Before I begin, however, Sergey has put together an awesome video (movie really - edited and everything!) that details his journey through Africa. It's two hours long, so here is the first 30 minutes for now.
Okay, back to the tale.
Now, we are staying at the Oasis Beach Tower, which is one of the Jebel Ali empire. And this Jebel Ali thing is a bit weird. Ostensibly, Jebel Ali is a small port town 35 miles to the southwest of Dubai proper. But it is also a company. I am not sure where one ends and one begins. Perhaps it's sort of like a keiretsu, chaebol, or other type of horizontal conglomerate?
Anyways, within Jebel Ali is a free trade zone which has a huge influx of companies who wish to, you know, trade freely. And just past the free trade zone is Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa which, because we were staying in Jebel Ali land, we had access to. Now, it's not the easiest place to get to. It's really past where cabs go, and there were only two shuttles from our hotel daily, so we really had to make sure we got up early enough to catch the 9:30AM shuttle. Ha. Hey, it's vacation. We shouldn't "have" to do anything.
So anyways, we got on the shuttle and proceeded to drive 45 minutes into what seemed like a Mad Max wasteland. Sure we were still on a ten lane highway, but the highway eventually just entered the desert spotted with drab buildings like the above (I think they are apartments for guest workers), and the Jebel Ali Free Zone on the oceanside. Eventually, however, we turned off the highway and headed a few miles straight toward what could only be a resort in the distance...
... and it was. Tada! The crown jewel of the Jebel Ali empire (or so we would like to think). We were very excited.
We went through the hotel, and "checked in" with no problems. We then made our way downstairs until we exited at the pool. Huzzah! This is the life!
William and Resha are very excited. Can't you tell? We considered staying at the pool, but as we looked past it, a big phat Gulf with immaculately manicured grass next to a picturesque beach beckoned. So, we made our way down.
When we got there, we remembered we were in the Middle East, and that it was very hot. 100 degrees everyday, after all. There were a lot of chairs, but we looked around for a couple with umbrellas. Unfortunately, all the ones with umbrellas appeared to be taken. So, as we were looking around cluelessly, a very nice Philipino came up to us and asked us if we wanted some chairs. We said yes, but that we were looking for some with umbrellas. To that he said "no problem. I will give you the umbrellas, so just let me know where you would like to sit. Would you like towels also?" Awesome.
We picked some chairs in the second row from the beach, directly under some palm trees and next to an artificially running stream.
There was this German family in front of us. At least I think they were German from their gutteral speech patterns.
Our pad for the next few hours.
William immediately settled into his book... something about Odysseus or Ulysses. And no, he is not wearing a shirt (kidding, kidding, kidding).
As luck would have it, we had picked a spot that was also relatively close to the bar. I immediately took the opportunity to order a watered down daiquiri for about 40 dirhams (10 dollars). Resort pricing at its best.
A panoramic of our spot... our home for the next couple hours.
Cool palm trees.
As you can see in the above photos, in the distance there were these weird building like objects.
A closer look reveals that they are bridge pylons. Confused us for a bit, but looking at the above map, it now makes sense. That is the Palm Jebel Ali, and those are pylons for the road they were building to and from the island. I don't know if they have made more of it now, but at the time we were there, again, Mad Max wasteland.
I just liked the way the shawl flowed in the wind, and was taken just a second before we saw...
... the peacock! Or peacocks, should I say. Our neighbor was clearly as excited as we were.
Geez, strut around like you own the place, why don't ya?
I took this photo to show the peacock, but also to show the cranes just past our beach in the Jebel Ali Free Zone. Sort of an eyesore like the bridge pylons, I guess it's sort of like Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles being right next to the Chevron refinery. There is only so much coastline.
Closeup of senor Peacock.
Stopping to wonder what is up with William. Now those, peacocks were cool, but they had nothing on this guy (or gal, I didn't look).
True blue, and purty.
Also taking a view of William, you peacock-magnet you.
That is some true blue.
But the cutest one of all was, of course, the mother and child combo. Pretty awesome. At first we thought it was a bit weird that peacocks were wandering around, but then we later realized it's the symbol of the Jebel Ali Resort. Although when I was at Ko Olina Resort in Hawaii, they had peacocks also, so maybe it's a paradise resort thing?
There were also a few things in the water. Sailboats we sort of expected. Kind of close to the shore, but not unexpected.
Planes, on the other hand, were a bit of a surprise... and surprisingly close. I guess this is what happens when you have a country relatively lawyer free.
Since we were at the beach, we of course had to spend some time in the sand. But not too much, what with that Middle East sun and all. I think William is already a lobster here.
A view of the resort looking roughly east...
... and another looking roughly west. Hard to tell if this was manmade, or if it was just sand dunes that happened to meet ocean.
A panorama.
The resort hotel and the Moon rising over it. Somehow the Moon always looks larger in person.
Chairs and palm trees as far as the eye can see.
Underutilized beach volleyball nets. In fact, the whole resort was pretty empty, which was fine with us. Guess October isn't peak vacation season?
Yet another Cornholio.
Anyways, eventually fun time came to and end, so we waited to catch the bus. We had to get out there early, since the 5:30 bus was the last one for the day, and I don't even want to know what the rack rate is for a room here at an all-inclusive resort.
So long Jebel Ali, we hardly knew ya...
... and hello steak! Or lamb shank, in my instance. We had been eating relatively pedestrian up to this point, so we decided to indulge this night with some Australian cuts. We were all in agreement, however, that American beef tastes better. America rules!
And with that picture, Resha and I (and William) bid you adieu until next week...
