is basically a brand new city. I mean, it's really not brand new, but with all of the construction that's been happening in the last few years, everything you see is new new new. And if it's not new, it will be in a few years when it's finished being built. :-)

The thing about Dubai is that there are few options for things to do. The choices boil down to either the beach or shopping. Good beach weather only happens in the wintertime. In the summer (and every other month that doesn't fall in the November - March time frame) it's too damn hot to do anything that isn't air conditioned and indoors. Enter: the mall. So far, I've been to the Mall of the Emirates, Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai Marina Mall, Dubai Mall, and Souk Al Bahar. Some of them more than once. (Oh, okay, I admit. I've been to the Mall of the Emirates like three times. Maybe four, I can't even remember anymore.)

Let me be clear, though. These aren't just regular ol' malls. I already mentioned how cool I thought Ibn Battuta Mall was. And maybe you didn't see it on my Flickr page, but the Mall of the Emirates has an indoor skiing area. Dubai Mall has an indoor ice rink, an aquarium, and an underwater zoo. Oh, and 1200 retail stores on who knows how many floors. Dubai Marina Mall is completely boring and Souk Al Bahar is only interesting because of it's location at the Burj Dubai.

So the malls are bigger. But mention of the Burj Dubai brings me to two other things that are bigger in Dubai. The first being, well, the Burj Dubai itself, the world's tallest building at 818m (more than 2,600ft). It's very cool seeing it up close; it just kind of seems impossible that something man-made could be that tall. The second big thing is the Dubai Fountain located in front of the Burj Dubai. The fountain is longer than two football fields and can shoot water 150m into the air.

Lastly on the list of big things in Dubai is the Atlantis Hotel (which is really an entire complex and not just one building, but still). The Atlantis also has an aquarium, but it also has a pool, shops, and restaurants, too. It may have more than that, that's just what I saw of it. It's so big, though, that although it's located at the top most tip of Palm Jumeirah, you can still see it from the beach where I initially photographed it.

To conclude lol, yes, everything in Dubai is indeed bigger. I think the developers must've figured they had to "go big" if they wanted anyone to visit this hot piece of desert. If you want to see the rest of the pics, check 'em out here.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Eid

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And, since I'm in the middle east, Happy Eid, too. I was feeling a tiny twinge of homesickness the other day thinking about how I was going to miss my first major holiday, so I asked if I could make a traditional turkey dinner. And no one turns down a home cooked meal, so. . .that's my bird in the oven over there to the left. :-)

A couple of calls were made and a few hours of shopping was done and next thing you know, we had a feast in front of us! We were four total and I made turkey (of course), stuffing, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, salad, apple crumb pie, and chocolate bourbon pecan pie. Speaking of shopping, that was quite the experience. Things that are easy to find in the states - nutmeg, poultry seasoning, fresh rosemary, karo syrup - are just not available here, so I kind of had to make some adjustments. And pastry dough! Man, I thought I was going crazy trying to find that. No one seemed to know what I was talking about. I kept asking, "Don't they make pies here?!"

Anyway, I'd say the meal was a success. I know I ate WAY more than I needed to lol. Afterwards we headed to Buddha Bar with some other friends and, well, it's already 1:40am now, so how 'bout I just end with a picture? I'll upload the rest tomorrow.

Coolest. Mall. Ever.

The only thing I really wanted to accomplish today was a pedicure. Yesterday I met a friend of my friend Mickey's and she recommended a nail salon at the Ibn Battuta mall. The pedicure was a success, but beyond that the mall was really the. coolest. mall. ever.

That's right. Yes, I'm on a round the world trip of a lifetime and I'm actually writing a post about a shopping mall. But it really was very neat (and this isn't even the mall with the indoor skiing! That's the Mall of the Emirates.). First of all, it's a pretty large mall and it's themed to tell the story of Ibn Battuta. Yeah, I'd never heard of him either, but apparently he's a famous Arab traveler. There are six courts that make up the mall - China, Egypt, Persia, India, Tunisia, and Andalusia - and each is a region that Battuta explored. Does this sound boring and kind of like the history lesson that you didn't really want to get while you were shopping?

Ok, maybe. But each court looks like the area it represents. And, this may be weird, but it's the best smelling mall I've ever been in. I think each court may have had it's own signature scent. It's honestly the most beautiful and interesting mall I've ever been in. I wanted to take pictures, but figured that would be horribly tourist-y of me, so I didn't. But go do a Google image search and see for yourself. Oh, wait. Here, I did it for you. And. . .that's just about enough gushing over a mall already.

In other news: I'm trying to figure out what my next stop will be. I went last week to fill out my India visa application and I should hear before the beginning of the Eid holiday this Wednesday if it's accepted. If so, India here I come! If not, maybe Sri Lanka? Maybe Thailand? Ah, decisions decisions.

