Category: Dubai

I have started my trip!

I wasn’t really thinking about much, other than going back to sleep, when I had to haul myself out of bed at 4am. But, upon walking into the airport and saying goodbye to my family, I began to realise that after what has been a very difficult few months,  I was about to start an adventure.

I am spending three days in Dubai with family before travelling to India.

I was slightly nervous when I landed. It was my first reminder that this trip was no longer in its dreamlike planning phase, but was actually happening. However, once fed and full with home cooked food, my mind, my thoughts and my stomach with all its butterflies, seemed to calm down. I think those butterflies enjoyed the food as much as I did.

As the evening continued any anxiousness that was there was replaced by excitement.

I am realising how lucky I really am to have an opportunity to do this with the full support of all of my family. If you are reading, thank you.

In other news I managed to land in Dubai on one of the five days a year it rains. I left Britain in the rain hoping to find some sun, but landed in the rain; in a desert of all places.

Perhaps I have been listening to too much Crowded House.

 

I have had a wonderful stay in Dubai so thank you to my Naniji, Mamaji, Mamiji, Gauri and Aditya for looking after me.

During my short stay I drove through sandstorms and dunes in the desert, saw man-made waterfalls and reached the 140th floor of the majestic Burj Khalifa, appreciating all that I saw from the sky.

Dubai should not be able to exist as it does. Yet in the midst of an unforgiving desert, through human ingenuity, innovation and of course a rather healthy sum of money, it thrives. The idea that so much can be achieved in such a short space of time in such a harsh place is where, in my opinion, the wonder of Dubai lies.

The humble past of Dubai is also still visible, whether it lies in the dunes of the deserts, the domes of the mosques or the streets of the souks. I hope Dubai does not lose touch with these elements. It is refreshing to see two worlds, so different in nature, existing side by side.