We arrived in Dubai last night around 22:00 and boy was it an eye opening experience. The first hint of the size and audacity of this place was the 20 minute bus ride from the steps of our plane to the terminal, followed by the size of the airport terminal which could only be described as cavernous and palacial. During the drive to our hotel there was frankly too much to take in, high rise buildings everywhere and a diversity of shapes, and capping them all was the Burj Khalifa, the worlds tallest structure at 830 meters.

This morning we were keen to get started with the days exploration of this amazing place, and frankly find out something about it. So at 9:00am we met our guide and driver and got going.

The United Arab Emirates is a federation of 7 monachies (see here for details of the government structure) and here for a brief history.

Dubai is both the name of a city and one of the Emirates which make up the UAE federation. Interestingly the population of the emirate of Dubai is about 3.8 million of which over 90% are foreign workers. That is Dubai has less than 380,000 citizens.

The first stop of the day was the entrance to the palace of the current ruler of Dubai. In the first photo below is the gate to the palace. The horses on top of the gate reflect the enthusiasm the ruling family has for horses and horse racing. Nearby the palace ia a private racing track and separate stables for Arabian Horses and Thoroughbred Horses. Following our glimpse of royalty we made our first stop of the day at part of (in some cases simulated versions of) the old city of Dubai with its Iranian inspired buildings (see the box like structure on the top of buildings - these are natural A/C) and spice market.

The old part of Dubai is based around what is called Dubai Creek. It is not a creek in any traditional sense because the water flows from the Arabian Sea into the channel that makes up the creek. Whereas in a normal creek or river water flows from the land into the sea. Transport of people across this water way is by small boat called an Abra. A ride on one of these costs about 30cents US.

Once across the creek we strolled through the gold and spice market.

After the old town and creek we headed back to the mordern city of Dubai to end out tour. But not before a quick visit to a couple of Dubai's many unusual buildings. The first in the pictures below is called The Frame. It is a museum, observatory and monument that was the result of a design competition.

The second picture below is Dubai's Museum of The Future, at first glance it is not obvious that it is a building. Unfortunately we did not have time on this trip to visit this museum.

The third picture below is of a hotel called Address: Skyview, we did not know it but tomorrows tour included lunch at a restaurant called Ce la vie located in the boat structure that connects the two towers of this building.

Once the tour for the day was over we made the short walk to the precinct of the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall to get to know the area and see the Burj Khalifa up close.

We returned after dark for the fountain light show. As we should have expected 100,000 of our closest friends had the same idea.