Kanha to Bandhavgargh, and the Celebrity Soccer Players

We woke up still in Kanha, after a long first day of taking safaris – or “safariing” as we’ve started calling it.  Some of our group wanted to take a third trip into the Kanha park, but we opted to do some walking in the countryside instead.  We had heard that our hotel abutted a river that fed into the national park, so we set out to find it.  We wandered all over our hotel’s grounds, and even walked outside and down the main road, but did not find the river.  Instead, we saw a number of local homes, and plenty of cows.  Thoroughly mystified, we headed back to meet our returning group members.  They were somewhat sad – they had spotted no tigers, and were therefore unable to get their promised elephant rides.



The back of the Mogli Resort - if you look closely, you can see the fire-fed, manual water heaters.



An enormous caterpillar we saw along our walk outside.  That is James's foot for reference.

We packed up the bus, and headed off.  Our trip was scheduled for 6 hours, and we had been promised more of the same bumpy roads that we enjoyed on our way into Kanha.  Our destination was the national park in Bandhavgarh, and more potential tiger sightings.  We settled into our seats, and after a very bumpy beginning, we realized that the road had turned smoother – and we were even enjoying the ride!  Our guide Bhupendra explained that these roads belonged to a district that had been difficult to gauge in a recent election.  To insure success, the incumbent party had redone all of the roads, and we were among the lucky few who got to travel before the roads decayed.

On our lengthy bus ride through central India, we saw countless examples of local houses, roadside temples, subsistence farming, and meandering methods of transportation – from four people on a motorcycle or scooter, to seven stacked on a tractor.  Busses were absolutely crammed full of people, and we saw bicycles that rode three – not to mention the organic methods of transportation, with carriages drawn by cows.  We stopped a number of times for impromptu toll collectors, and at one point, as we were driving through a small village, a throng of people filled the street, banging drums and clashing cymbals.  The bus was unable to continue – in fact, the religious parade on its way to a nearby temple demanded (smilingly, of course) that the bus pay a nominal toll.  We certainly complied.  Other stops along the way were brought on by herds of cattle using the same one-lane road, or delivery trucks driving abreast.

Part of the religious parade which stopped our vehicle until we paid the toll.

A herd of cattle in the middle of the road as we drove through.  (This happens ALL the time in India).

This was a good road, one of the finest we’ve seen.  Yet, despite its status as the main thoroughfare, it is a one-lane road with absolutely no lane markers, no stop signs, street lights, speed limits, or any demarcation – other than the toll collectors.  The fastest driver has the right-of-way, as long as there are no cattle in the way (there are always cattle in the way), and drivers are honking their horns more often than not.  Still, in its own random way, traffic keeps moving, accidents are few, and people eventually get to their destinations.

We were still short of our destination when we pulled into the last big “city” on our way to Bandhavgarh.  In the city of Umaria, one of our tour members, Annetta finally had her opportunity to buy some clothes to replace the bag that her airline, Air India, had lost on her trip to Delhi.  There are no department stores in these cities – cities that might number in the hundreds of thousands, incidentally.  Instead, we stopped the bus outside an otherwise anonymous streetside shop, and she went in to browse. 

Our Danish quartet also bought a soccer ball, and once the local children saw four, white, six-plus footers step out of a bus, we were immediately surrounded.  Here in the center of India, if we stray from obvious tourist destinations, such as the national parks, we are seen as celebrities – they certainly don’t get many non-Indian tourists around these parts.

Erin and Tabitha posing in front of a cow who had taken up residence in the middle of the Umaria market.

One of the outfits the salesman tried to sell Annetta in the market.  She ended up purchasing a few t-shirts instead.

Once the clothes and sundries were purchased (including bindis for all the women in the tour, courtesy of Bhupendra), we were back on our way to the Mogli Resort-Bandhavgarh, run by the same company that hosted us in the Mogli Resort-Kanha.  This Mogli was nicer at first blush than the Kanha trip – there were certainly less insects in the room, and the shower facilities were much less scary.  We gladly dropped our bags, and after a buffet dinner of Indian curries, we were off to sleep early for our next safari day – two trips into India’s Bandhavgarh national park.

