DUBAI - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

It might have only taken a few minutes to get through Kathmandu airport going into the country but it was several stressful hours getting through endless queues to get out.



As with going into Nepal flying out was one of the best views I have seen out of a plane window.



Arriving at Dubai was as much trouble as leaving Kathmandu. A 90 minute wait for my bag, a taxi driver who didn't have a clue where my hotel was and no cash machine that would take my bank card. It was well after dark before I had everything sorted out.

I was not actually staying in Dubai but in Sharjah several miles away. The main reason being cost, even the people who work in Dubai usually live in Sharjah.

I had a bit of a look around on that first evening. Most people seemed to be Indian or Indian looking. 90 percent of the people on my flight in had obvious looking work papers in their hands when getting off the plane.

I was flying to Egypt the following night so I had a single day to explore Dubai. I got the bus into town before 8am and spent the day walking round.



With no guidebook and only a poor map on the back of a leaflet from the hotel it helped a lot having the worlds tallest building as a marker. Like in Macau I was the poor backpacker in a millionaires playground trying to see it on the cheap. I was walking in the heat for most of the day, a lot of the city looked like one big building site.



By the time I got my picture of THAT HOTEL it was time to head back. I would have liked at least one more day to look around but it was good to see the place. Got the late night flight to Egypt.