Around Africa & the Middle East

After alot of thinking while I was in Mali, I decided to end my Peace Corps adventures (for the time being..), and head back to the states. But, before I came back, Ali (another volunteer) and I, planned a nice 2 week trip throughout Asia, inlcuding Thailand, Malaysia, and India. We had plans to ride elephants in Thailand and drink tea in India, but unfortunately, we never made it there. Due to some lack of planning and good research on our part, we failed to realize we needed visas for parts of the trip. But, we were Peace Corps volunteers, and despite our short time actually being volunteers, we did learn a few important things that made the rest of the trip a success. These included not giving up, even when you're in the United Arab Emirates, with no plans or no knowledge of the surrounding area; being patient and having the ability to chat with just about anyone, trust us.. this one got us far.. it got us into the ONLY 7 star hotel for FREE!; and finally appreciating the world around us.

So, back to Mali. We left Mali, stopped in Morocco for a layover, and would later continue to Dubai. We had a 7 hour layover in the Casablanca airport, which as it turns out, is one place I've always wanted to visit. So, we're exhausted and resting at the airport when one of the airline attendants start to chat with us. We quickly find out that not only do we have enough time to get out of the airport and do a little sight seeing, but we also do not need a visa :) so.. of course we book it out of the airport as fast as we can! We head towards the row of taxis to find out how much it would cost to take us somewhere, and where is exactly is the best somewhere to see in Casablance when we only have a few hours. After a few minutes of arguing (we quickly learned that they do not bargain for prices there), we find a nice gentlemen who agrees to take us to the "Grand Mosque". We have no idea what that is or where we're going, but the next thing you know, we see skyscrapers, billboards, cars.. nice cars, and MCDONALDS! After living in West Africa for 4 months, we think we've just walked into heaven haha. After driving for a few minutes, the taxi drive explains that not only is he a taxi driver, but a local tour guide (how convenient), and for only $10 more, he'll take us on a tour of all of Casablanca. We quickly agree and we're off! We saw some amazing things, like the local market, parks and monuments, the Grand Mosque (see video), and of course our last stop.. McDonalds. Casablanca was exactly how I dreamed it.. full of vibrant colors, great food, and unique nic-nacs. After 4 hours of touring, the taxi driver/tour guide takes us back to the airport and we're off to our next stop, Dubai.

After a 7 hour flight on one of the most luxuriest flights I've ever taken (once again, this could be exaggerated since we just came from Africa), we landed at midnight in the Dubai Airport in the United Arab Emirates. We find our bags and hump them out to the nearest taxi. We were so impressed by the taxis here.. they had seatbelts, licensed drivers, we weren't packed in like sardines, and there were no chicken/goats attached to the roof. The driver takes off, and we're starring out into what looks like America, taking in the scenes, and we don't even notice that we have no plans past the taxi. We had one contact in Dubai, but remember, it was at least 2am at this point, so trying to contact him was pointless. We ask the driver to take us to the nearest, CHEAPEST hotel, and he says he the knows the perfect place. We pull up to a gorgeous hotel, which we realize immediately that this is no cheap hotel, but we're exhausted so we decide to just stay here for one night. (Rememeber.. we had planned to ony be in Dubai for one day to get our visas in order, then continue on our way through Asia.) We walk into our rooms, and there are slippers, robes, RUNNING WATER, and the most comfortable beds I've ever slept in! The next day, feeling completely rejuvenated, we figure out a new game plan, and extend our stay at this wonderful hotel for one more night. We decided to stay and explore Dubai for the next week and a half. That day, we collected information booklets, and talk to local tour guides who gave us advice on what to see while we were there. We find a tour company that's offering a special if you book 3 trips, so we chose to go on the Desert Safari, the River Dinner Cruise, and the Hatta Mountain Tour, then we go off to enjoy the night. We quickly found out that 1.) it is illegal to sell/buy alcohol unless you are at a bar and 2.) women there do not drink. These things ended up working out in our favor because most bars offered discounts and free drinks for women. We head up to the roof of our hotel, which at night, turns into a club/restaurant. We drink our free champagne, ate appetizers, and enjoyed the hooka. The next thing we know, we're dancing the night away with local Emirates. Needless to say, we have a wonderful time.

