An angel in Jerusalem

After the Christmas excitement fizzled out, the little town of Bethlehem slowed it's pace as the tourists dispersed. I hung around for a couple days afterwards, enjoying the more mellow atmosphere. I met a Canadian traveler, Kate, at my guesthouse. In my experiences, Canadians are usually pretty down to earth peeps. Kate was no exception. Naturally, we got along well.

Me and Kate

In true traveler style, I decided to spontaneously change my plans and head north with her to the town of Tiberias. Kate enticed me to go to this town by telling me this is where Jesus had walked on water. What the heck, I was up for an adventure, so off we went. We caught a 3 hour bus to this city on the sea of Galilee. On the bus, I sat next to a baby-faced girl, no older than 18, with an AK47 nonchalantly resting on her lap. In case you didn't know, It's required of all Israelis to join the army after high school.

Sea of Galilee

After arriving in Tiberias, me and Kate set off by foot in the cool night.... with no hotel reservation. We found a hostel with vacancy without a hitch and were shown to our room. We shared our room with Debbie, a bubbly girl from Minnesota! We had plenty to talk about. Debbie is one of the most upbeat people I have ever met. She kept us rolling in laughter. After plenty of girl talk, we settled in for the night and made an early morning rise to go site seeing. The next morning, we bargained hard with a taxi driver and were able to get a fairly decent deal for a ride to the Sea of Galilee. Here, we saw where Jesus walked on water. We also saw different churches where He gave sermons. It was all so unbelievable.


After 2 days and plenty of girl talk, I parted ways with Kate and Debbie and headed for Jerusalem, the holiest city on earth. This city had me very intrigued. To be in a city that has so much history is incredible. I picked to stay in a hostel located inside the old city walls, where a lot of the holy sites were located. The old city is beautiful, albeit a little touristy.

Streets of Jerusalem

As I was searching for my hostel upon arrival, an elderly gentleman, 80 years old to be exact, came up to me and asked me if I was from Scandinavia. I laughed and said, "um, no not really, I have Scandanavian blood, but I'm from the US". This old man talked about a mile a minute. He had a big white beard and piercing blue eyes. He was slightly hunch backed and was wearing a sweater with high water pants. I had to stifle my laughs of his appearance. Don't get me wrong, he was a cute little old man, and I really do love old people.

The "old man" or the angel?

He asked me where I was going and told me he knew exactly where my hostel was and that he would bring me there. In the time it took for us to reach the hostel, he filled my head with endless knowledge of Jerusalem and of Jesus's death. He conveniently had documents in a folder that showed hologrammed images of the sheet Jesus was buried in. You could see the perfect outline of Jesus's body and even blood stains from the thorns of his crown. How could I have gotten so lucky to run into this little guy? So it goes with my traveling life. As he rattled off numerous ancient history facts, my mind drifted off as if I was in a college class, and I wondered if this man was an angel. He was beyond helpful. He had an indescribably strange energy to him. Then my mind drifted off to other possibilities, like if he was going to ask me for money after this educational detour to my hostel. I shamed myself for thinking such a way about an innocent elderly man. When we arrived at my hostel, he shook my hand, said God bless and nice to meet you, and off he went. I still had a huge smile on my face from the whirlwind of it all. He sure was full of energy for such an old man.


Later that day, I walked the same street as Jesus did when he was brought to crucifixion, the Via Dolorosa. As I walked along the ancient stone street, images flashed in my head of Jesus carrying the heavy cross. The old man informed me that it weighed 150 lb. Jerusalem can be a bit intense for Christians. I could see the Mount of Olives in the distance, where Jesus ascended into heaven.

Mount of Olives

 I saw the church where He was buried and touched the stone where He was washed before burial. 5 people are allowed at one time into the small room inside the church where Jesus was buried. I shared the space with 4 other tourists for 5 minutes as we all prayed in our own unique ways. It seemed like it was all a dream.

