I left Darwin Thursday 19 May in the afternoon. I had booked this ticket to Dubai through Brisbane, a much longer way, but cheaper for some reason. First hick-up: my flight was 2 hours delayed and I got into Brisbane too late to catch my connection to Dubai. Virgin, responsible for the mess, paid for the overnight hotel and taxis. As I always say: everything happens for a good reason! I used this opportunity to go to a bar called Cloudland, recommended by my good friend Han, and enjoy a South American evening in a fantastic place.

The flight from Brisbane to Abu Dhabi is 13.5 hours long but I was so tired that it did not seem that long. I managed to watch 3 movies, talk to my engineer neighbours flying to Bahrain, and sleep for a few hours. After a short bus transfer from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, Paul picked me up and I had the great pleasure to meet his new born son, Andrea. Paul is one of my very best mates. We used to study engineering together for 5 years in Toulouse from 2003 to 2008, spend our holidays together skiing, in Spain, France, Thailand and Ireland. He married his long time beautiful girlfriend Laure in 2014, when I last went back to France, lived in South Africa for 4 years and moved to Dubai a few months ago.

These are views from their place. We can see the new tallest ferris wheel in the World in construction (210m high):

I visited Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, in 2009, but I had never taken time to visit Dubai. This time, I had a chance to realise how unreal it is. The first high rise building in Dubai was built in 1979 (149m). Today, Dubai is the sixth city in the World with more than 100m buildings (248 buildings), the 1^st city with more than 200m high buildings (73 buildings), and the 1^st city with more than 300m high buildings (18). In 40 years, the population in the United Arab Emirates went from  to 250,000 to 9.2 millions. Every second car, you see either a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley or Rolls Royce. On the downside, people are a bit snobbish and a beer costs more than 10 dollars.

At this time of the year, the temperature is already high. 44 degrees when I get there. I’m used to high temperatures in Darwin, but it’s still feel hot. Paul took me to a beach party, where the sea water temperature was 37 degrees! And it gets worst as the summer settles.

Unlike anywhere in Europe, there aren’t many cultural activities in Dubai. We visited the Dubai Museum Saturday 21 May afternoon, and went near the new Burk Khalifah Tower for diner. The tower is fully illuminated at night, and fountain shows are now world famous.

Unfortunately, Paul had to go to Koweit for work and because my flight was 24 hours delayed, I did not spend much time with him. But I will see him in France in a few weeks! I however enjoyed relaxing after the last few crazy weeks in Darwin, and playing the baby sitter with Andrea.

On Sunday, I visited the Burj Khailifah tower, highest man made structure in the World (828m). The observatory desk is located ‘only’ 460m above ground level, but it is still quite impressive. The 200m buildings underneath seem ridiculously small.

I also visited the Dubai Shopping Mall, located right next to the tower. The Dubai Shopping Mall, 18,000 shops, is the largest shopping centre in the World by total area, and the most visited (65 millions visitors in 2012).

I had a great time in Dubai, but it would have been better if I could have done a skydive jump above the artificial Palm island. I could not book online but I put myself on the waiting list for 2 days. Unfortunately, because of strong wings, I will have to wait for another stop over!

On Tuesday, I went for a bike ride on the Palm to the Atlantis Hotel, before flying away to Ireland overnight.

Tuesday 24 May late evening, I took the bus back to Abu Dhabi (about 1.5 hours). I’m sure I will go back to Dubai: I need to go skydiving, skiing, fishing, etc… I have been in hot weather for 3 and half years, its time to use my coats and jumpers!

Apologies for the delays: I’m constantly moving and cannot find time to sit and write the blog. I’m however expecting to catch up in June and July.