The next day, while lounging at the rooftop pool of our hotel, we decide, we no longer can afford this place, so we found a cheaper hotel a few blocks away where we stayed for the rest of the trip. The next few days, we saw the tallest tower in the world, the largest mall in the world, and the only indoor skiing place in the world, and wait for the day of our first tour.. the Desert Safari. Ok, so the Desert Safari. At approximately 4pm, the tour company comes to our hotel to pick us up, and we really have no idea what's in store for us. We head down the highway, past all the towering, futuristic skyscrapers, and the next you know, the tour guide veers off the highway into the desert. We're talking real desert, past camels, and sand dunes! We meet up with a few other vehicles in the middle of the desert, then we're off on the dune tour. The SUV's would drive fast up and down the sand dunes (see video). It felt like we were on a ride. The cars would fly down huges dunes with sand covering the whole car like a sand wave. A few minutes later, we stop the cars and everyone gets out. We were at the place for the dinner show. We go on camel rides, ride four-wheelers through the desert, and go sandboarding until the show started. There were twirlers and belly dancers (see videos). After the show, there was a huge of American food and traditional Emirate food, which was all delicious, and after that, we headed back to our hotel for a good nights sleep.

A few days later, was our second tour, the River Dinner Cruise. Once again, the tour guide picked us up from our hotel, and we headed off to pick up a few other people in Dubai for the tour. Well, this driver got lost on the way to the hotels and we drove around in circles for at least 30 minutes! The other people in the car, (obviously not the patient Peace Corps type haha), we screaming at the driver and cursing that they wanted their money back! Ali and I chucked in the front, and felt bad for the innocent driver, but eventually, we found the hotel and made it to the boats with no other problems. We sailed down the river and into the Persian Gulf, and ate a great tradition Emirate buffet. There were about 15 other dinner boats that sailed at the same time, and we all went in a line. At the boats were covered with lights, so all you could see was the outlines of all the boats across the water.

Our final tour was the Hatta Mountain Tour. Once again, Peace Corps lessons paid off during this trip. The tour guide came to pick us up pretty early in the morning. We were half asleep, not used to being up early, when the driver drops us off at another hotel and tells us to wait here so he can go "fix" the car and he will return as soon as possible. We really have no clue what's going on, but agree and wait at the hotel. We're waiting.. and waiting.. and about 30 minutes past when the driver finally shows back up. We get back into the car, and then he tells us, he was unable to switch cars, so we have to reschedule the mountain tour to the afternoon, BUT he has the car now and is willing to drop us off and pick us up anywhere in Dubai. I ask if there's anywhere we can swim at for a few hours, and he nods and says he knows the perfect place. We're driving for about 15 minutes (still no clue where we're actually going), when the driver pulls up to a security guard, gets out, shows his ID, and then we enter. We enter the ONLY 7 star hotel in the world! The only way to get in is to be a guest there (which costs $3000 a night!!!), or be a member. The driver explains that he is a member because he is a tour guide and people often tour this place, but he's never been able to enjoy the beach because he works 7 days a week. We look out over the bridge, and ... hello paradise! The driver drops us off and says he'll be back in a few hours to pick us up for the Hatta Mountain Tour. We were greeted by waiters with water, beach towels, ice, and snacks. The water was the warmest and cleanest water I've ever been in (nothing like the good old Jersey shore haha). We enjoy our few hours in heaven, and then we're off to the tour. We drive for about an hour outside of Dubai, and then we stop at a checkpoint and show our ID's.. little did we know, we were leaving the United Arab Emirates, and now were in Oman! The tour guide told us all abou the history of Dubai and the UAE, about the beautiful, red clay mountains, about the Emirate people and their culture. We ended the tour at an oasis, which at the time was quite low because according to our tour guide, it only rains 1-2 days a year there! (Interesting Fact learned from the driver.. all of their drinking water is desalinated from ocean water, so they don't have to import water!)

Although we didn't get to go on our original trip, we had a blast! I saw things I never thought I would ever see in my life and met some amazing people! But, our trip was officially over, and I was headed back to America.

Our flight left Dubai, and we headed to Moscow, Russia where we had a 12 hour layover. Now, I just left Africa and Dubai (which was way hotter than Africa!), and so the warmest clothes I had was jeans, a tee-shirt, and sandals. We get to the Moscow airport and were greeted by SNOW! Yes, snow. The Russians are covered in fur hats, coates, and boots, and looking at Ali and I like we're idiots. We were freezing hah. After this way too long layover, I boarded by flight to Washington DC. I arrived, parted ways with Ali, and took my 15 minute flight to Philadelphia where I was warmly greeted by my Dad, Jessie, and Gab. It was a warm welcoming full of good food and good people! I was glad to be back in America :)


VIDEOS BELOW ARE IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER:
1. THE DESERT SAFARI IN DUBAI
2. THE GRAND MOSQUE IN CASABLANCA
3. THE TWIRLERS AT THE NIGHT SHOW IN DUBAI