Been a big weekend for sporting highlights.

I am fortunate to be able to get the coverage of the Tour de France on the TV Channel Dubai Sports coming through into my living room.  The timing is much better than in Australia - getting home after 6 pm to watch the last hour and half or so of each day’s race.  It’s been great to watch Cadel wearing the yellow jersey and although it was sad to seehim just lose it today, to see his fellow Australian Simon Gerrans win the stage race on the mountain climb was fantastic - the elation that he felt crossing the line was tremendous, especially so when he was nearly left behind in the early stages of the climb.

And yesterday, went off to Nezesaussi to watch Australia have an upset win over the South Africans.  Even better since the Australians were outnumbered in the bar!  Always thought that the springboks were going to come back but they just could not score that try - especially in the first half when they had the better of the opportunities.  Had one too many sherbets to celebrate afterwards at the Barasti.  And going to do it again next week (perhaps without the one too many) as we play the All Blacks. 

I was going to head out tonight to see how Greg Norman went but I checked on the Web and noticed that he had blown up in the final round after an excellent effort for an old bloke in the previous 3 rounds.

This was my first weekend for a month without the family so I decided to get out and about with some birdwatching in the mornings before it became too hot.

It was very pleasant on the Friday morning as driving down on the Abu Dhabi road, there was a very thick fog. Temperature around 28 degrees but the fog meant that I could walk around in pleasant comfort without the sun making me sweat. The problem was that it meant that I could not see the beautiful Bee-eaters that I could hear flying overhead (but I saw them the next day anyway). Driving along the highway was hazardous - had to slow down to about 60 km/h because of the thickness of the fog. Last time I was on the road, it was the dust-storms that made me slow down.

Heavy fog on the road to Ghantoot

And driving is also really difficult when you come across a sand drift that has been blown on to the road. This one was about 2 feet high and would have caused a big problem if you had have hit it doing 100 km/h. This is the worst one that I have seen (and means you have to be double careful if driving on any of these country roads at night).

Sand drift over the Bab Al Shams - Al Mahar road

I mentioned in a previous post how the geography of Egypt was so different to that of Dubai and United Arab Emirates. Green areas along the Nile, alluvial soil, agriculture, etc. But that was not all that was different.

Egypt has a real river, real alluvial soil, and naturally green areas while in Dubai, anything green is created and the appearance of lushness is manufactured.

Egypt has history while Dubai has modernity. With Egypt, you see the pyramids, temples and tombs and you know that there are thousands of years of history etched in the walls of the structures. With Dubai, what you see has been created over the past decade and there is very little older history.
In Egypt, 99.99% of the cars that we saw were old, especially the taxis. In Dubai, 99.99% of the cars are new.

In Egypt, driving is very hazardous, especially in Cairo. There are something like 6000 deaths per year. Driving in Dubai is relatively more sedate, although there are still way too many road deaths here too.

Egypt has lots of locals while Dubai is full of expatriates. Both have significant numbers of tourists of course but it is the locals that are way more numerous and obvious in Egypt whereas it is the expats that are more numerous in Dubai.

In Egypt, people come up to you and try and sell you stuff. If they do anything for you, then they ask for baksheesh (payment or tip). Even if you agree on a price beforehand, they still ask for baksheesh. And if you buy something, then they will offer just one more thing. In Dubai, what you see if what you get. People do not ask for extra, they leave you alone if you are walking down the street, and if you buy something, then that will be it!

These are just a few of the differences and there are many more!

The second tranche of photos from my trusty mobile phone from the trip to Egypt.  These ones are from the second part of the trip to the southern and upper Nile around Luxor.  The history was fantastic and learning about it was fascinating.  Unlike the Giza pyramids, the temples and tombs around Luxor (or Thebes as it was then known) are from the New Kingdom. 

Luke in the Valley of the Kings (love that hat from Bunnings)

View from Queen Hatshepsut’s temple looking down to the green Nile Valley

Hannah walking back from Queen Hatshepsut’s temple

With our guide at Karnak Temple

Karnak Temple

Feluccas on the Nile

I mentioned that I would put some photos up when I get a chance. Well now that the family have departed back to Australia tonight, I have some of that time. This first tranche shows some of the photos from the pyramids and the Sphinx at Giza, near Cairo. Personally, I was impressed with the size of the two larger pyramids - particularly as they were built by some of the early dynasties. I was also very impressed by how quickly the green and lush Nile River valley changed into the dry desert where the pyramids are located.

