Yo,

In Dubai now, been here 2 days and leaving for London tomorrow morning.

Interesting place to see. First thing I noticed when I got out of the airport was heat. Yesterday the peek temperature was 40 degrees. Usually when there is a breeze it cools you down but here it just makes you hotter. Stange things I have noticed is alot of guys in the full white arabic outfits walking around holding hands. I guess they are gay, but could just be a local custom.
Time works different here to. Everything opens late and closes late. Most shops open around lunch time and close about 10pm. I guess its because its so hot, but could be the solution to the old problem that has long troubled me: If everyone works 9 to 5 how can you go shopping, or go to the bank. I guess if the shops are open late people from offices and other jobs can go shopping after work.

Things here are abit cheaper than the UK, but not anywhere near as cheap as Thailand. Although alcohol is more expensive. =(

Arrived at my hotel yesterday morning. Its in the centre of Dubai but its on a very weird street. There are loads of shops on the street, but they are all harware shops. My hotel is between the door handle shop and the tap shop. Also there are no stand alone bars at all, they are all in hotels. My hotel has a very dodgey looking club called club india. There is are photos of all the girls you can get there in the foyer. Some of them are very scarry looking so I decided against visiting that club.

Had a nap after I arrived as I had been on the plane watching Star Trek and Lord of the Rings and was quite tired. Got up around lunch time and had a walk around. Booked my self on a desert safari and was picked up by a very luxurious toyota land cruiser. Headed out of Dubai to the desert which took about an hour.

Got to the desert and they driver got out and let some air out of the tyres for some extra traction in the sand. After that we drove around the dunes for about an hour and a half. Was pretty good fun and the 4x4 nearly tipped over a couple of times, some of the others got stuck in the sand and the canadian girl in my 4x4 was screaming alot.

There was an amazing desert sunset. The sky was bright purple, just like in the intro sequence of Knightrider. I tried to get a photo but by the time the 4x4 ride was over the sun was too low =(.

After the 4x4s we did some Camel Riding

And then headed to the desert camp for dinner. Dinner was good, a buffet of eastern foods. There was also alcohol available for an extonsionate price, but free soft drinks. After dinner I had a shisa with some english guys and then did some sand skiing.

Finally to finish of the Desert safari there was some belly dancing.

Belly dancing was quite entertaining. After the girl finished her show she took verious guy from the audience up for a dance in front of everyone, me included. When I finished she said thank you, meaning i was to sit down, but I was so good I think she should have sat down =) One of the english guys I met made a video of it which he says he'll email to me.

Later that night I went of for drinks and dancing with the 2 english guys and an english girl they had met at the pool.

When we went to the club the bouncer started saying something and trying to grab my hand. At first I thought he wanted to search me but turns out he was giving me a free stamp so I didn't have to pay to get in. He said "Hey man, you look cool" which was on account of my new white trousers and shiney black shirt. Way home was a disaster, taxi didnt know my hotel and all I could remember is that it was in a street with hardware shops, near a McDonalds that was opposite a KFC. Took an hour to find it!

Today I went to the water park. Was a little disappointed as I was expecting it to put the ones I have been to in Spain to shame. There was only one big slide, but some other cool stuff to, like up hill flumes. The queueing was terrible, about 45minutes for each slide and this is where I get to the thing I hate most about Dubai.

Everywhere I have been that I have queued people try to skip me! In McDonalds, internet cafe, shops, waterpark, hotel reception. Really Upsets me as the only thing I hate more than queuing is people skipping me! You cannot relax in a queue here, you have to keep your eyes open or someone will just push past you.

Example: I was queuing for a slide at the waterpark and this guy and kid kept standing in front of me. It had happened so many times I wasn't going to let it pass so I kept standing in front of them. When I did it they looked really upset for some reason. The kid kept trying to skip me so I put my arm across the railing so he couldnt get past. Just as we got to the front he tried to duck under it so I put my arm down and he ran straight into my elbow. Hopefully it will teach him but i doubt it.

There were 4 english girls in the queue also, about 10 years old. They got so upset with people trying to skip them they started shouting and screaming at all the arabs....

Running out of time here so will finish this story another day! Cya