Site where Jesus was buried

The stone where Jesus was washed before burial

The next day, I visited the room of the Last Supper. I was one of the only people in the room as I paced on the marble floor, picturing Jesus eating with the 12 disciples in this very spot. It's difficult to wrap your head around a fact like that.

Ths site of the Last Supper

 I was trying to get a good photograph of a mangy looking stray cat. Jerusalem has no shortage of stray cats.

Mangy cat

As I was crouched down, something catched my eye and I see the old man scuffling into the room. I did a double take. What the? How could this be. He must have known I was here. He reminded me of the old man on "Home Alone" that Kevin was afraid of at first but actually ended up being a good guy. He was carrying a sliced hot dog in a plastic bag. Again, I silently laughed at his appearance. He greeted me and then started to feed the hot dog to this cachetic cat. The cat purred as it gobbled up this tasty meal. He told me nobody feeds the cat because it smells so bad and is so dirty. This was a good man. Anyone that has sympathy and compassion for vulnerable animals is a good person in my book. Once again, the old man filled my ear with more knowledge, this time it was about the Last Supper. After a while, speaking in his mach 10 speed, my eyes glazed over as I lost place in the story. The dates and names began to blur together. I stepped back to distance myself from him due to the putrid smell of the hot dog, but he kept stepping closer to me. He obviously didn't know I was vegetarian. I think only Americans undestand the concept of personal space. I peered deep into his baby blue eyes, saying in my head "Are you an angel? C'mon, tell me who sent you here today?" I found it a little peculiar that I ran into him a second time. But for whatever reason, there he was, to fill me with unlimited knowledge of the holy land. Throughout the day, his voice would enter my mind as I passed by certain sites that he had talked about. Maybe he was my educational angel. I guess I'll never know....

Christmas in Bethlehem

This year was the 2nd Christmas I've spent away from my family. The first was in Hawaii. (Mele Kalikimaka !) In a tropical environment, it didn't feel like Christmas. This year, I figured if I was going to be gone for Xmas again, there's no better place to spend it than where it all began, Bethlehem! I made the decision and timed my trip accordingly. I felt tremendously blessed to be in the holy land during the celebration of Jesus's birth.
When I would tell people I was going to be in Bethlehem for Xmas, I had some people sneer at me "are you Jewish?" I would like to point out that Bethlehem has a whopping 40% Christian population. It was nice to be surrounded by so many Christians for the holiday.


My guesthouse was a 5 minute walk from Manger square, where all the festivities were happening. There was a cheerful hustle and bustle around the square on Christmas Eve. Christmas music came streaming from the little shops and Christmas lights decorated the streets and trees.


Palestinians dressed as Santa floated around the square, handing out fliers promoting the freedom of Palestinians. As I took a pic with this Santa, she was yelling "free Palestine, free free Palestine!" while throwing up the peace sign.

Manger Square, Christmas Eve

I'll address this issue the best I can. I'm going to tiptoe around this one. As we all know, there is a lot of animosity between the Palestinians and Israelis. To be truthful, I'm still confused about the whole thing, even though I've heard many stories from both sides. In conclusion, I feel like I'm getting in the middle of a fight between 2 siblings. "he did this to me!", "well he did THIS to me!" This is your deal, settle it like adults and don't get me involved. This unfortunate battle has raged for several years already. However, I think it's unfortunate how some of the Palestinians are forced to live. I received endless amounts of generosity from Palestinians, everything from a free orange to a free ride to a town 2 hours away. I was blown away by their friendliness.

Some estimate that there more than 3,000 different religions in the world. However, this number is unclear and debatable. Religion is such an influential aspect of the world. It amazes me how wars can be started over religion. If I was alive in the 60's, I would be the one wearing the "Make love, not war!" t-shirt. I believe the religion you chose is your prerogative. If you're a good person, you have my respect, regardless of your religion.
It goes without saying that religious beliefs are instilled into our heads from a young age, and it's only as we grow older that we have the opportunity to change our creed. Whether you call your God Allah, Krishna, Brahma or Joe, we all fundamentally believe in some sort of higher power.