Well now we are back in the Dubai apartment after flying in this morning from Luxor to Sharjah. First impressions of coming back was coming out of the airport to see a line of locals and no-one hassled us to see if we wanted to buy something or hire some transport.

The overnight train ride from Cairo was very good - some nice food for dinner, relatively comfortable beds although a bit short for me, and we arrived an hour late so we got some more sleep than we thought. Tim loved the train - he thought it was like the Hogwarts train!

Someone from our hotel (the Phillipe) picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel. Left our bags there and walked down to Luxor Temple to have a look around - really good and interesting and not too hot. Headed back through the souk market and proceeded to get quite lost - did not get back till the middle of the day - we did not know we were going to be out that long. Did not like the Phillipe rooms (very dark, internal with no view and bad chi) so ended up moving into the Mercure next door which had a lovely pool. Cost three times as much but oh well. Took it easy that night.

Next day caught a tour through to the West Bank tombs and temples in a mini bus and visited a number of tombs in the Valley of the Kings, looked at how they make the rock carvings of various totems and bowls where Lyn bought a nice alabaster lamp/vase, then off to Queen Hatshepsut’s temple followed by Medinat Habu. Great to see all that through an organised tour. Another relaxing afternoon/evening where I wnjoyed watching the Wimbledon tennis into the evening - Go Nadel!

Next morning we took a horse and buggy ride down to Karnak Temple where we met a great tour guide on the way in. He offered us his services for an hour and we ended up taking nearly 2 hours of his time! He is an egyptologist studying and helping out with the various diggings. Great to have our very own tour guide who was very learned and could answer our questions. Tim even said he wished he had a notebook to write some of the things down! At the end, we mentioned that Lyn was thinking of leading spiritual tours to Egypt and he said that he helps with a few others who do the same thing so we swapped details for a possible future tour of Lyn’s. I am constantly amazed how she can manifest these things!

Took a cab back, had some lunch (more pizza!) by the pool and a swim. Lyn and I headed off to Luxor Museum then back before heading out again without kids for some last minute shopping and then off to the Sound and Light show at karnak temple. Just as kitsch as at Giza - so many words with so little meaning. But it was worth it just to be able to walk around the temple at night - pity about the 200 other people who were there.

Back for some sleep (only one room so we all shared beds) before a 1 am wake up and off to the airport in a cab for the overnight flight to Sharjah to face the peak hour traffic!!

Photos to be uploaded later!!!

All going well here - this will be the shortest post ever!

Arrived fine by plane to Alexandria - paid too much for taxis to the main train station - then train through to Cairo - great to have a sea breeze off the Mediterranean (a lovely 27 degrees), and to see the green fields of the Nile delta as we went by train.

Cairo - we are staying at a great place out near the pyramids - an intercontinental hotel.  Very nice with a huge pool (where the kids are now).  First day on camels to the pyramids which was great.  Second day (today) to Egyptian Museum to see the mummies (Lyn and Hannah piked), Tutenkhamnen, and all the others and get our first dose of Pharoah fatigue.

Impressions of Cairo - driving is hair-raising.  Why have three lanes of traffic when you can fit in four?  If you are in front you have right of way to cut someone off.  And honk your horn for no apparent reason but just because everyone else is…

Tonight off on the overnight sleeper train to Luxor (about 3 hours time).  In the meantime, have to get to the pool and rescue the kids.

Photos to come (and there are some great ones too!!) when we get back to Dubai on Tuesday.

It’s been a wonderful few days showing the family the sights of Dubai.

They flew in very early Wednesday morning (3 am) and we went straight to the apartment to try and get some sleep before the sun came up. The kids had trouble – it was 9 am their time - but the adults went to sleep OK!
Wednesday and Thursday are work days. I joined Albert and David in a local cafe at JBR with the family for breakfast on the first day. After, we headed back home and I left the crew to look after themselves with directions to the pool (up) and to Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall (cab). Eventually caught up with them in the shopping mall after work for dinner after I had done a bit of shopping for work for the next day.