Tiger Tiger! In Kanha National Park

Our day began very early, at 4:30am to be exact. We got up and showered – after wasting about 10 minutes before we figured out that you had to push a special button to turn on the hot water. We then met our bleary-eyed tour group at reception at 5:25am, and jumped in our jeeps heading for the Kanha National Park. We wanted to get into the park right when it opened so we wouldn't have to queue (or wait in line).

James and Erin sitting in the jeep getting ready to go on a safari... bright-eyed despite the dark night!

The entrance to Kanha National Park.

The safaris are via jeep, and our group took two for the safari. Our jeep held two guides, one from the National Park, and our tour guide – who has received specialized training in wildlife identification. It was quite cold as we started our journey - and we sat in the front row of the jeep along with one other member of our tour, bundled up underneath our blanket to keep warm.

Early in the morning, we saw quite a few spotted-deer, langers (white monkeys), a wild boar, peacocks, a jungle rooster, and several other birds. However, we were hunting for the tiger – and we were unsuccessful. We stopped for a quick breakfast and got word that other safari groups had spotted a tiger. Once we heard this, we decided to try another of the park's offerings - and drove to attempt to ride an elephant in order to get close to the tiger.  However, by the time we got to the elephants, the tigers were on the move and the National Park staff decided it wasn't safe anymore. So, we jumped back into our jeeps and rode alongside where the tigers had been spotted. And, sure enough, after a few minutes, we saw the tiger! We were pretty far away, but we were still excited we got to see it in its natural environment.

Around 9am James started to crash...this is a picture of him falling asleep!

They use elephants to find the tigers in the park and can also use them to herd the tigers move in certain directions.

Tabitha rode on top of the jeep for a bit.

One of the monkeys was very close to us, so James decided to see how close he could get...

This is James running away from the monkey after it started chasing him when it started to get too close.

The park closes from 12pm to 2:30pm each day because it is too hot and the animals usually take shelter around this time, making it difficult to sight-see. So, we headed back to our hotel for a quick lunch and nap before heading back out.

Unfortunately, when we went back out for our afternoon safari, it was raining. We hopped into the open-air jeep and hoped the rain would subside. We tried putting the rain cover on the jeep, but it didn't fit properly and just ended up being more of a nuisance than it was worth. During the safari, we saw several spotted-deer, white monkeys, and we even saw a male tiger! The drivers during the safari work very hard to help you get the best sightings, so if they get word that there was a tiger spotting, they will immediately turn the jeep in the direction of the sighting and drive as fast as they can, which makes it much more exciting!

Erin is sitting in the back of the jeep under the tarp-like rain cover.

This banyan tree had been demarked sacred, and now had a shrine at it.

One of the wild boar that we saw in the park.

On our way out of the park, we noticed these three small owls inside the tree!

The park closes at dusk, so around 5:30pm we headed back to our hotel. James decided to go into the village a bit and purchase some snacks for us. While James was away, Erin decided to shower. During Erin's shower, the power went out in the hotel room and it became completely dark. Erin stayed in the shower hoping that it would come back on quickly, and it did return about 5 minutes later. Our tour guide explained to us that these power fluctuations are very common, especially in the countryside.

The hotel had a buffet dinner that was very reasonable in price, so we had the dinner with our group again tonight. We enjoyed learning more about the people on our tour – surprisingly, we are the only Americans, so it was interesting to learn more about the different cultural backgrounds of our tour members.

After dinner we returned to our room and did some laundry using the bucket in the shower. The hotel was very remote – there are not televisions, no radios, and no access to internet. So, it was an easy decision to head to bed early.

Exploring the Narmada River and the Surrounding Area

Our overnight on the train was...interesting? We both took the top bunks, so we could try to sleep a bit early without interrupting those around us. We used earplugs throughout the night, which definitely helped drown out the crying 2-year-old below us. The train ticket agent woke us up a few times asking for our tickets. Around 1am, the ticket agent even tried to force us to move everything around so we were in our proper seats. However, after James tried in English and the people below us spoke to him in Hindi about it, he eventually just let us go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, we both had to use the squat toilet on the train in the middle of the night. It was pretty bad. Squat toilets aren't generally desirable, but if they are clean, they are fine. However, this one was not clean at all. And, along the way to the toilet, there was a soldier in full attire (including a very large gun on his lap) sitting in the middle of the train. (A bit startling at 1am when you are trying to make your way to the toilet).