Anyways, enough religious talk....


The guesthouse where I stayed was run by a lovely Christian Palestinian family. They kept the Christmas spirit alive by playing classic Christmas tunes in the dining room and had a festive Xmas tree decorated in the living room. It felt a little like home. I was still sad to be away from my family. I kept calculating what time it was back home, guessing what my family was doing at that moment. I thought "Now they're probably eating supper, now they're opening presents....."


I'll never forget the mom at the guesthouse, she was such a sweetheart. One morning when I woke up, she looked so excited to see me. She rubbed my back as she hugged me and said "I love you!" My heart melted. They were good people and I was glad I chose them to spend the holidays with.


Bethlehem was magical around Christmas time. Everyone was super friendly. Perhaps this is their usual mood, or maybe they were influenced by the holiday season. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the holy land.

I had a list of holy sites I wanted to see. #1 was the Church of the Nativity, to see where Jesus was born. As you can imagine, this is a very popular place. At all hours of the day, you can find a long line of pilgrims waiting to touch the stone where it's believed Mary gave birth to Jesus. Christmas time only multiplied this crowd.


You would think this famous church would be filled with nice, angelic, church-going believers. It didn't take long to realize they were just a bunch of selfish tourists trying to cram all the sites into their 1 week vacation. Ugh. I was squeezed in between 2 large groups of Russian tourists. Their guide gave a loud commentary in Russian as I was nearly suffocated in the middle. I was like the white stuff of an Oreo. I wanted to yell out into the crowd "c'mon people, quit pushing, what would Jesus do?!"


Haha.


I was pushed around from all angles for an hour as we slowly shuffled our way through the ancient church, down the steps and through a deadly minuscule doorway. I learned a little more patience that day. Everyone absentmindedly shoved to get closer to the holy stone. (Merry Christmas to you too!)

inside the Church of the Nativity

There was a powerful vibe in this small room. After getting budged in front of countless times, I finally made it to the site, where you have to duck into a small cave-like area in order to touch the stone. I quickly said a prayer and snapped a picture, knowing my solitary time would soon be interrupted by the hoards of hungry tourists.

I felt goosebumps as I ran my fingers over the cold sacred stone. Before I knew it, I was forced away from the stone by the feisty crowd. I peeled my body from the other cantankerous tourists and made my escape, able to breath my own air once again.


Dazed and confused, I stumbled out of the church into the street, stopping at my favorite falafel stand that had the best hummus in town. I chatted it up with the owner like he was an old friend. He was a handsome middle age man with salt and pepper hair. George Clooney-ish, if you will. I was a familiar face to him by now, having ate nearly every meal here since I arrived. As I wondered around the small square throughout the week, he wouldn't allow me to pass by without shouting out a friendly hello while flashing his warm smile. Because of the small size of the community, it was easy to feel like a local after spending 5 days in Bethlehem.




My falafel man

I sighed, then bit into my scrumptious hummus sandwich.
It took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that I had just visited the site of Jesus's birth on Christmas Eve. Just another amazing experience in my surreal life.


Merry Christmas everyone!

Wadi Rum

If you ever visit Jordan, please promise me you will visit Wadi Rum. It's an amazing part of the desert that has a strong energy to it. Being a true nature lover, Wadi Rum was at the top of my list while in Jordan. I shared this experience with 7 others, from Finland, Belgium, Korea and Japan. Our Bedouin driver and guide, 20 year old Mohammed, gave commentary at each stop. He had 28 brothers and sisters. His dad has 3 wives.

