Muscat, Oman to Dubai, United Arab Emirates

February 5th, 2018

Monday – February 5, 2018

Our stay in Oman wasn’t long enough!  It would have been nice to linger for a few more days at the fabulous Grand Hyatt Muscat, but we had to go to Dubai, UAE.  Our group boarded the bus in plenty of time to drive to the airport.  However, we soon learned that the president of Egypt was visiting Oman and all traffic stopped.

Mohammad, our local Omani guide, stepped off the bus to negotiate with the armed guards who were blocking traffic, but to no avail.  The entire capital city stopped and waited for an hour….

Eventually, Muscat came to life again and all the traffic moved at the same time.  We arrived at the airport and flew to Dubai, United Arab Emirates – called the “Las Vegas of the Arab World.”

The only problem was that they’re still building Dubai and there was construction everywhere and traffic everywhere.  We drove to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the Deira neighborhood, also known as the Dubai Creek or the historic “cultural heart of the city.”

Since it was early, Linda and I walked to the nearby Souq to explore and see what was there.

There were many jewelry stores selling gold necklaces for Arabian brides.

The neighborhood was full of shops selling everything from traditional clothing, food, tourist souvenirs, cameras, jewelry, fabric, scarves, and household goods.  We even found a “dollar store” or in this case a “1 – 10 Dirham” store.  (Currency exchange: .27 cents to $2.70)

Most of the vendors were from Afghanistan and the shoppers seemed to be “ex-pats” from India and Pakistan.

After several hours, we walked back to the hotel and prepared for a sumptuous dinner in Al Dawaar, the revolving restaurant on the top floor of the Hyatt Regency.  Dinner was amazing and some of the choices included sushi, prime ribs, seafood, turkey, a huge variety of vegetables, and wonderful desserts along with a fabulous night-time view of Dubai.

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