Our train arrived in Jabalpur around 7:45am. From there, we packed into our tour van, and headed to a nearby restaurant for breakfast. The views along the way for breakfast were interesting. Again, there was a lot of chaos along the roads. People were selling things on the streets, as well as bathing and urinating in full view of the driving public. We eventually arrived at the restaurant, which was also a hotel and a national tourist office. We were told they had good toilets here so we could freshen up a bit after our long night on the train. However, in order to use the toilet, you had to order food first. So, we did. We told our tour guide we wanted to try a traditional Indian breakfast, so he suggested a few things for us to try. (We often don't really know what we are eating here in India, because the names are so different and a lot of the time you can' really decipher what it is based on its appearance). Our food took about an hour to come, so we were quite hungry by the time it arrived.

This sign was on the wall inside the restaurant we ate at.  Good advice, right?

Our Indian breakfast, which included stuffed paratha and poori-bhaji. 

After our breakfast, we walked to the Narmada River and took a nice boat tour at Bheraghat. The boat was a very large rowboat manned by a crew of four, with a guide who told us stories and even sang at points. The banks of the river were made of marble, and the Indian tour guide was very proud of the marble and kept pointing out specific spots for us to look at along the way. We also saw several children swimming up to the boat trying to do tricks for money. Some of the children said they would jump off a high cliff on the river bank if we paid 10 Rupies (or about 20 cents), so a few of the people in our tour group told the children said they would pay the amount. And, the children jumped! After they jumped, they swam up to our boat and collected their payment.

The Indian boys standing on the cliff preparing to jump into the water.

The marble rocks along the banks of the Narmada River.

Following the boat ride, we walked through some small market areas before boarding our tour bus again. Our next stop was the nearby Dhuandhar Waterfalls. The Waterfalls are a primarily-Indian tourist area, because they are part of Hinduism's holy land. There were many vendors on the ground trying to sell their goods before we arrived at the waterfall. The waterfall was very pretty, and it was interesting to see many people actually from India visiting the area. We were the only Caucasian people at the waterfall, and a lot of people were staring at us. One entire family came up to us and asked if they could get their pictures taken with us, and almost everyone in our group was accosted in the same way. It was a different experience and we weren't really sure why they wanted the picture. In Egypt, we were used to the people trying to get money from us, so we were a bit cautious as we weren't sure if they were trying to scam us in some way. But, we obliged and posed for a picture or two. Afterwards, our tour guide said that in the countryside (where we were), they don't see tourists very often, so it was fun for them to see us and they wanted to take pictures of us to share with their friends and families back home.

Some of the Indian women were selling dyes at the waterfall.  We thought they were quite beautiful!

Tabitha made her way to the waterfalls along the Narmada River.

Once we finished walking around the waterfalls, we headed back to the bus for a very interesting ride. However, along the way we made a pit-stop at the balancing rock. (Basically, a large rock that is balanced on top of another rock).

James and Erin in front of the perilous balancing rock.

Our tour van then began heading towards Kanha. The roads along the way were extremely bad. In fact, we are certain that it was probably the bumpiest vehicle ride either of have ever taken. Erin even got a bit nauseated during the ride. About three hours later, we stopped at a very small restaurant to have lunch. The restaurant was at a hotel, but it was very empty – we aren't sure that there were any guests actually staying there. We all ordered a small amount of food, and waited again quite some time. Our money goes pretty far here in India. For example, our lunch cost about 125 Rupies for the two of us (including beverages); in US dollars, this was only about $2.75.

After our lunch, it was beginning to get dark. We got back in the van, and headed to the Mogli Resort – which was about an hour and a half away. We arrived and checked in at about 7:30pm. We quickly realized that despite the name, it wasn't a resort. In fact, the sign on the outside actually said, “Mogli Resort...resorting to nature.”

James got some snacks from a street vendor near the Mogli Resort.

We decided to have dinner as a group as the hotel offered a buffet. The food was quite good and we were glad it was a buffet because we were very hungry and both felt the need to eat more than one plateful.

Following dinner, our tour guide invited everyone into his room to try some rum and coke (from India). We joined along and chatted a bit with a few of the members in our tour group from Denmark. We learned a bit more about Danish culture and they learned a bit more about American culture from us. Then, it was time for bed, as we had an early-morning wake-up in store for our first safari day in India, where we would be hunting for a glimpse of the Indian Tiger.