Starting bright and early, we explored the desert by open air jeep. We traveled through the pinkish orange sand for hours, stopping frequently to explore canyons, caves and dunes. We tackled short hikes that gave breathtaking views of Wadi Rum. We slowly made our way to the Bedouin tent where we would be sleeping for the night. Lunch was on a blanket in the middle of the desert, followed by a short cat nap in the warm sun. It was so peaceful and quiet.

The desert was spotted with solitary camels. The orange iron rich sand stained our shoes as we frolicked in the dunes.

Bedouins are Arab tribes that live in the desert. Mostly all of the Bedouins that live in Wadi Rum are related.

The owner of the camp where we stayed was named Zidane. A charismatic youthful Bedouin. He never gave a straight answer to how old he was. He said "today I feel 30, yesterday I felt 20, tomorrow I might feel 40". I estimated him at 45. It's difficult to get a correct age from locals. I found that a lot of them didn't truly know how old they were. Sometimes they would have to look at their ID to see what year they were born. Age is just a number to them. I like that concept....

Zidane with his camel

We arrived at the camp shortly before sunset. We had just enough time to hike up the rocks that would provide a stunning view of the sunset. Around 4:30, the sun gently dipped behind the impressive rock formations in the orange sky, turning the night chilly.

In the dimly lit main tent of the camp, we ate a filling supper of rice, vegetables, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes and tea. The food was cooked under the sand by the heat of the sun. It was so interesting to see the traditional Bedouin way of life.


After supper, the night was pitch black. With a small flashlight in hand, I emerged from the large toasty tent in an attempt to walk back to my tent to retrieve my bottle of water. My fears did not permit this and I sheepishly returned to the main tent to ask Zidane to accompany me. Laughing at my fear, he reluctantly agreed to walk me back to my tent. I felt much safer with him. He told me I couldn't live my life in fear. I can travel alone all over the world without any fear, but I crack when it comes to slinking through the dark desert. Jeesh.


I'm well aware of the irrational fear I have when it comes to things such as bears, sharks and heights. But I do my best to confront them head on. That's the beauty of traveling, it helps us overcome some of these fears.


As we walked, I looked up and saw the most impressive sky of stars I have ever seen. Wadi Rum is well known for its view of the stars. Zidane explained which stars were which and which ones were planets. It was evident that he had spent many nights with these shining stars. He invited me to sit on a rock with him as he educated me about stars and Bedouin life. He showed me endless pictures and videos on his cell phone. Yes, even Bedouins have cell phones! I saw pictures and videos of his father, his wife, and his friends. What I found most interesting was of his trip to Mecca. It's a city in Saudi Arabia that is considered to be the holiest Islamic site on earth. It's believed every muslim must make this spiritual journey at least once in his life.


I really enjoyed getting to know him, and realizing that he's just an ordinary guy. He told me how many camels he owned, how long they live and that they are pregnant for a year. He said his camels roam freely near his camp and sometimes they even cross over into Saudi Arabia 12 miles away, without a passport or visa! He said "someone will say, 'hey Zidane, I saw your camel over by the Saudi border the other day". Haha. I don't know why, but this was very hilarious to me. Each camel has a special brand to identify them. We could see the lights above the mountains from Saudi Arabia in front of us and the lights from Israel behind us. I felt so far away from home. It's a shame how there can be so much strife and fighting in such beautiful land. Can't we all just get along? To me, war seems so idiotic. I know there are many bad men in the middle east, but I'm yet to meet one. The media paints a picture that the middle east is so dangerous, but I've never believed this. I wanted to see for myself. I'll make my own judgments.

