A last look at some of the awesome architecture in Dubai, this time at dawn. The only time I am up at this time is, oh, every morning with prayers. Not that I ever really opened my eyes. And then again it's pretty dark out at 4 a.m. But yes, the early morning has a certain ring to it here, with the sun streaming down, making the buildings glisten. Suddenly being on my way to the airport at such an early hour isn't so terrible. I push thoughts of snow out of my mind.

As my Dubai trip neared its end, the thought of saying goodbye weighed so very heavily on me. And an emotional goodbye it was, to Bevan, my lifelong friend. He truly was the most generous, gracious, thoughtful and sweetest host. It is amazing how close two people can remain through an entire decade, separated by tens of thousands of miles. At the airport, oh the tears. And it had nothing to do with not being upgraded to Business Class again, I swear. 

Bev, thank you for sharing your world with me, for driving me around the UAE, for the laughs, the sarcasm, for buying me all of that gum and for sorting me out when I needed a hand choosing the right outfit for a mosque.

So strange to see Tim Hortons in Dubai, not once, but multiple times. Bevan said Tim Hortons is as common as Baskin Robbins there. Baskin Robbins is in the Middle East too?? 

Remember when spotting a Tim's in the U.S. was a shock?
Check out this story on Tim Hortons in Dubai being mobbed by Canadian expats.

Although there are plenty of Tim Hortons in Dubai, Bevan had never been to one. So I thought what better way to spend our last evening then ordering a double double and a box of Timbits, Canadian style. 

It was weird walking in there, with a mosque on the corner, a larger-than-life mural of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – prime minister of the UAE and Dubai monarch (whose image is everywhere) – a table of local men in traditional robes, and the oh-so-familiar Tim Hortons' logo but with Arabic translation. Yet it was the same environment I walk into almost every day at home. Minus the snow.

I was so pumped for Bevan to try the traditional Timmys order. I was hesitant to say “double double” to the guy behind the counter but I thought 'What the eh', at the very least Bevan will hear what Canadians at Tim Hortons sound like. Yet the Timmys guy knew immediately what I meant. We got a tenner of “Tim’s balls”, as my mother (hi Mom!) calls them, and we sat down outside.

The double double was a hit – so says the guy who hadn't heard of putting cream in a coffee. 

He said he could take or leave the Timbits, although he didn’t leave a single one behind. 

This was a special moment for me – Bevan had showed me almost every inch of the UAE, and now I could show him a significant part of mine. Timmy’s was so Canadian, so Toronto, and a staple in my life. I sat back and took it all in as we recalled our wonderful reunion and enjoyed our Tim Hortons hangout. It was surreal, watching my dear friend from across the world whom I hadn’t seen in more than 10 years nibbling on a slice of Canadiana. And he loved the “double double.”

Oh, by the way, they totally had better lids. (No fair.)
TIP: Do not go to Tim Hortons in Dubai if you are a coffee lid crusader. It will only make you mad. 

The Dubai Palm Islands must be seen to truly be understood. They also must be seen by a bird’s eye. See it above? Mind-blowing! The story and concept behind The Palm is another one of those wondrous tales of how sections of Dubai came to be. How are so many engineering feats possible in one city? We explored The Palm on my last day – I love how one of the most creative areas of the city was left to the end. Does the spectacle ever stop?

The Palm is a series of man-made islands in the shape of a palm tree. When officials decided to build more of the city, they built it out into the sea. Why not, right? Anything seems possible in Dubai. The Palm is visible from space by the naked eye. Everyone’s favourite Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield posted a photo of The Palm. Check it out here. 

Construction of the Palm added kilometres of shoreline to the city. It has it all – more than 100 luxury hotels, flashy sports cars, fine dining, upscale shops. It’s enough to make your head spin. The grand hotel lobbies – check out The Palm Atlantis – become tourist destinations in themselves, packed with people window shopping, going to the aquarium, poking through expensive lunch menus, checking out the waterparks populated by dolphins, sea lions and happy children. 

Not truly an island as it is connected to the mainland by a bridge, The Palm’s layout is really amazing – the hotels are lined around the circumference of the “palm tree”, the mansion villas are on the fronds, the apartments are on the trunk. All are along the beach. To build this city within a city, the Palm was constructed by sand dredged from the Persian Gulf and sprayed into the proper position. Rocks were used as a sort of dam. To really describe how it was made gets a little technical, but some fun facts can be seen here. Real palm trees are everywhere, grown in a nursery. It’s palm tree city, literally.