Our Interesting First "Day" and Night in India!

Our flight arrived in Delhi at about 6:30am.  Needless to say, we did not get much sleep.  With the time change, we also lost about 1.5 hours – so, we were very, very tired.  But, we were excited to finally land - and be - in India!

We had purchased our visas for India before we left the USA, so we assumed it would probably be pretty easy to enter the country.  For once we were correct.  We were able to jump into the line for foreign arrivals, which was very short, and we got through in about 5 minutes.  From there, we needed to get our baggage which also came quickly.  We stopped at an ATM, then headed to the prepaid taxi operated by the Indian Police.  (Our tour company guide had suggested we use this option so we wouldn't overpay).  We showed the agent the name of the hotel and the address and paid the fee.  He gave us a receipt and told us we could hand it to any of the yellow and black taxis outside. 

We went outside the airport, found the section with the proper taxis, and gave our receipt to an official who demanded it, who in turn assigned us a driver after an active discussion in Hindi.  The car was decrepit, with no seat belts and a non-working trunk.  Once we accelerated, we forgot about the shape of the car's interior, and started worrying more about what would happen to the exterior in the event of an accident.  We had been warned that the traffic in India is crazy – and, it was.  First of all, the driver sits on the right side of the car (as they do in the United Kingdom), and they drive in the left side of the road.  However, people drive all over the streets paying little attention to any rules or markings on the roads.  They honk constantly, they yell, and they ride in various forms of transport in the same streets (cars, bicycles, rickshaws, and motorcycles).  Two-lane roads become 5-lane roads, and there might be 7 cars jockying for position for two lanes at any given time.  There is no way to really describe it other than to say it is crazy!

About 5 minutes into the journey, the taxi driver told us he didn't know where the hotel was.  The situation was very similar to what happened to us in Egypt.  We were both really anxious to get to the hotel because we wanted to catch our tour group before they left for the day.  The driver began yelling out the window trying to ask other drivers and people on the street if they knew where the hotel was.  We stopped at once place and the driver left us alone in the car while he asked for directions.  He came back and seemed confident, but he still was lost.  At one point, we both saw a place named “Good Times Hotel,” which was the name of our hotel.  James pointed it out to the driver and he told us that it was not our hotel.  We showed the driver the name of our hotel, and realized where the confusion came from.  The driver thought that our hotel was called, “Joining Hotel,” which were the instructions above the hotel name and address - the hotel where the group would "join" - at the Good Times otel.  We did our best to explain that no, our hotel was not called the joining hotel, but rather The Good Times Hotel.  So, he took us back to where we originally thought we should have been.

The Good Times Hotel...apparently a bit difficult to find.

Unfortunately, our tour group had left at about 7:45am, or about 30 minutes before we arrived!  We were pretty disappointed that we missed them.  The hotel front desk staff was kind enough to call our tour guide on the phone for us, and we explained to him that we had finally arrived at the hotel.  He said that the group would be coming back to the hotel around noon to get their belongings before boarding an overnight train, so if we waited at the hotel we could meet up with everyone then.  So, we did.  We checked into our room, showered, reorganized our luggage a bit, and slept for about 2 hours.  We returned to the reception area around 12pm and waited a bit for our group.  While we were waiting, we noticed the power went out a few times and then came back on.  These types of “brown-outs” are common in India (and areas where the electricity grid is overused).  When our group arrived at the hotel, we introduced ourselves and ate a quick lunch with them before getting into a taxi and heading to the Nizamuddin train station. 

The shower in the Good Times hotel.  In India, most Indians use buckets in the showers for bathing. 

Once we arrived at the train station, our tour guide suggested that we all order food to take with us on the train because it was a long journey.  So, we went into a restaurant and did our best to order.  It was quite difficult because we couldn't really decipher what anything was.  I think many of our fellow tour members had the same problems that we did in figuring out what things were and how exactly to order.  In the end, as we did in Egypt, we just tried to order something in the hopes we would have enough food we could eat.

The chaotic Hazrat Nizamuddin train station.

Erin tries to decipher what the foods are before she orders at the Indian restaurant.

