The capital of the world

With Dubai only a two hour bus ride away and the chance of never returning to the middle east again, we had to make the trip.  But after both struggling to sleep last night, we had yet another late wake up.  When we originally checked into the hotel, they comped us one breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, which is awesome, but would have been way more awesome if it was for both of us.  So we’ve been taking turns eating meals alone, attempting to sneak a snack up to the room for the other.  How college dining hall is that?

After getting ready, we took a cab down to the bus station. The trip to Dubai was only 50 Dirham round trip, which is incredibly cheap compared to similar transportation in the U.K.  When we arrived at the station, we were surprised to see no bus times or schedules anywhere.  We went to the information desk, bought our tickets, and were told to wait outside for the bus.  Turns out, boarding a bus from Abu Dhabi to Dubai is like waiting for train in Penn Station.  The tickets have no times on them so whenever a bus arrives, it’s a mad rush to board.  If you don’t get on that one, you’ll just have to wait for the next one.  They run every 20 to 30 minutes so the wait in between buses isn’t too bad.  Oh, and ladies, you’ll love this one.  After a massive crowd had gathered around the bus, security began dividing the crowd into two groups; men and women/children.  After all the women and children have boarded, regardless of the amount of buses they fill, the men are  allowed to get on. Unless no other seats remain, women and men are typically forbidden from sitting next to each other on buses.  It seemed pretty strange but after spending the past couple days in the U.A.E., it’s very apparent how different women are treated here than in the United States.

We finally got to Dubai around 4 P.M. and decided to go see the Dubai Mall first.  One of the largest in the world, the mall includes an aquarium, iceskating rink, movie theatre and an underwater zoo.  After walking around for a bit and realizing there was nothing we could afford in any of the stores, we went to Burger King where I had the best double whopper I’ve ever had.  After scarfing that down, we wanted to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest man-made structure standing almost 1,300 feet taller than New York’s Empire State Building.  We eventually found out that getting to the top would cost 400 Dirham ($110), but could’ve cost 100 Dirham had we booked online in advance.  You win some you lose some.  We stayed around the mall and watched the sunset over a water show very similar to the Bellagio’s.

Before returning to Au Dhabi for the night, we made a quick stop at the Dubai Marina, which is comparable to most I’ve seen, except surrounded by beautifully lit skyscrapers, if that makes any sense at all.  Here’s a photo so you guys can get what I’m talking about.

Tomorrow is our last day in Abu Dhabi and we’re trekking into the Liwa desert for a day long safari.  It should be awesome and I cannot wait to ride a camel!