Paraty (Brasil) - Dubai (United Arab Emirates) - Sydney (Australia)
09 - 14 January 2012
09 - 14 January 2012
Dubai is one of those places where the boundaries of absurd and the crazy are constantly reformulated by the key components of imagination and money. When they interact it's done in an environment of high paced frenzied construction, under a blistering Arabian sun which seems to have permanent residence on the Persian Gulf and of course utilising physical labour borrowed from its sub-continental cousins. It's a city that has undergone prodigious transformation over the last 30 years. From what was known as nothing more than a glorified fishing port, what was once just an Arabian backwater has turned into a town that's fuelled by slick oil money. It's a place that has exploited its own resources with a ridiculous degree of success and with even more ridiculous outcomes. To me however I still don't get how you exactly decide to build a massive palm tree of sand, soil and substance into the Persian Gulf? How do you decide that constructing the tallest building in the world will garner the elements needed so as to be one of the keys to your economic success? So it's 50 degrees outside? No problems we say, Ski Dubai inside in -2 degree temperatures and go year round boarding/skiing. In Dubai the rules don't apply, well, they didn't apply prior to 2009. It's a funny thing how economic karma can truly be a bitch! But I'll get back to that.
Dubai - United Arab Emirates
On the dunes - Dubai - United Arab Emirates (awesome shot JJ!)
We left the laid back Paraty in our travel dust sometime around mid-afternoon and headed back up the coast to Rio. Our late night flight to Dubai (actually it was close to 3am when we left), was still hours away, so too was the bus station. The central bus station in Rio is an inconvenient amount of time from anywhere that you would like to be, which means there's a catch to arriving in that period of indetermination when you can't quite find the sense in travelling to get somewhere else, i.e., Copacabana, only to turn around and come back almost immediately. Our last few hours in Rio involved blank stares, white tiled floors with the pungent smell of ammonia, and an ordinary game of football between Botofogo and some other humdrum local side. Our time at the airport was just as 'extraordinary', so lets roll forwards about 15 hours.....
Rio International Airport - Frichot getting ready for the ride back - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
Cruising through an early Dubai evening and gliding along Sheikh Zayed Rd kind of reminded me of Bill Murray's character, Bob Harris, in Lost in Translation. Not that I think that I'm past my prime as yet! Just that I remember his character silently moving through the evening as the circus which is Tokyo completely surrounds him with its cacophony of bright lights and human movement. Dubai is like that, constant construction, tunnels of high rise advertisements dedicated to its commercial success, bright lights, constant movement. I've always enjoyed arriving to unfamiliar or relatively unfamiliar surrounds at night. The night wraps you with its own cloak of apprehension and burdens you  with an uneasy expectation.
Welcome to the Kempinski Mr.Elisher
Sunrise in Dubai - United Arab Emirates
The main run of Ski Dubai, from the OUTSIDE! This is as close as we got!
Our digs for our short stay in Dubai was to be the Kempinski Hotel at the Mall of the Emirates, chosen for two reasons primarily. The first being that Ski Dubai is actually part of the complex and the second being that it had a range of bars that wouldn't involve for than a short transfer between floors and an equally short walk. Really, how can you go past a bar that's named Mosaic Chill? It's got to be worth a visit or several right? Oh, and being a little 'swanky' I really wanted to see what sort of reception Frichot's hairstyle would receive - if it was going to be anything like Vietnam then this guy was going to be the next Rock God in the U.A.E!
Frichot and his new groupies - Mall of the Emirates - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Jet lag sometimes catches you unaware. Even when sleep isn't the foremost thing on your mind the lethargy and slowness that inhabits your bones just crushes any sort of drive that you might have to do something moderately adventurous. In those first two days we somehow managed to ditch Ski Dubai on several occasions as our drive just didn't match the grand state of our ideas. It was disappointing that we didn't somehow syphon our collective fortitude and deposit it into a chilled experience that was virtually on our doorstep. We did manage to capture Frichot downing some ridiculously named and constructed burgers in the Mall of the Emirates and also managed to get to the tallest building on the planet, the 829.84mtr tall Burj Khalifa (also known as the 'Durqa Durqa' or 'Durka Durka' in Frichot parlance). Somehow however our mojo had been soaked up by the 14hr interchange between Rio and Dubai, and all those amazing bars that I had in my mind to attack would have to wait until another date of arrival. For an Islamic state, a fairly liberal one admittedly, there number of 'great' bars in this town is unbelievable. Almost worth the price of entry to Dubai just for that.
The Burj Khalifa, all 829.84mtrs of it - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Don't get Frichot angry - he takes out buildings!
The Burj Khalifa at night - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Frichot with more mates!
Victory at the Burj!
Our nights were successfully spent inhabiting the Mosaic Chill bar at the Kempinski in any case. I guess if you don't have it within you to search for glory then you might as well bring it into your house. It's kind of a shame, I did have us locked into the a drinks evening at the Burj Al Arab Skybar for our second night, but those plans also managed to float out into the Persian Gulf somewhere along the line.
Mosaic Bar - Kempinski Hotel - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
As is the occurrence on most holidays, the end dawns all too quickly and this was to be no exception. Our last full day was spent on a 4WD safari, 'dune bashing' in the waves of sand that reside a short ride away from the city centre. None too surprising really, this is the Arabian peninsula and desert country is kind of the norm in these parts. At least we managed to 'get up' for that event, even though it didn't involve us doing too much more than sitting in the seats of vehicle whilst the driver tried to his best to roll his vehicle on the dunes. Of course it didn't happen but man I would have love to have seen it.
Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Dune bashing - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Sunset over the dunes - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
Dubai - United Arab Emirates
A few hours later we were back at Al Maktoum international airport, already reminiscing and dreaming up possibilities for future escapades....'43: The tour of awesome' had come to a close and it had been a blast. As I've already mentioned I'm sure, I feel more than lucky to have been able to finish off part of what I wanted to do/see back in 2010 and to have done it with some great friends...and as for my next escapade? Well watch this space? A friend of mine recently said that I seem to be able to put things out into the universe and oddly enough it appears to listen and respond. So I've put my request in and I've got the sneaking suspicion that I could be away shortly!
...and that's a wrap folks!!!!
