25 years ago Dubai was a small fishing village located on the edge of a sand desert. Then oil was discovered, but with reserves falling the sheikh sought to supplement the countries revenue base with multifaceted tourism and financial centre. This was accomplished by building a state of the art city complete with glass fronted skyscrapers, parks with dancing fountains, man-made islands rising out of the sea, and to top it off, the tallest building in the world. Not surprisingly Dubai’s persona is as far from a traditional village as it is possible to find on this planet. So how to savour Dubai in a 4-day stopover. 1) First, stay in the Burg Al Arab, a self-assessed 7* hotel built on a small man-made island that has the same pazzaz as Dubai itself. Fortunately for us the hotel had a special indulgence package; stay three days pay for two, that included breakfast, a panoramic sea view suite (there are only 18 suites of this type) that was a two-storey apartment larger than my house, a personal assistant who takes care of requests and various small indulgence including night canapes served in […]
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Marrakech Morocco The Souks of Marrakech It certainly was different. And exotic. Dusty sunlight streamed through the roof slats illuminating the gloom. I was in the main souk standing outside a shoe stall, where shoes and sandals covered the whole shop front, and packed the interior from floor to ceiling. There were more shoes than I have ever seen in a single store in Sydney and even in London. “How can the shop owner afford this stock” I asked my guide now in animated greeting with the shop owner, “it’s been in the family for generations” he half turned and replied. I still did not comprehend. I walked few steps along the narrow passage squeezing past the man pulling his overladen donkey and there was another shoe shop like the first. And another. Amazing! “Let’s go to the wool dyeing area” our guide beckoned, greeting all the vendors as we moved past the food stalls displaying sheep’s heads, the stall owners nodding their response and returning to their task of preparing for their lunchtime customers. This souk was a place that assaulted the senses. There was the smell of barbecue, and mint, lots of mint, sandalwood, and coriander, and aromas […]
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