Zidane had a gentle nature. What I liked most about him was his humor, he was very quick witted. I felt privileged that he was taking so much time to talk with me. I felt like I was talking to a good friend. This is what I strive for while I travel, getting to know the locals, and I was soaking in this one-on-one opportunity. The night got progressively colder so Zidane started a fire and served me hot tea. Such a hospitable host. The sky was like a giant tv as we watched the countless shooting stars. The night was indescribably silent. A shout would echo off the rocks surrounding the camp and sound like it traveled for miles. I watched the light from the fire flicker on Zidane's face as we talked under the stars about everything from camel milk to Facebook. I knew this would be an experience I would always remember. Sometimes when I travel I need to stop, sit back and reflect on the situation from an outsiders point of view. A situation can seem so normal, but actually in retrospect it was such an important event in my life. Before we knew it, it was after midnight. I retired to my tent, knowing it would be an early morning rise. This experience will be etched in my mind forever and was without a doubt the best memory I have from Jordan.

In the morning I bid farewell to my new friend and traveled back to the small village nearby to catch the bus back to Amman.


It's nice to know that I have a friend in this impressive corner of the world :)

Petra, Jordan

Arriving in Jordan, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was equipped with a "I'll figure it out when I get there" mentality. I had so many countries to research before I left, it was impossible to fully explore all of them. Most of the information I had gathered came from Dr. Battah, a handsome Jordanian now living in Alaska, working at the same hospital as I did. He talked highly of his mother land. He told me that all the boys will want to marry me, so I can bring them back to the US with me. I told him that if they looked anything like him, I might consider taking them up on their offer. Haha.

But in all actuality, he was exactly right. There was a large supply of randy Jordanian men with black eyeliner "Jack Sparrow" eyes, throwing a marriage proposal or an "I love you" out there a little too quickly. I politely shake my head and say no. I'm such a heartbreaker :)

He also said that Jordan was safe. Coming from such a credible source, I was happy to hear this. The main motive for me visiting this middle eastern country was to lay my eyes on one of the seven wonders of the world, Petra, the ancient city built in 1200 BC, made most famous by the Indiana Jones movie. It bewilders me that so many people are unfamiliar with this amazing city. When I text my mom to tell her I was going to see Petra the next day, she texted back "OK. Who's Petra?"

At my hotel in Amman, I met a guy named Pavan. We had similar itineraries so we took the 3 hour bus to Petra together. Although I travel alone, I am very rarely by myself. He was Indian but was living in America at the moment, attending Duke for his MBA. Once again, I find myself in the company of Indians, which I don't mind one bit. They must gravitate towards me, or vice versa.

Petra is spread out over several kilometers. Make sure you bring comfortable walking shoes if you ever decide to visit. Your other option is to hire one of the many donkeys readily available from eager Jordanian men. It was heartbreaking watching these small donkeys struggle as they transported overweight slothful tourists, their backs bowing from the load. I have 2 healthy legs that get me around just fine, a donkey shouldn't have to take the brunt of my laziness. Objecting to contribute to this animal cruelty, me and Pavan walked... and walked.... and walked. I bet we walked over 10 miles through Petra.


The occasional gluttoral gurgle from a camel or the hee-haw from a donkey could be heard as we navigated our way through the archaelogical city.

In between all this walking, there was lots of picture taking, conversation and laughs. I got to know Pavan fairly well during the day we spent together, and I have to say, this guy is all right. There were many laughs as we navigated the ancient city together. As a male and female together, we were automatically dubbed as a couple. The Jordanians selling souvenirs would say "buy something nice for your wife" or "very beautiful wife" as we passed by, which made us giggle. It happened so frequently, we just decided to go with it. We found humor in making up different stories to inquisitive locals. Sometimes our fabricated story would be that I was living in india with him, sometimes he was living in America with me.


While asking someone to take our picture in front of the monastery, I said "geez honey, it's our honeymoon and we don't even have a picture of us together." The lucky man taking our pic enthusiastically said, "It's your honeymoon?!! Cool!" We didn't have the heart to burst his bubble. We snuggled up close as we posed for the photo, snickering inside.

