April 4

4-4: Yesterday about 2 we pulled out of Dubai and headed back through the Straits of Hormuz on our way to Salalah where we will see our cousin, Starr! Our time in Dubai was very nice. It is a beautiful city - very clean and modern. The first day we did not really have time for a tour because we were having the “big to-do” for the World Cruisers and needed to be formally dressed by 5! Yippee - another formal occasion! So we went on the shuttle bus which took us to a big mall - surprise! It was a beautiful mall - 3 stories - hundreds of upscale stores BUT shopping in Saks was not why I ended up in Dubai. And it seems that it is just one of many many huge upscale malls in Dubai - there is even one with an indoor ski slope - yep, ski slope. It snows in the building everyday and has lifts and when you pay to ski it includes clothes as well as boots and skis! The picture that looks like the beginning of an aluminum tunnel to Mars is the indoor ski run! So we wandered a bit and then took the shuttle back to the ship in time for lunch. We spent the afternoon reading on deck. Actually - it was a cloudy day - about 82 or so. Our guide said we were in port the 2 cloudy days of the year! The party was very nice - at some fancy hotel - though not the one that looks like a sail. The cocktail party was out on a patio and they had camels and falcons and people smoking apples in hookahs. It was great. We really enjoyed it. Dinner was okay but we figured we would have been just as happy to go back to the hotel after the cocktail party. The next morning we had a tour called Old and New Dubai and it was a great tour. First we went out to a place on one of the few public beaches (you realize the Arab woman have their own beach and certain times when they are allowed to go there) where we could take pictures of the sail hotel. You can’t just go into the hotel - you have to have reservations for something like the $70 per person afternoon tea or $10,000 per night Presidential Suite! Then we went to take pictures of a mosque which was very pretty. Then we went to a village that has been preserved - or rebuilt - on the riverfront to show what life had been like and to the museum which was really great. It was built in what remained of the old fort which had been built with coral bricks! The museum was wonderful - amazing what oodles of oil money can do - the city really is amazing. But over 80% of the people who live in Dubai are ex-pats - only 20% are actually from the UAE. But the ex-pats are not allowed to own property within the city. After the museum we boarded small water taxis that took us across Dubai Creek to the suqs - we first saw the Spice Suq which really smelled good and then went to the Gold Suq. Hundreds of small stores selling all kinds of gold jewelry! However, it was not inexpensive so we did not partake! And besides that it is one of these bargaining places so I always feel like I have been taken if I buy something - okay for $5 souvenirs but not $300 bracelets! All in all we were very impressed with Dubai. BUT the most exciting thing that happened was while we were having our before dinner beers in the Chart Room. I had gone to the window to see if it was land or cloud banks I could see in the distance and what did I see but 7 small speed boats heading for us at breakneck speed! Scared us to death - they just kept coming and one guy finally waved and I hoped he wasn’t greeting Allah! Our first thought was terrorism - I relaxed a little after I saw that a couple of the men had life preservers on - figured suicide bombers wouldn’t be wearing life vests! But it really did shake us up - they got very close and then split up, some going in front of the ship and some behind! Needed another beer before dinner after that!