I nearly lost a contact lens in the Arab Gulf

Yesterday, Friday, was my first official weekend day in Dubai. (Did you know that the workweek here is Sunday through Thursday?) First I went with Amiri and Morgan to brunch at a swanky hotel. There was all kinds of foods to choose from: sushi, seafood, a carving station, a taco station, a mashed potatoes station, traditional Arabic foods, fruits, cheeses, soups, and a bajillion different desserts. I ate til I nearly burst and was pretty sure I wasn't going to need to eat again for days. :-)

Then we headed to the beach where we met up with Tamr and Angelica (who commented that she hadn't been to the beach in about seven or eight months because it's just too hot for the beach during most of the year). The day was perfect. The air temp was about 28C, water temp about 25C, and just enough of a breeze to keep it from getting too hot. We all got into the water right away and it happened almost immediately that I nearly lost my contact lens. Now, I've worn contacts for 15 years and have gone to the beach and swimming pools throughout this time, so this was a pretty unusual occurrence. Luckily, I caught the lens as it popped out of my eye, made my way back to the beach (holding the lens between my thumb and finger above the water), and put the lens back in. My eye and I can now officially attest to the salty-ness of the Arab Gulf!

Anyhoo, moving on. After playing in the water for awhile, we dried off for a bit and then threw a frisbee around. And, as you can see, this beach also has camels. :-) Within a few hours, we were into the late afternoon and everyone started talking about dinner. (Not me! I was still wondering if I'd ever eat again after the brunch we'd had!) We all headed home to shower, change, and get ready for dinner.

By 8pm we were all at the restaurant and ready to eat (yes, even me lol). The restaurant was a place called The Rotisserie and it was at the Arabian Court. The Arabian Court is part of a huge complex that is now a hotel. As it was told to me, within the last 10 years or so, a very rich businessman built this palace for a woman that he was in love with. Ultimately the relationship didn't work out (did she die? I can't remember) and the palace was given to the hotel. As you can probably imagine, this place was incredibly beautiful and amazing looking. The Arabian Court is only one of four courtyards and each courtyard supposedly looks completely different.

Dinner was another buffet meal and again there's a huge variety of food to choose from: various traditional salads, fruits, cheeses, seafood, duck, veggies, quiche, beef, you-name-it-they-probably-had-it. I know it sounds like the exact same foods that we had at brunch, but they were completely differently prepared. You'll just have to take my word for it. :-) It was very good, but again I ate til I nearly burst. And it wasn't just the food that was good. The company was equally as good. We talked about all kinds of things and the laughs were plentiful. Afterwards, we headed to a place called The Rooftop (guess where it was located? lol) for another round of drinks before going home for the night. All in all, it was a very fun day.

Today is the last day of the weekend and I'm not sure what's on the agenda. More beach time perhaps? And I'd like to get a pedicure, so that's a possibility. Just a lazy weekend in Dubai, but I'm digging it so far.

Modern city meets the desert

Dubai it is. ToadMama guessed it right, but I think I had already hinted to her that I was thinking about coming here.

So I don't know what exactly prompted my decision to skip my other plans in Egypt. Luxor and Aswan were starting to look more expensive than what my budget could handle because those are places that are really a lot easier to do with a tour (there's too much to see and it's too spread out to really do on your own). Even after talking to Kharboush, my travel agent friend of a friend, it was going to be about $100/day, not including site entrance fees. The most expensive entrance fees are only about $12 USD, but those add up, too, if you see 4 or 5 sites a day.

As an aside, regarding my budget for those of you who may be wondering: My budget varies depending on the city I'm in since some places are more expensive than others. My daily budget for most of Europe was about 36 euros, or 54 dollars. This, I have to say, is ridiculously low for Europe. Most of the other longer term travelers I met were spending double this and people who were just on a short term trip were spending about 100 euros per day. But, honestly, there have been a lot of days I spent less than budgeted so it's been working for me. When you're working with a budget like this, you have to pick and choose a bit. Are you more interested in sight seeing or is nightlife more important? I also briefly considered a safari in Kenya, but that was even more of a budget buster than Luxor and Aswan.

So. I weighed my options and decided to move on. It was indeed a very last minute change of plans as I booked the ticket to Dubai on Friday night for Saturday night/Sunday morning at 2:35a (my flight back to Cairo had already been booked). I left Sharm on Saturday for my short flight to Cairo. I spent a couple of hours in Cairo trying to decide between a bus or a train to Alexandria, and then deciding when I'd leave. The train to Alexandria was about 3 hours and when I arrived, I met up with Islam (another friend of a friend who met me at the station) for a whirlwind night time tour of Alex. Then it was to the airport for the flight (which somehow managed to leave a half hour early!) and I arrived in Dubai at 7:15am on Sunday.

I really need to talk more about two experiences I had on my last day of Egypt, but I'm going to save them for another post on my overall impressions of my first trip to an Arab country. Hint: It may (or may not) be what you'd expect, depending on your perspective. :-)