Day 1 in Dubai

After a 13 hour flight from Melbourne to Dubai, we arrived around midnight and stepped into the pressure-cooker atmosphere of this city that sits on the edge of the Persian Gulf.  The Qantas flight, God bless 'em, had been so much better than last year's flight on Virgin Atlantic.  We were comfortable!  The Dubai Airport is a surprise, with its forest of shimmering bright pillars, row after row, that dominate the arrivals hall, more than hinting at the amount of wealth there might be in this small corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

Jean and I didn't hurry to get out of bed this morning.  After we finally did, we taxied to the Dubai Mall, where there is a large aquarium (saw a grey nurse shark), an ice skating rink, and which Jean thinks looks like Westfield Bondi on steroids.  We saw the Dubai Fountain in action, which I've put on FB, have had an avocado milkshake, and have now returned to the hotel in preparation for tonight.  We are going on a four-wheel drive desert safari and dinner in a desert oasis.

The taxi driver said it was 41 degrees.  It is very hot.  You could not walk a couple of streets here.

The Arab men look good in their gleaming white robes, which stretch to the ground, and their equally gleaming white head scarves with black coil on top.  These all have names, but I've forgotten already.