After everyone had gotten food, we headed toward the train.  As soon as we saw the train, we were both a bit nervous.  We could tell that the train was very old and quite dirty.  We walked all the way to the end of the train where the sleeper cars were and boarded.  We had seats 61 and 62 on the train, which were at the very end of the car near the door.  At this point, and after an overnight bus in England, 5 overnight trains in Europe and one overnight train in Egypt, we felt like we had seen how tough public transportation could get.  India wins the "toughness" battle, hands-down, and we knew we were in the "upper class" cabins besides!

When we boarded there were already a number of people sitting in our section; a woman, a man, a small girl, and an elderly gentleman.  There wasn't really much room for any of our luggage, so we placed it on the top bunk because no one was using the bunk at the moment.  The mother of the little girl spoke some English, so we tried to communicate with her a little bit.  She asked where we were from and where we were going. 

A few minutes later, a number of men from the Indian army (but mostly in civilian clothes) who had been sitting in nearby cars staring shoving their luggage around us and underneath us.  They had huge boxes full of things, easily three or four per-person.  We initally had no idea what they were, but it was interesting to watch them scurry to find places for things. Soon, we were cramped into our seats and the train was leaving the station.  James broke the ice further by offering the little girl (who we found out was 2-years old), a piece of his candy.  The woman and her family then offered us some sweets to try, so we kindly accepted. 

Erin began to get sleepy around 5pm (it was dark, and we had last slept on the plane) and ate her dinner.   James kindly put sheets on the bunks for us and then ate his dinner as well.  We decided to sleep with our luggage in our beds because there wasn't really any room for them anywhere else and that way, we wouldn't have to worry about anyone stealing anything from us.  Because we were going to bed earlier than anyone else in our section, we asked if it would be ok if we used the top bunks (even though they weren't our assigned seats). 

On a side note, the top bunks are usually the least desirable on a train because it is difficult to get up and down, and you cannot store your luggage under your bed.  Usually, once you are up, you are up and can't get down that easily.  In addition to suiting our needs, we also thought this might be more convenient for the family with the small child.  They agreed, and we climbed up into our bunks.  We did our best to pretend things weren't as gross and dirty as they were.  We were very tired, so it helped matters significantly.  Within 15 minutes of lying down, Erin was fast asleep.  James watched a movie on his ipod and eventually fell asleep too and we spent our first night in India not-so-gently rocked to sleep with earplugs in our ears. 

James squished into his top bunk on the train.

Erin in her seat on the train...it would have been a very uncomfortable ride for someone taller.

The beautiful air vent that was right by James's head as he slept.  Looks inviting, doesn't it?

A Disappointing Day in Dubai's Airport

Today was our last day in Dubai, so we wanted to make the most of it.  Erin got up early, and used the internet to do some work, taking advantage of a connection with actual bandwith.  She then headed down the gym and worked out.  She knew this would probably be her last time to get some exercise in an actual gym for months, so she really wanted to make the most of it.  When she returned to the hotel room, James had just woken up.  We discussed the plan for the day and began packing up our bags again because we had to check out of the hotel by noon.

We packed everything up, and headed out in pursuit of the Bur Juman shopping mall.  We did our best to follow the map, but there was a little bit of confusion - and some detours - before we finally found it. The mall was incredibly large.  In fact, it was made up of three separate malls that had all been combined into a complex of over 130 stores.  We walked through each floor, stopping in only a few to browse.  One of the stores sold abayas - large, black cloaks worn by females over other clothing - in Iran, they are called chadors.  Despite the uniformity in base color - black, some of them are very ornate, and carry many different price ranges.  The workers at one store encouraged us to come in to browse (they were not very busy) and even convinced Erin to try one on.  It was, in a word, hot - even though the mall was air-conditioned mall - and Erin wondered how many of the women tolerated the desert heat in the outfits outside.  

Erin demonstrates the proper wearing of the abaya.

After the mall, we stopped at a very large Spinney's grocery store, where we purchased food for lunch – healthy salads and hummus.  (We decided to get lots of fresh vegetables before going to India because we knew we that in India, we wouldn't be able to eat much that wasn't cooked without getting sick).  We also stocked up on some last minute necessities for India: hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes, and toilet wipes. 

The Spinneys Store - immediately before the brief "rainstorm" we saw in Dubai.

