Dubai, United Arab Emerates (Itinerary) 

When we left Mumbai, the crew had hung concertina wire around the open promenade deck (with care), had installed high pressure hoses, and 24-hour watch people were stationed on both sides of the ship at the promenade level. The ship's speed had increased to 25 knots as we approached the Arabian Peninsula. All these measures make our ship a less attractive target for pirates.

For orientation, here's a Google map of the SE end of the Arabian Penisula. We sailed through the Straits of Hormuz between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Sea without incident, but these are dangerous waters. (The next month, the US Navy was escorting all commercial ships through the Straits. Dubai lies SW of the Straits. Our next ports were Muscat and Salalah in Oman.  

As we approached Dubai at around 11am, you can see the 400+ skyscrapers and the very tall Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world.

We pulled past a Mein Shiff German crusise ship to dock. The dock building's facade reflects the Moorish influence here.
Since this was a short day and we'd have a full day the next day, we took advantage of the ship's shuttle bus to the shopping mall at the base of the Burj Khalifa. We carried our computers in our backpacks to access the fast free wi-fi offered at the mall.

   
We walked through the mall and over to the train station (A long walk from the mall mostly through an elevated walkway). After we found the information we're looking for, we headed back along the long corridor back to the mall.

 
A multistory waterfall with life-sized divers decorates one end of the mall. We settled in some comfy chairs near the waterfall to check our emails, Facebook, and upload some of these pages.

 
Narrow screens displayed ads, but when the call to prayer was blasted throughout the mall, the ads were replaced by a static mosque symbol..

   
A remarkable feather butterfly display hung at eye level and above. The feathers had been painted with silver markings.
We headed outside to find the fountain area for the nightly displays.

 
So here we were in an extreme desert: we were not expecting rain. It didn't last long, but it was a pretty good shower, which was enough to wet the pavement. The people were dressed in a wide array of styles from traditional black or white to thoroughly western dress:  both casual and business. We walked away from the modern mall toward a market, Souk Al Bakar, which was built in a more traditional style.

 
A waterfall and a fountain that looks like a set of leaky lock doors.

 
We found the lake where the fountain displays were going to be held at 6pm and some well-used camel sculptures.

In addition to the nightly show, there are also some cool fountains in front of the Burj Khalifa...

 
We thought we would see what the lobby of this giant building looked like, but no. Surprisingly, these are residences only and there was no public lobby. So back to the mall...

 
We explored some different areas of the mall. An aquarium provides different levels of admission with the most expensive level including a guided dive experience. We just looked in from the outside.

A liveried greeter for an over-the-top haberdashery.

Then we joined the throngs of people waiting at the lake for the first fountain show. Once they begin, a different show plays every 20 minutes until late in the evening.

The first show began just before sunset. We were impressed with the choice of Arabic music and the extent of the display.

 
Three sheiks ate frozen yogurts next to us on the wall. They were amused when a 3 or 4-year old girl ran from her mother's side and tried to take Dean's red backpack. He had his feet on either side of it and was too heavy for her with the computer and all so she ran back to her burka-clad mother. While the sheiks thought it was funny, they only laughed among themselves and never made eye contact with us. The setting sun was reflected from only selected planes of the building.

 
Most people watch from the shore, but you could also pay to tour the show from one of these replicas of traditional boats.

 
Each show was different and as the darkness fell, more spectacular. Sometimes the water seemed to be on fire, but nearby workers were still at it building the next amazing structure.

 
Even the buildings got into the show with their laser lights. After 3 shows, we made our way through the mall and back to the shuttle bus stop. By the time we got back to the ship it was after 8:30 and the Lido dinner lines had closed, so we had ice ream and cookies for dinner:  poor us!

  
The next morning we were off the ship at about 6:30am. We were too early for the port shuttle buses, which would start at 9, so we started walking. A little while later this nice truck driver stopped to give us a ride for the almost 2 miles to the gate. He asked how we like Dubai so far. Dean told him we were enjoying it. We think the Arabic word for "stop" looks sorts like a man and bear in a canoe.

 
We like the gold swirls on this building, which is the New Gold Souk.

Stoarge tanks next to the port are painted like kitchen canisters:  flour, oats, rice, etc.

 
The customs building just outside the port gate.

 
We walked to the nearest train station where Dean bought day passes for us. It was clean and tidy with historical photos framed in fancy walls.

 
Like Singapore, a glass wall separates the public from the tracks and doors open only when a train is available. From the train we saw Health Care City with its pyramid buildings.

 
No hanging out of the train here...

 
The stations arch over the elevated tracks.

We traveled to the end of the line where we could see a boatyard and some large wooden boats under construction or renovation.