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Day 11 – Back to Dubai
Today we drove back to Dubai for our flight home, departing the hotel at 2:00 AM for a 5:30 AM flight on May 30 (remember we are eight hours ahead of you).
We reluctantly left our City Seasons hotel in Abu Dhabi (as this was our best accommodation on the tour). We had a pleasant hour and a half drive back, to Dubai. Prior to returning to our City Max hotel, many of us returned to the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world with over 1200 stores, a skating rink, and the tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, right next door. A few of us actually went to the top of this famous building – see views from the top of this structure.
After the mall visit, we returned to our Dubai City Max hotel, but only for an hour – a very exciting evening is scheduled. We were to ride via off-rode vehicles through the desert for an evening meal under the stars! The ride was very exciting as we were riding up and over dunes that were very high at a rapid pace. After the ride we arrived at a tourist camp in the middle of the desert and dined once again on local cuisine. Many of the ladies in the group painted themselves in local fashion via a process called henna, which is like a temporary tattoo.
After the group dinner, we were treated to a show with local talent including belly dancing! We then presented our appreciation to our two guides, as tomorrow morning will be very early and hectic. They were overwhelmed with tears during the presentation and said that they would never forget us!
Well, it is almost midnight, and we leave in a couple hours. Back to the USA!