Speaking of feats of design, there is also The World, an artificial archipelago of 300 islands which was left incomplete after the financial crisis in 2008 caused construction to be halted. Apparently building will start up again soon.
TIP: Treat the hotels like you would any sort of sight-seeing, as they are virtually all individually a sight to be seen.

I decide to get henna'ed. I guess it's pretty. I twirl my flower finger in the air to try to escalate the drying time. I still end up getting the chocolatey goo all over my sweatshirt. Men walk by me with henna scorpions on their biceps. Maybe I should have gone that route. 

On day two I was thinking I should have gone no route. The henna ended up staining my hand orange and my finger looked like I had dipped it in coffee and swirled it around. 

On day 4 it was still there. 
I am so branded as a tourist. 
TIP: Your henna will stay for several days. Go to 
a nice place that does it right and uses the good stuff. 

My heart is still pounding. Ride of a lifetime. And completely unexpected.

The Dubai desert safari — the routine tourist excursion — blew me right out of the sand. Bevan severely understated the safari, and I love this about him. Throwing his hat in the ring for a sixth time (poor guy) taking a visitor, he stated firmly that he was retiring his safari tripping after taking me. His understandably lacklustre mention of the day's trip and his eye-rolling did nothing much in the way of building anticipation. But he did that on purpose to surprise the hell out of me.

Oh my. What a day. The greatest. Our driver from Arabian Night Tours picked us up along with another pair and we set out to the desert. I couldn’t believe how fast he was driving on the highway, so reckless with four passengers in the car, but it all made sense later on: He was trained to drive like a maniac.

Many cars in the UAE beep when the driver reaches 120. Our car would beep continually, and many times the driver just went faster. He stopped to let air out of each tire. Huh?? Less air in the tires allows the truck, a Toyota Land Cruiser, better traction in the sand. Still unsure what was unfolding, we joined other tourists by their trucks on the edge of the desert. I could see tire tracks crisscrossing in the sand.

And suddenly, we were off. I had no idea what was going on. We hit the sand and things got wild. He let ‘er rip and suddenly began one of the craziest rides of my life. Up and over and around and down, we climbed massive sand dunes of all heights and angles and flew down, sometimes looking directly at the ground through the windshield when the dune was steep. Every once in a while we would see one of the other trucks launching off a sand dune. Sometimes they got close. I was sort of screaming. Like in a good way.

The unpredictability was both exhilarating and frightening. On a roller coaster, say, you are locked in on a track and knew which way you would be turning, and you have safety expectations. Our truck was flying up and down and around with only the driver to control it, skidding on the sand, spinning its wheels, balancing on one wheel, hydroplaning, levitating, feeling about ready to tip over. And who’s to say it wouldn’t.

There were white SUVs flying all over the place at top speed, each driver masterfully commanding the dunes and somehow dutifully staying out of the way of the others. The truck would tip and buckle and jolt. At times sand would hit the window hard and make me yelp, other times if we were balancing on two wheels it would spray loudly on the windows like water a car wash. I was still sort of screaming, but in a good way. We bounced along on this unexpected ride of a lifetime.

By the time we stopped my shorts had jolted right up my butt.

We hit the highway and drove to another set of huge sand dunes. Along the way the driver gestured at one of the SUVs pulled over, where a tourist was tossing her cookies. “Don’t be like this, OK,” the driver mused.

After part two of an exhilarating ride, the trucks all stopped for a breather and a photo op. My feet sunk into the soft desert sand as I leapt out of the truck. It didn’t feel at all like beach sand, and when I say sunk I mean up-to-my-ankles sunk. I was mesmerized. I kicked my flip flops off and the brown, suede-like sand swallowed up my toes. Gone. I sunk in deeper.  Surveying the dunes, standing atop one of the peaks, feeling the breeze on my face with the sun setting and the sky colours changing, my heart still beating from a mother of a ride … WOW.
I looked at Bevan – you dawg! I had no clue it would be this great. He smiled big and buried my flip flops. Score another one for the tour guide.

The night was far from over. The tour package had an entire evening planned. They brought us all to a clearing in the desert with different stations set around a stage and tables with cushions on the ground. There were camel rides, sand boarding, henna, Arabic coffee, dinner and show. Fun.

I jump on a camel. “Hold on tightly,” the leader says. Suddenly I am propelled back as the camel gets up from its perch. The ol’ girl brings me around and I almost take a header in the sand as it sits back down with a giant thud. I then get my finger decorated in henna, watch a pretty wild show of traditional Arabic spinning and belly dancing, eat a plate of Arabic food, get the henna all over my sweatshirt and call it a night. An unforgettable one at that.

