Day 9: Grand Canyon

We started the day with a really nice buffet breakfast at the hotel we are staying at. They had some local porridges, stews and omelletes which were made on the spot.

At 8:30 we were picked up by our tour guide for the day. It was the Grand Canyons we were going to see today.

Along the way we were taken to the Friday markets which was a market of just rug stores and fruit stores. I don't know how these people make money because each and every of the 50 stores or so sold exactly the same things. As you would walk past each store the owner would cut their competitors price down by almost half and so forth.

After battling the crowds of the markets it was off to the Camel farm. Now when they say camel farm they don't mean thousands of camels but rather 5. Just 5 camels made up this farm. The highlight of this sight was the multiple snake tracks we saw in the sand.

In order to get to the grand canyons we had to cross the border to Oman. As we crossed the border there was no passport security check or anything. Much like the airport security at Dubai International airport when they take a blaze approach when checking your bags.

Hunger was beginning to set in but luckily it was lunch time. We had lunch in one of the valleys just below the grand canyons. It was a packed lunch which was included in the price of the tour. It was simple but filled us up nonetheless.

Another 30 minute drive and we were at the top of the grand canyons. It was a really beautiful place and was much different to the hustle and bustle of Dubai city. Along the way we saw and went into little traditional stone houses which were built by locals. By the end of the tour we were stuffed and tired. We now looked forward to another 2 hour drive back to our hotel.

That night Asher and I went out to town. Pettsy stayed home to recover from his cold. We tried several bars and clubs on the beach strip of Dubai. However, each one we tried informed us that we needed to be on the guest list. Dubai's night life seemed to only be for the rich and famous. Moreover, we felt underdressed compared to the people patronising these places. There was a bar at our hotel but the crowd there was old and dodgey and the live music consisted of three larger ladies miming to old school love songs.

After much walking around we decided just to go back to the room and sleep.

Tim