Erin's choice of India supplies.

We stopped back in our hotel's lobby for some last-minute internet work while we ate our lunch, and then took the hotel's reserved taxi to the airport.  On the way, we saw the only rain we had seen in either Egypt or Dubai - a couple of drops, followed by more sun.  We had given ourselves about 3 hours before our international flight, but while that sometimes seems like too little time, in this case - well, it ended up being plenty.

We went in search of Air India's ticket counter, but here in Dubai, like in Egypt, we were required to go through security before reaching the ticket desk.  Once through, we met a young Indian man traveling home from Dubai who explained that the flight had been delayed - from 6:30 pm until 11:30 pm!  After waiting in a very long line, we reached a somewhat sympathetic clerk who confirmed the delay, and issued us our tickets.

So, 8 hours to kill in the Dubai airport... We wandered around, certainly taking our time.  There is a lot of duty-free shopping in the Dubai airport, unsurprising given the tenor of the city when it comes to the all-important shopping.  We had budgeted for the weekend with both the city tour and desert safari in mind when taking out money, and with the safari cancelled, we still had some money to spend.  We made one circuit through each of the stores, browsing the normal duty-free staples of candy, cigarettes and alcohol, in addition to jewlery, perfume, cell phone and electronics, sporting goods, and even tourist garb.  Erin could've bought an abaya there in the airport, but decided against it.  There was also a raffle in progress for a Mercedes Maybach that was valued (at least according to the organizers) at $1.6 million.  We opted against entering the contest, but were succesful in spending all of our Dubai (UAE) Dirhams on soda and candy.

Another note - while we've seen variations in airport luxury, Duai is certainly competitive with anything we've seen.  Again, we were unsurprised, but it was very pleasant to walk through - and given the time we had to kill there, we were very happy with the amenities.  There was even free, albeit sporadic, internet, so Erin could catch up on some of her work.

The interior of the Dubai airport.

The Mercedes Maybach we admired, but did not attempt to win.

One of the Dubai waiting lounges - notice the fully-reclined seats, a first in any airport weve seen.

The lion's share of our duty-free spending spree.

We were told the flight would board an hour before its scheduled departure, so we walked over to the gate around 10:00 in anticipation of our 10:30 boarding.  James spoke to the agent at the gate, who told him the flight was further delayed - now until 1:30 am.  James returned to Erin to let her know the update, but when they returned to the gate around 10:30 to confirm, there was no gate agent - just a group of passengers with little idea as to what was going on.  We then went to the information desk, who said that the flight was not delayed - and returned to the gate, where there was (a) no plane, (b) no agent, and (c) certainly no boarding.

There was no update on the gate or the airport monitors, but rumors started to percolate through the group of passengers.  Earlier in the evening, we were able to use our Air India tickets as vouchers to recieve a McChicken and a small drink from McDonald's as our "delay dinner."  The first new rumor stated that we could get a second meal due to the second delay.  James promptly ran to McDonald's to wait in the (now) long line for our food.  Another rumor then circulated, that the gate had moved, the flight was further delayed, and this gate was on the very opposite side of the airport.  Thus started a migration of passengers through the Dubai airport in search of any Air India personnel or further information.

The new gate was a mob scene - or near to it - when we arrived, with people pressed close to the ticket desk trying to determine exactly what was happenng, threatening action, or begging for upgrades.  Long story short, we boarded the flight around 2:00 am, and were airborne by 2:30.  The helpful flight attendents then served us our dinner, at 3:00 am, and we tried to get some sleep before tackling New Dehli - a day later than expected.

Despite the long delay, Erin is still happy to be finally on the plane.

Proof that our dinner was served around 3 am!

Dubai, the Jewel in the Desert

Our first official day in Dubai started off well.  James had arranged city and desert tours for us over the internet a few weeks before we arrived.  The company seemed a bit disorganized though, and they emailed us several times asking for us to confirm our booking and suggesting different prices each time.  They were supposed to pick us up at our hotel at 9am, so we were dressed and ready by then.  Around 9am, we received a call in our hotel room.  It was the tour group asking us what time we wanted them to pick us up.  James was a bit confused, and spoke with them to figure out what was going on.  We decided to only do the city tour and because there was a morning or afternoon option, we decided to take the later choice – which started at 2pm.

