After breakfast this morning we headed out to take the Dubai Hop On Hop Off bus. There was a cruise shuttle parked right outside the terminal which took us to the Dubai Mall. There we switched to the Red Line Tour bus for a 2 hour snap shot of Historic Dubai.
Here are a couple of pictures of the Burj Khalifa taken on the tour.
The Dubai Mall is the largest in the Middle East with over 1,000 stores, an ice-skating rink and an aquarium.
This was the textile souk.
We got back to the ship around 2:00 pm, had lunch and got ready for our dinner in the desert tour. Ahid from Beyond The Dunes picked us up at the cruise terminal at 4:30 pm and we headed out for the 1 hour drive into the red sand part of the desert in his F150. On the way Ahid got a phone call from his assistant who was setting up the camp for our dinner. There had been a sand storm yesterday and the tents and cushions were buried! We drove to Ahid's home to pick up the extra cushions he keeps in storage there and headed out again. At the edge of the desert we stopped and he deflated the tires. We headed out across the dunes. It was like a roller coaster ride. Awesome!
Here are a couple of pictures of the desert.
Here is a picture of the sunset we enjoyed while sipping sparkling wine.
Here is a picture of our dining table.
The meal was delicious! Barbecued lamb chops and chicken, hummus, baba ganoush, olive salad, green salad served with an Australian merlot. We sat around the camp fire after dinner and watched the stars. It was a magical experience!
We got back to the ship around 10:30 pm. What a wonderful day!
Tomorrow we sail from Dubai at 7:00 am for another sea day.
