Dubai part 2

Currently in Madrid Spain, but thought I would upload a few more photos from Dubai. I didn´t take enough pictures while there, but I will share the few I have that I feel are worth sharing.

This is a gentleman´s salon. The sign reads "touches gents saloon" not sure what they were going for here.

The river and boat moorings near the Spice Souk (a souk is a market)

Spices. The Sìce Souk smells amazing to say the least, clove, coriander and nutmeg fill the air. It almost makes your nostrils ache from the sensory overload in dry desert heat of the Arabian Peninsula.

A simple salad starter with lemon and fresh figs.

At a Somolian restaraunt, I got rice fried with clove, chicken with red curry spices, potato and carrot with curry. It smelled amazing and the photo doesn´t do justice to how massive these plates were. Everyone was eating with thier hands, so I did the same, untill it came time to eat the rice.

This sign reads "carrying fish is not allowed on metro." From a western point of view, Dubai is a little strict with laws, I´m sure the penalty is not worth it, so I didnt bring any fish on the metro.

The Grand Mosque of Jumeirah reaching up to the moon.

A view of the Burj Al Arab Hotel from the beach. This hotel is the only 7 star hotel in the world and offers rooms for up to $40,000 per night. I would have stayed here, but decided the $27 a night hotel was more my style.

 Here´s another view. Notice the Farrari and the classic Cadillac arriving.

Dubai has very wide streets, and some very wide sidewalks as well. (yes that is a sidewalk)

 

I really cant say enough about Dubai. It is the most over the top city I have ever seen. As I said before, its kind of like Las Vegas except without the booze and gambling. The government has money, and spends it on the infrastructure and the people. Native born people are given plots of land for free and build amazing multi-million dollar villas on loans which are sometimes forgiven before they are paid in full. There are luxury cars everywhere, and the oldest car you will see on the road is not more than a few years old. I felt like the rich kid in Thailand, but in Dubai, I felta bit poor.

The locals that are actually born in Dubai are outnumbered by immigrants something like 7 to 1 (not sure how accurate that number is). This means it is a very multicultural city, and offers quite a bit of everything. Most of the biggest brands in the world have a presence here, even dunkin donuts.

Hopefully I can make it back there someday, I feel like my week in Dubai only scratched the surface.

My next post will be from Madrid, Spain.

Dubai

Im in Dubai!

It is amazing here. It is THE cleanest city I have ever seen, the streets are as wide as highways, and the architecture is amazing. Dubai boast the worlds tallest tower (I think Singapore has a taller building in the works), man made islands, spectacular hotels and a very slick, fast and clean infrastructure.

People are very friendly in general, most everyone I've spoken to understands English it seems, but I've only asked for directions from people who have limited English. Asking for directions has proved to be a challenge, but usually ends in me and the person I asked laughing because we realize there is no chance of understanding each other. Understand that I've only been here two days and am not trying to make any judgments or sweeping generalizations.

The clothes people wear in Dubai are nothing short of amazing. Most of the population is dressed in western clothing, but everyone is in button up shirts and suits, and women dress very conservatively. The other folks dress in traditional Arab or Muslim attire. It is really cool to see women and men in traditional dress. Also a bit strange for my western eyes to see people in traditional dress walking around a shopping mall and stopping by stores like Ralph Lauren and Columbia Sportswear.

In case you didn't know the difference in traditional Muslim attire for women, this illustration may help. Many Americans think the headscarf is called a burka, but it is actually called a hijab. The burka is the black cloak with face scarf. Women wear headscarves based on their personal Muslim beliefs, but many (in cities like Dubai anyway) also accessorize their hijab and assert individuality and fashion sense. Women are not forced to wear them, especially in Dubai, and these clothes do not oppress women at all. Just my two cents, and am speaking about Dubai, not the rest of the world.

The Arab "robe" that men wear is traditional but is not necessarily connected to religion, it is simply traditional and works well for comfort in the desert climate. They do have quite a few variations though. They look very regal and very comfortable to boot.

I read a nice blog post about traditional dress, and if interested, it is worth a read. Although I cannot vouch for her accuracy, it is a good read.

I'm not the authority on the subject of Middle Eastern Religion or culture, but did a little reading and wanted to pass on the basic info for those interested. Feel free to let me know if I left something important out.

Lets move beyond the clothes now...

Here is a view of the Burj Dubai. It is currently the worlds tallest Building, although Singapore is building one taller I believe. It is approximately 2,625 feet tall. In other terms it is a quarter mile tall, or twice the height of the Empire State Building in New York.