So, now we had a free morning.   We asked for a map at the front desk, and after looking at it, we decided to head down to the Dubai Creek.  Erin had a little bit of difficulty navigating at first.   She was using the compass to determine which direction we were going, but it was not correlating with things on the map.  James then pointed out the fact that the map used a different compass.  In Muslim countries, maps point towards Mecca, rather than north.  This was interesting and very confusing!  But, between the two of us, we figured out where to go and eventually made our way to the water.  Along the creek there are several souks (markets), so we wandered through the textile section.  We also made our way through the watch district.  We stopped in a few shopping malls as we passed.  We noticed there were many American food chains (McDonalds, Subway, Pizza Hut, Baskin Robbins, and Little Caesars).  Our friends Eunice and Luis had suggested that we stop at Spinney's, a large grocery store, for some general items we needed.  We were so excited as we entered the Spinney's – it was very large and filled with familiar products.  We were able to purchase some wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables as well some old favorites (diet coke and sugar-free redbull). 

James standing on the edge of the Dubai Creek.

A mosque across from the Dubai Creek. 

A view of the textile souk - there were plenty of beautiful materials to look at.

Lots of shoes (big and small!). 

From the grocery store, we headed back to the hotel and ate our lunch.  Soon it was about 2pm, and we met up with our tour guide who was waiting in the hotel lobby for us.  We didn't really know what to expect because we hadn't really seen an itinerary or anything.  We only knew the cost and the time frame.  We got into the tour van, and our driver took off.  He didn't really say anything to us at all, so we decided to initiate conversation.  We asked him if we were meeting up with other people.  In very poor English, we thought he said that we would not be meeting up with any other people.  We also asked where he was taking us.  He again responded, but we had no idea what he said.  So, we just sat back and took in the views.  Eventually, we ended up at the public beach.  We headed out to test the water and take in the views. 

Erin on the Persian Gulf Coast - quite beautiful!

Our next stop took us to Burj Al Arab.  Unfortunately, we could not go into the hotel without paying an entrance fee.  We did take a few pictures before moving on though.

Tabitha made friends with a small stuffed animal all the way from Germany while standing in front of Burj Al Arab.

We thought these two buildings resembled the Chrysler Building in New York. 

We next visited the Palm, the series of man-made islands that looks like a giant palm tree from above.  It was enormous - filled with high-rise apartments and numerous townhomes.  Our guide indicated (we think) that the Palm was finally opened for residences only a year ago.  At the very end of the palm is the the Atlantis Resort, where we stopped in for a few minutes to look around.

The ceiling inside the Atlantis Resort - was extremely colorful.

Inside the Atlantis Resort, there is an aquarium where you can swim with dolphins!

The outside view of the Atlantis Resort - which is located along the Palm Jumeirah islands.

Next, we headed to the Mall of the Emirates, which is one of the largest malls in the entire world!  We really wanted to go because we wanted to see the ski slopes that are inside the mall.

The Dubai skyline as we were driving towards the Mall of the Emirates.

The ski slope inside the mall!

If you look closely, you can see the chairlift taking people up the hill.


Our final stop took us to see the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. 

Tabitha in front of Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

After our tour, we headed back to the hotel.

James standing in front of our tour van.

When we returned to our hotel, it was already dark.  We ate dinner together in our hotel room.  We also tried to call our families using the internet, however, it was prohibited in Dubai.  The United Arab Emirates (UAE), blocks certain programs that they cannot monitor directly - as they regulate Internet use to prohibit a variety of potential religious and societal violations.  You may recall a few months ago, the UAE tried to ban the use of Blackberrys for this very reason.  While we were happy we had internet, we were disappointed we couldn't contact our families. 

Our hotel had a gym - the only hotel with a gym in our entire trip.  Needless to say, Erin was incredibly excited.  She left James in the lobby where he could use the internet and headed down to the gym. After Erin's workout, we headed back down to our room, where Erin did a load of laundry in the washing machine in our room, while James watched a movie on TV.  In Dubai, there were many American tv channels, so it was fun to watch a movie – even though it was a movie we probably wouldn't have chosen on our own (Training Day).  Soon, the laundry was done, so we used our clothes lines and hung up all of the clothing in hopes that it would dry overnight.  By this time, it was after midnight, so we headed to bed.