Thursday they stayed on the shopping theme with a trip to Mall of the Emirates to see a movie and to generally ogle at the place. Finding them was much easier this time and we came home for a lovely home cooked meal.

Went quad bike riding and to Fujeirah on the day off on Friday to show them out of Dubai. Tim found the biking in the desert a bit hot and flaked it before his half hour had finished. It gets pretty hot out there on the baking sand with a helmet and sitting on top of a bike that is emitting lots of engine heat. We headed out to a dinner party on Friday night which was great to show them what a real Dubai villa looked like (rather than an apartment).

Saturday we spent going to the Jumeirah Mosque in the morning for a really interesting presentation on Islamic faith before heading on to Wafi City for more bling and back to a friend’s house in Jumeirah 1 for a chat and then a swim at the beach before heading home for delivered pizza beside the roof top pool.

Sunday I was back at work and the family had a cruisy morning watching a movie on the TV, spending time at the pool before heading through to Al Qasr to be gobsmacked and then heading next door to Madinat Jumeirah. I caught up with them by leaving work early and we did Wild Wadi (I was the only one game and stupid enough to try the thrill ride that goes a million miles an hour). I forgot to cross my legs which meant that the crown jewels took a pummelling but the kids really enjoyed the other water slides – mostly featuring jets that take you up the slide while you are sitting on a rubber ring. So Dubai - why walk up stairs when you can get the water to take you up!

Today, they are off on the Dubai Big Bus Tour seeing some sights along the creek and I will pick them up over there later tonight after work. Just found out that they are at the Burjuman so better head off to pick them up before they max out the credit card.

My period of irresponsibility and waywardness as a Dubai bachelor is about to come to a brief hiatus.  Lyn and the kids will be arriving this week to holiday over the school term break.  I’ll be taking some time off to go with them to visit Egypt for 6 days.

I’m sure that they will enjoy various parts of Dubai.  But unfortunately, the news from the Met Office is not what they want to hear.  We’ve had a respite from the really hot weather for the past couple of weeks with relatively balmy temperatures at a maximum of around 39 to 40 due to a strong wind known as the Shamal whipping up the dust from Sauid Arabia and Iran and leaving very hazy skies here with low visibility (down around 800 metres).  The dust is very fine and you don’t feel gritty or dirty. That dust and haze blocks the sun and lowers the environment to relatively manageable temperatures.  I went for a swim in the sea yesterday as the sun set (or would have set if I could see it through the haze) and the water was actually quite pleasant - not quite a Japanese bathhouse temperature!!  I took some photos of the very low visibility on the road to Abu Dhabi a week ago (which I left early because it was too windy and dusty!) but they are on my camera and I am having trouble connecting it to the USB port on the computer.  All the photos to date on this site have been taken with a mobile phone camera.

Today’s local rag says that temperatures are set to soar as visibility improves (which it already is doing).  The dust will lift and temperatures will rise to up to 47 degrees.  So sorry family, looks like lots of indoor activities over the next few days - but at least you will get to “see” the place.

Another weekend and I ticked off another lifer and Dubai experiences.  Headed west on Friday morning to Ghantoot to see if I could spot some birds at the Polo Club.  Managed to see some Greater Grey Shrikes and Little Bee-eaters looking very hot in the desert areas.  Did get to see some Coursers but they were about 150 metres away - thankfully I had the scope.

Helped out D in the afternoon with getting her Internet communications working properly before heading off for a birthday party at the Madinat.  Arrived a tad late for T’s birthday party at The Agency (only 3 hours!) and we later headed over to Jambase next door to see a live band, have a couple of beers and maybe do some dancing.  This was my first Dubai nightclub experience and well - it was about the same as all other nightclubs; loud music, a packed dance floor, boozy clientele and lots of people checking each other out.  Unfortunately, it was way too smoky for my liking - they don’t have the no smoking indoors as yet.  The smoke was just as bad at the Sportsman Bar at the Hilton that I went to the night before to see Germany beat Portugal (unfortunate result but great game with high skills throughout).