Next to the Burj Dubai is the Dubai Mall. It has some spectacular fountains outside which put on a show to music much like the Fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. I would say the Bellagio does a better job syncing the fountains to the music, but this fountain is still pretty spectacular.

 The mall is crazy big (4th largest in the world) and has an aquarium, ice skating rink, a theme park, a five star hotel, and even a grocery store. Its not just big though, it is very high tech, it even has a retractable roof over part of it. It has over 1200 stores, some of which are huge themselves.  I was wondering where the Dubai Mall stood as far as the worlds biggest malls, and my findings were surprising, if you are interested in that sort of thing read this page.

Part of the Aquarium.

 Ice skating rink in the mall.

 This is a fountain.

Not sure what is going on with this arcade game but you sit on a toilet and shoot at feet with water.

Some of you know by now that I like to eat weird things while I travel... so I couldn't resist this "fruit bread." It is a very small loaf, and at first glance appears to have jello in the bread itself. So I looked at the ingredients, and the last ingredient is listed as "tutti fruty." Besides the classic song by little richard, I had never heard of "tutti fruty" before so I bought it to give it a go.

 After eating it, still not sure exactly what it is. It tastes and resembles very soft Jujy Fruit candies and raisins all packed into a tiny loaf of buttery bread. It was tasty, but a bit on the dry side.

Its only been two days in Dubai, more to come later.

Thailand Part 2

It has been raining quite a bit in Thailand recently, and I thought I would take this opportunity to update my blog. I'm currently in Krabi Town of Southern Thailand at the Pak-Up hostel. Only $7 a night and one of the nicest places I've stayed so far.

Being a food tourist of sorts, I had to try these chips. Spicy shrimp flavor. They weren't bad, but definitely not gourmet. Good crunch, very greasy and too much salt. Pretty much like putting the flavor packet from shrimp ramen on Lays original.

 In a hurry I had to pick up breakfast at 7-11 before my bus to Krabi. This is packaged toast with strawberry jam. It was actually very tasty, and I wished I had bought two.

Once in Krabi and waiting out the rain I took a day trip to Railay beach. The trip was in a long tail boat and took about 45 minutes.

Once on Railay, I hiked around, saw the wonderful beaches, checked out some caves and to break it up, went for a swim between each activity, because the heat was a bit oppressive.

Here's the sign at the trailhead to a viewpoint on Railay. This sign was an understatement.

It may be hard too see, but the trail is near vertical and is covered in a very slick clay mud. There are a few muddy ropes to help you along, but the best route was usually the least muddy and therefor not following the roped off route.

 A viewpoint from the top.

 Mud.

Railay has white sand on one side and mangroves on the other. Heres a few of the rockier mangroves.

A tractor brings some passengers ashore from the eastern beach.

R

A View of Railay West and the cliffs that surround it. The caves here are really cool and worth checking out.

The next day without rain I jumped on a local bus and went to check out a temple (Tigers Cave) and climb to the top of a mountain.

Here's the sign at the base of the hill.

The 1237 step thing is a bit misleading because some of the steps are a little steep to say the least.

 There are multiple shrines along the way.

 A view from the top.

A massive Buddha rests on top of the mountain. Notice the man below him for scale. It is a sacred place and a nice place to hang out and think about things.

My next stop was a forest park with a Jungle hike and several caves.

There were some very cool plant life along the trail including some old growth rainforest trees. The noise of the birds was awesome, and really made me feel like I had stepped into the Amazon.

 Shrines are in many of the caves and you will see monks walking around or praying silently in the lotus position. Out of respect I didn't take any pictures of the monks, but snapped a few pictures of the caves and shrines when nobody was around.

 A cave entrance.

 Me in front of "Big Tree" (note the sign)

 Monkeys were everywhere, but the pictures came out blurry. I saw one steal a guys water bottle from the outside of his backpack. Always be suspicious of monkeys, mischievous buggers.

These chickens were ginormous.

This chicken was Delicious. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thai freedom salchichas.  (bacon wrapped hotdogs for those unfamiliar)

Mai Thais with the guys from my hostel room.

The house band at Pak-Up Hostel. They are really good actually and play quite a few American songs with their own style.

There you have it, Krabi Thailand. I'm staying here a few more days and will be doing a trip to a couple more islands. Rain or shine, I'll post more pictures as I take them.


Much love to my friends and family stateside.

My next post will likely be from Bankok or Dubai!

Thailand Part One

I have been in Phuket Province, Thailand for a few Days now and have found it to be everything they say; people are friendly, the scenery is beautiful and the food is amazing. I'm finally at an internet cafe capable of uploading pictures so here it goes.