But the appearance of being a couple didn't subdue the lewd comments that came from the Jordanians. I wanted to hose these overzealous fellas down with cold water. Walking alone as a female in Jordan is very tiring. I'm subject to leers from the male dominated environment. Testosterone is thick in the air as they call out "Habibi" (meaning "my darling" or "my love" in Arabic), and other sweet nothings to me, but it falls to deaf ears. It may be flattering the first few times, but it gets old very fast.


All the sun and walking left us feeling famished as we made our way back to the entrance. Our extreme hunger gave us thoughts of tackling a family of French tourists to steal their fruit roll-ups. We restrained ourselves from resorting to this tactic and arrived at a local restaurant in our hypoglycemic states. We revived ourselves with falafel sandwiches. It was the best thing I've ever ate.


Besides narrowly escaping starvation, we had a blast in Petra and I genuinely enjoyed spending a day with Pavan at one of the wonders of the world.

Arabian desert safari

My most memorable experience in Dubai was partaking in an Arabian desert safari. The driver/guide picked me up from my hotel and after conversing a bit with him, he tells me he's from Kerala, the southern part of India. I told him of my travels through Kerala last year and expressed my liking for the area.
We filled the vehicle up after picking up a group of 5. They were also from Kerala! I couldn't have picked a better group to spend the tour with. We drove an hour into the desert, stopping a few miles from the Oman border. The busy city slowly faded and the exotic desert was all that remained.

My Indian peeps

We stopped at an area where we were allowed to rent 4 wheelers to drive until our hearts were content over the sand dunes. But I was more interested in a group of Arab men sitting on a large carpet laid on the ground. They were sipping something from small glasses. I watched them intently from a distance, intrigued. They seemed so mysterious and intimidating. I had yet to speak to one of these gowned enigmatic men since arriving in Dubai, despite my strong desire to. For some reason, my normally gregarious self was feeling too shy to approach them and start a conversation. As if making the decision for me, I noticed they were all staring at me. This made me a little nervous and I quickly looked away. When I looked back, I saw 5 pairs of brown eyes looking at my 2 blue. They were gesturing for me to come over. I looked behind me, there were quite a few people around, but they pointed at me, like saying "you, silly". Cautiously, I walked over to them. They told me to sit with them on their magic carpet. I was offered oranges and Arabic coffee as we chatted. I was stunned at how friendly they were. My wondering notion was soon put to rest as I discovered these seemingly unapproachable men turned out to be very amicable.

Shortly after, we were back in the jeep, tearing around on the sand dunes. At times, we were tilted so far to the side I was amazed how we didn't roll over. We all screamed over the loud Arabic music playing as we slid sideways, making the orange sand spray over the top of the jeep. After the adrenaline rush was over, we halted at a tent set up in the middle of the Arabian desert, where we were entertained by a belly dancer and dervish dancer as we noshed on Middle Eastern cuisine.

As the night wound down, I parted ways with my new found Indian friends. A smile left on my face from the thrilling day and night spent in the desert.

Dubai~ a desert oasis

As much as I love Nepal, I needed to get out. It's a country with bewilderingly nice people, but it also requires you to rough it. This princess had had enough. Nepal is also hard on your lungs... and your colon. I had washed my clothes once (by hand) in the last month and a half and I felt dirty. Ahh the life of a backpacker. I needed something to rejuvenate me, so I booked a nice hotel in Dubai for a week for a little R&R before I jetted off to Jordan.


My flight included a 2 hour layover in Dehli, India. I was happy to be back in my beloved India, even if it was only in the airport. I found it very coincidental that I was in this same airport 1 week short of a year ago.


We had significant turbulence as we flew over Pakistan. Flying isn't something I enjoy, but it's an unavoidable requirement of my chosen lifestyle. A rough ride producing sweaty palms only adds to this dislike.


At 10pm, we land safely (as always) in Dubai. The airport was exceptionally busy at this hour. I was immediately impressed with the airport. It was so clean and new! This was a huge contrast coming from Nepal. The line for customs moved at a snails pace, so I passed the time talking with a friendly Belgium businessman. Dubai is composed mostly of expats, a hodge-podge of nationalities.


