First stop: First class Dubai

Hello beloved friends,

As I am writing these lines I am consuming my last hours here, sitting in a 16th floor apartment with a stunning view over Dubai Marina, one of the city's finest neighborhoods. Being my first stop on this trip, Dubai has treated me more than well, providing me with first class accomodation, brilliant company and expenses way below me expectations. This place has everything you would ever want and yet so many things are missing. All in all though, I am very happy to have been here and as you will see in the following pictures, there are many exciting things to take a look at!

DAY 1:

The first thing you see in Dubai, the great variety of skyscrapers planted in the middle of nowhere. In the front, the very modern metro of Dubai.

My house in Dubai: hosted by the wonderful couple of Dolores from Argentina and Andre from Brazil.

Our rooftop swimming pool, good for a early morning splash after the sauna :)

Eye candy: The mindblowing view from the swimming pool.

Deira, the so called "Old Dubai" neighborhood.

Our first meal! My couchsurfing mate Guillem and me discovered this truly local place and decided to stop by. All you can see plus salad and desert for astonishing 4 EUR...

On our way to the other side of the canal we had to use one of the "abras", local boats that transport up to 20 people.

Me on the abra, feeling like in Venice.

Cargo boats on the river side, some of them look like a 100 years old. Oh, and they park them one next to another, crazy...

On the other side I made a new friend, this wonderful camel, a true celebrity, too cool for school, didn't even move when people were approaching to take some close up pictures.

But as I said we became friends, so we kissed goodbye :)

DAY 2:

Stormy weather, a lot of sand in the air and you notice you're in the desert when you try to take some long shot pictures and all you get is sand... So we hired an Afghan taxi driver who showed us around. Here the Burj Al Arab, the one and only 7 star hotel in the world.

Next stop: The Jumeira Mosque

By far the most impressive building in Dubai, even though in the middle of a sandstorm:

The Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, stunning 828m!

View from the terrace of the biggest shopping mall of the world

(of course, where else would it be): The Dubai Mall.

A closer look of the Burj Khalifa, obviously never fitting in one picture...

Local women in Dubai, not much to say and definitely not much to see...

Well I have to admit that I can see myself in one of the typical Emirati dresses, they look so damn comfortable! Here some local men, usually holding hands and always happy, no crisis for them...

Finally at night: water show at the Dubai Fountain in the Dubai Mall.

DAY 3:

On day three we decided to use the building facilities such as the pool, jacuzzi and sauna, relax a bit before the long flight...

The hard life of couchsurfing, always suffering so much... Here in the picture, my mate Guillem from Barcelona who was staying at the same place as me. He has been on a round the world tour since May, all the way through the US, South America, South Africa and now after Dubai on his way to India.

That's all for now folks, soon I'll be reporting live from Singapore!
Lots of love,
Marco