TIP: Sorry about this spoiler, but you must go on a desert safari. I would recommend Arabian Nights Tours as I have only good things to say. Wear flip flops so you can play around in the sand barefoot and not sand-up your shoes. Bring warm clothes for the desert at night. Prepare to get a wedgie in the car! Not for the faint-of-stomach.

See that pizza? I had to sign a waiver to take the remains from the restaurant. Barasti Beach Bar, easily one of the best meals I had in Dubai and the prettiest place to go for drinks – DRINKS! – was top notch. On yet another perfect day in Dubai, where their winter is our perfect summer's day, I went to a popular expat hangout, a cool spot that overlooks the water and some classy-looking yachts, a lazy drinks-friendly lunch spot and sports hangout by day, a rollicking hotspot nightspot by sundown. It's all outside, half on the beach, with music and live sports on the big screen.

The drinks menu was exciting, and it wasn't just because I was feeling the lack of alcohol there. I had a Cu Cu Fizz (mint puree, cucumber and vodka) and a Foggy Sea (vodka and coconut cream). Yum! This Asian Chicken Fruity salad was such a highlight. It looks as good as it tasted. I have no idea what those translucent things are but they were crunchy and sweet and mysterious.
TIP: Make your way to Barasti, day or night, actually day and night. You must have the seafood pizza and this salad.

To get to the popular Arabic markets (called souks), a water “taxi,”  called an abra, is in store, as the charming saltwater Dubai Creek separates the newer part of the city from the older part, called Deira.

We went for a 90-minute cruise through the harbour, historically a trading port, passing under bridges and checking out the buildings from the other side. What a beautiful, sunny and perfect day. The old-fashioned Arabic boats, called dhows, have a lot of character.

The markets are busy and dizzying. Little narrow streets wind in different directions, all lined with STUFF. It’s a maze. You can’t not get lost. My eyes are big. Shopping mixed with local culture – oh happy day.  There is the Dubai Gold Souk, with shop windows dripping with gold jewelry. You can even buy gold bars.

Then there is the spice market. It’s aromatic and colourful, and you will find exotic spices like frankincense and saffron mixed in with your peppers and tea. You will also find sheesha and cardamom, bark, turmeric and tons of cloves.

And now the shopping bazaar. You best have a lot of patience, but not the kind you need to shop: Like any market, you are approached by countless local sellers vying for your attention, peddling their shoes, watches, local crafts and textiles. What they really wanted was to take you to see their knockoff purses. A few times I gave in and followed the men up some stairs into hidden rooms (it sounds dodgy I know), where the smell of leather was rich in the air and all kinds of travellers were behind these unassuming doors haggling over prices for all the latest Louis Vuittons and Guccis. Go up another set of stairs and there are the higher-quality knockoffs, the smell of leather twice as thick. They take a lighter to the purses to demonstrate the quality. They still cost hundreds of dollars. It takes a lot of haggling just to get out the door empty-handed. Their persistence doesn’t pay off – Bevan loves to watch me suffer. How many purses did I have shoved in my face. If they would just let me look with my own eyes and hands for two minutes, I could have some peaceful contemplation. Bevan just sat back and enjoyed my exasperation. OK I need to get out of here. Some will then follow us around to inquire if we perhaps changed our mind. I needed air. But those purses sure were lookers.

Bevan and I had a weird moment where we noticed a bunch of tourists gathered ’round. They were ogling a tall man, like really, really tall, seemingly on display. His handlers stood nearby and people were taking photos with him for money. He was strangely out of place, and he wasn’t saying anything. The whole situation was so weird, watching this man being paraded around for money. He was so tall. Over eight feet, we guessed.
TIP: Take a 90-minute cruise down the Dubai Creek. It is a nice and relaxing way to check out Dubai from another angle. Some amazing buildings can be found not totally visible from the street side.

On one hand you have desert, on the other you have snow. Right inside the Mall of the Emirates is a full-on ski hill. Just when I thought I had seen it all.

I wasn't about to pay 150 dirhams to go inside the Ski Dubai snow park, as I have more than enough cold and snow at home. I watched through the window as families slid about in their rented snowsuits, tobogganing, on the chair lift, sliding down the slopes, taking ski and snowboarding lessons. There were even penguins. Like live penguins.

And this wouldn't be Dubai without a world's first – there's an indoor subzero zipline.