After an hour in customs, I was whisked away by a crazy Egyptian taxi driver, who called ME crazy for visiting Egypt solo. He drove like a bat out of hell through the city at night, managing to get lost despite the fact that I had step-by-step directions to my hotel printed out for him.

I was feeling positive vibes from this Middle Eastern city. The history behind this city laying on the Persian Gulf is fascinating. It's had an incredible amount of growth in such a short amount of time. It's growing as I type this, and has no plans of stopping. Because of this, construction is a common sight. If I had to choose one word to describe this newly emerging city, it would be "new". It's also very clean and has an amazing energy to it. There are no bums, no graffiti, no trash in the streets, and no stray dogs, unlike Nepal. It's a pleasant 80 degrees here. Maybe my senses are heightened after leaving Nepal, but Dubai smells good. It has a tropical scent to it, mixed with musky perfume smell. It's hard to describe.


It's evident that the residents of Dubai are not struggling to get by. I'm dubbing it as the "Beverly Hills of the Middle East". Porsche's and Lamborghini's zip along the palm tree lined highways. Initially, Dubai's economy was built on it's oil industry. Today it thrives mainly on tourism, construction and real estate.

Although it feels very westernized, Islam is still very much prevalent. Many large, beautiful mosques can be seen throughout the city, and the call to prayer is blared from loud speakers 5 times a day.


Islamic men dress in traditional attire, wearing long white gowns, called a kandura, with head scarfs. Many women can also be seen wearing abayas, or long black gowns, along with a scarf covering their head. Some cover their entire face, while others mysteriously let their eyes peep out.


English is spoken fluently by most, which makes things much easier. Most things are written in Arabic, along with English. Safety is not a concern either.

The metro is squeaky clean and very easy to navigate. It gives a nice view of the city when going from point A to B.

My plans when I got to Dubai were to wash my clothes (in a washing machine), take a long hot shower,take it easy and to go shopping! Dubai has the largest mall in the world, the Dubai Mall. You can shop til you drop. Which is what I did.

The Dubai Mall also has a nightly fountain show every half hour. This is very similar to the show at the Bellagio in Vegas, except with an middle eastern twist. I was fascinated as I watched the lighted water dance to an upbeat Arabic song.

If that wasn't enough, Dubai had to build the tallest man made structure on earth, just to show off a little bit more. The Burj Kalifa stands proudly at 2,716 feet.

The Mall of the Emirates has an indoor ski slope... a very tiny ski slope. I wouldn't waste your time. However, it was nice to see snow again. Earlier in the day, as I shopped at a local grocery store next to gowned Arabs, Christmas songs were playing overhead. It was all very odd.

One negative aspect of Dubai is the cost. Maybe I'm used to cheap-o Nepal, but it feels so expensive to me here. Dubai is definitely not on the backpacker's budget. I'll pretend I'm splurging for my birthday so I feel better about spending so much.


Perhaps the most iconic image of Dubai is the Burj Al Arab, the luxurious "7 star" hotel, a suitable accommodation for rich Arab oil sheiks. A night here will cost you at least $1,500 and as much as $30.000 for a suite. I was going to stay here, but they were all booked :) just kidding. Instead, I strolled along the beach outside, admiring the beautiful structure.

I have to say, I managed to score a pretty posh pad myself. I had no idea what I was getting into, as goes with booking over the internet, but was pleasantly surprised when I arrived and discovered it was nearly a mansion with 5 rooms! This was a drastic change from the rat and cockroach shared room I had in Nepal. I couldn't get over how nice it was. I danced merrily along the marble floors as I checked out each room. It came with it's own washing machine, a kitchenette, 2 bathrooms, 2 balconies, 2 flat screen TVs and HOT water! I feel like an Arabian princess in my palace!!

All in all, I love Dubai!!!