Both of us had restless nights, waking hourly and so by 3.45am we were both wide awake. We showered and dressed and were ready to go by the time our wake-up call came from reception. We headed down for early breakfast – available from 4am – just tea/coffee and croissants, and the bus arrived fifteen minutes early. I had to run upstairs to pick up my phone which was on charge. The battery had run down overnight – dammed thing. I am having to recharge at least twice a day, not sure why, as I have turned off all the applications and am keeping it off-line. There was a couple already on the bus when we got on and we picked up an Australian family of four and proceeded to drive out of the city to meet another van load before heading out to the desert. We were quickly briefed on safety procedures and the landing procedure before jumping in the basket – all 24 of us and off we took. We shared our corner of the basket with a guy from France and a couple of girls from Baharain – quite delightful they were – quite scared to start, and terrified as we came in to land. It was great chatting with them when we got back onto firm land. One of them is married (and she added unfortunately and when we asked if it was an arranged marriage she replied no her choice, but it is only after marriage that you find out what someone is really like – ain’t that the truth and appears to be a universal problem) She works at the airport and she is in charge of flight scheduling. Her friend, single and vowed to remain that way, works for a tele-communications company handling all the complaints. This is their second trip together to Dubai. The balloon ride was fabulous, very smooth, it was a still calm morning and although cool before we got in, it soon warmed up from the heat of the hot air. It was very cosy, not a lot of room to move about. The sunrise was beautiful but not as dramatic a colour as our sunrises in New Zealand – not as red across the horizon. The landscape was just as I expected it to be and we flew at about 3-4000 feet above sea level.

The landing was very bumpy – we came in at about 20kph and the basket tipped on it’s side – the pilot hadn’t warned us of that and we certainly weren’t expecting it. The pilot jumped out and took a photo of us all hanging on for grim death. And so, the flight, like all good things, was over too soon. By 8am we were back on the road again. Of course we ordered the traditional tourist photo of the flight and the landing which cost me $US30. It was a very quiet group on the ride back to town. Not one person spoke and the driver was very erratic. A couple of the passengers, including Narms were feeling a bit motion-sick . and by the time we got back to the Hotel around 10am Narms was feeling rather poorly with a migraine and carsick feeling, so she put herself straight to bed and said she was going to lie low for a couple of hours. I went downstairs for a coffee and croissant and got chatting to a young Iranian man who joined my table. We chatted about his life and how difficult everything is for an Iranian. He wants to set up a transport business with his brother here in Dubai but cannot get a visa to stay here. He said that most countries make it very difficult for them to enter. Made me realise how very lucky we are to be New Zealanders.. We so take life for granted. We have so much freedom and for us to come to Dubai we just had to buy a ticket and get a stamp in our passport when we arrived at the airport. How simple is that. I came back upstairs and had a quick shower then headed over to the Mall. I wanted to check out the Arabian Perfume place. I had read that they mix perfumes to suit you personally, but alas, that was not the case when I got there. However I did find some lovely shops selling the most exquisite fabrics – Again wish you were here Roxy, you would love it. And then some shops selling abaya. They are also absolutely exquisite, with embroidered trim, jewelled trim or coloured fabrics. I tried on a couple and of course I just wanted fairly plain black for I am wanting to wear mine for the theatre. A lovely young Filopino girl helped me and showed me how to fix the head scarf (I think called shayla but I will check that spelling when I get a chance) An older lady, wearing an absolutely gorgeous abaya and head scarf trimmed with purple jewels came to talk to me and ask where I was from and wanted to encourage me to buy one with more colours. I explained I wanted fairly plain and the reason why. This lady came to live in Dubai with her husband 21 years ago and this was her husband’s shop. She took off her scarf and showed me the piece they put in their hair to make the scarf sit so nicely. She then took it out of her hair and fixed it on my hair. What a lovely thing to do. These woman are just so beautiful, not only in looks but also in their nature. I chose an abaya, but it needed an extra button so that it didn’t gape across my boobs, so the lovely wee Filipino girl said she would fix it for me and to come back in an hour and a half. So I headed off to find some lunch. I was wanting to eat something local, but there were restaurants of every nationality – Chinese, Thai, French, Italian, so I settled for a Lebanese one called L’Auberge. Didn’t sound particularly Lebanese but I ordered an Arabic Salad, which was really yummy – lettuce, tomato, cucumber, spring onion, lemon and radish. But it was the dressing that made it, and I have absolutely no idea what that was. Perhaps quite lemony, but hard to distinguish the other flavours. As I sat there in the restaurant I did a lot of people watching. This place is so fascinating – so many nationalities – such a diverse range of clothes. But the Emirati women are beautiful and their abaya are absolute fashion statements. And the Arab men in their white outfits and headdress are just so dashing. I went back to pick up my abaya and the ladies and the guy who owns the shop talked me into wearing it back to the hotel. What an amazing experience. It is so beautiful, the fabric really soft and flowing and I felt like I just blended in with the locals. Got back to the hotel, but Narms had gone out, so she missed my grand entrance – we must have just missed each other – or maybe she didn’t recognise me!!!! We are now off on a bus tour around the city so time to say Ela al lekaa. – see you later.