Thailand is hot. Doesn't matter what time of year, it's always hot. After a long flight and hiking in the heat, it is important to hydrate. A coconut freshly lopped open before your eyes will run you about 20 baht ($0.66)

 

My current accommodation for the weekend is $23 a night and includes a king size bed, A/C, a swimming pool and free wifi internet. It far from the main tourist areas, and I like it that way. Here's the view out the balcony. Next week my accommodation will be a Hostel in Krabi for $7 a night. (lets hope it's decent).

Yesterday, I took a boat trip to a few islands. The tour was in a crazy fast jet boat and stopped at five islands and provided lunch and we had the freedom to do what we wanted when the boat was in port. This is one of the more secluded islands and offered sunbaithing or snorkeling, whichever you prefer.

A view from the ocean as I was snorkeling around one of the islands.

Not sure what this is. It looked alive though and not a fishing lure as it appears in the photo. It was over ten feet down and my camera only has a waterproof rating to ten feet, so I didn't dare dive down all the way.

Sea cucumbers.

Do you see it? Master of camouflage.

Needle fish I believe.

 

Dragon fruit and other local varieties. What we consider "exotic" can be found in street stands everywhere.

Most of the islands near Thailand has sheer limestone cliffs. Its very hard not to look up while walking around.

 

This sign was funny at first, until I saw a few monkeys behaving badly. They were all fat a grumpy. Way overfed and obviously sick of tourists. I have a video of a monkey poking a guy in the eye that I will hopefully be able to upload later.

  

This monkey was looking for trouble.

 

 "Bananas again?"

"Viking Cave"

Watch out for these.

This is waht it looks like when a bunch of tourists bring a banana into the water.

 

Snorkel roots.

 

These people are waiting in line to take a picture of a beach. It must have been pretty cool, but I think it was just a line attracting a mob of people. With limited time and my boat leaving in half an hour I decided to hike around instead.

The guy on the boat said we could trek the the "rainforest". I started walking through the sparse woods and saw a few planted trees including rubber (an agricultural tree planted everywhere). It was pretty, but definitely not dense enough to be called a rainforest.

One the way back to the boat there is a restroom in the rainforest. The urinals are built into the cliffs. If you look up while peeing, it is a seventy foot cliff above you.

Red curry with a Thai beer. Delicous and only cost 140 baht (about $4.50)

In the back of a Tuk-Tuk. Though this is not a true tuk-tuk as it is not a tiny red pickup truck blaring crazy music and flying through intersections fearlessly.

 

Pork spring roll. The sauce was a bit sweet , but this was the one thing I ordered from the touristy shopping center, so I knew it couldn't be as good as the street food.

Yes, this is a shooting cafe in a shopping center. It is in a very small building too. I would be very surprised if this was allowed in many other countries.

 Banana crepe only 20 baht ($0.66)

 Fried garlic pepper shrimp. That is all fried garlic on the spring, not rice. It was amazing to say the least. (not sure why the photo is sideways, sorry bout that)

Well Thailand has been awesome so far. The only mishap so far is losing my debit card temporarily. I put it in an ATM and it ate it and wouldn't give it back. Good thing I have a couple extra credit cards and a mom and sister who were willing to wire me cash if needed.

I have avoided the crazy nightlife for the most part to try and save money, but the few bars I've been to have all been tourists. Besides getting a drink at a bar near the beach, things are pretty cheap here despite being a touristy area, (a meal and a beer is about $6, and a taxi anywhere around town is about the same) but it is still easy to spend money, because the food is so good, the shops are cheap and my guesthouse is far from the town center.

Patong beach is especially touristy, and besides walking down the boardwalk, I have avoided it altogether. Also, while walking down the streets every ten feet or less someone stops you and hassles you to buy a suit, or take a taxi instead of walking, or to get a massage. The massage girls literally grab you and try to bring you into their massage lair. Cheap massages are nice, being hassled about it is not.

My best moments in Thailand so far couldn't be photographed, because they were the moments where I found myself chatting with the very friendly locals about anything and everything. A smile gets you really far, and people are always friendly, even if they can't make a buck from you. Thai ladies love to smile at you and Thai men aren't afraid of shaking your hand and patting you on the back. Everyone is throwing compliments everywhere. It's really cool, and quite refreshing how nice people are..

Next week I go to Krabi and will be trying to do some rainforest trekking and waterfall swimming.

I hope you enjoyed this installment. I've done so much stuff, I only posted what I thought other people would be interested in. Questions and comments are always welcome!