Dubai Layover 2: Boats and Burj

We flew from Capetown back to Johannesburg for one last time then on to Dubai. We had about 10 hours to spend in Dubai, already booked up with reservations, and the airline provided a free day room for us to relax. It was a decent, clean room, but not somewhere I would normally stay. We didn't care. We were so tired that all we cared about was a nap in a real bed. We had a boat ride scheduled for 10:30a and we seriously thought about cancelling it because we were so tired. Instead, we drug ourselves out of bed and took a taxi to the Dubai Marina Yacht Club where our chariot awaited.

The boat was owned by a husband and wife team from the US. They went over safety procedures, handed out the life jackets, and we were on our way. We spent quite a bit of time motoring thru the marina.

We cruised along the Dubai shoreline for a while, admiring the architecture of the buildings and hotels.

The famous Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, the "most luxurious" hotel in the world.

The boat ride was very informal and relaxing and were were so glad we hadn't canceled. Hungry now, we took a taxi back to the Thai restaurant, next to the Burj Khalifa, that we visited on the way over. The fountains were active this time.

Feeling awake and human again, we made our way to Dubai Mall, where Mike had an appointment to fly an Emirates A380 simulator. One of Mike's hobbies at home is flying airline simulators and he was really looking forward to flying a real one.

He didn't crash or kill anyone so it was a successful flight. The simulator pilot was actually impressed with Mike's skills.

The third appointment of the day was a visit to Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world, at 163 stories (1,900 ft). Our tickets allowed us to visit the observation decks on floors 124, 125, and 148. It was one long elevator ride to the top but the view at sunset was incredible.

View of the fountain where we had lunch earlier in the day.

By the time we reached the ground floor again, it was dark, and the fountain show that runs every half hour was starting. It was perfect timing.

The last stop of the day was dinner at TOMO, a sushi restaurant atop the Raffles Hotel. We had a beautiful, night view of Dubai while eating delicious, fresh sushi.

Our flight leaving Dubai was at 3a so after dinner we headed back to the hotel to shower and rest before the flight. We had a couple of drinks at the hotel bar, took our shuttle back to the airport, and ended the trip of a lifetime, arriving back in Dallas at 10a the next day.