Tuesday morning dawned fine and clear at the holiday home in Cahore and we were both very excited at the journey ahead - it's been almost 2 years since I've done a 7+ hour flight and well over a year for James. We returned Zippy to his home in Enniscorthy and said a final fond farewell to Ann at the Enniscorthy bus 'station'. Well 'stop' really. If it weren't for the hordes of people coming to and fro and intercity and airport buses, you wouldn't even realise there was a stop there. The coach to Dublin takes almost 2.5 hours Which when you think about it is a highly efficient way of pre-numbing our backsides prior to the long flight. Checking in with Emirates could not have been more different to the disastrous automation endeavours at Amsterdam Airport. Wow! Only six people in the economy check-in queue and an actual person to check in both us and our bags. He even gave us a couple of meal vouchers for Dubai airport because of our long, 20 hour, transfer time. We are planning to go into the city for a decent sleep at a hotel and a stroll around the old, gold and spice souks next to Dubai creek - but the vouchers will go down a treat for dinner prior to boarding our Dubai to Kuala Lumpur flight on Wednesday evening. We did a tiny bit of duty free shopping prior to the 1.50 pm day flight. Sampled some Irish whiskey and cruised around the shops. The flight was, as economy goes, superb. We had the 3 seat, over wing exit row to ourselves and were right next to the galley... which means unlimited drinkies, flight attendants within easy contact and of course, the ability if not the know-how to do yoga. Or at least get up, stretch, wander about and get a drink whenever we felt like it. Not just the yoga section, it was also a mini-mosque with several of the faithful turning up with prayer mats during the flight. Thankfully Mecca was in the opposite direction to our seats, would have been slightly weird to have people prostrating themselves in front of us. Bad enough having the rear view. Was 12.30 am Wednesday when we landed in Dubai due to the 3 hour time difference, but thanks to clever but confused body clocks that was only 9.30 pm Dublin time... so by the time we had luggage and were in town it was not a particularly late night, just a very long day. Had a lovely upgrade at the hotel due to some booking issues - into their Executive Suite no less with views of Dubai Creek from all rooms - wow! Shame we'd just have the one night. Good sleep had by all, though more of a coma than sleep. As with many Dubai business, the hotel was essentially run by folks from India, so breakfast was a taste sensation - the usual fruit and yoghurt - but also omelettes with chilli and spices, vegetarian curry and parathas. We were so whacked that it seemed normal. Then we headed out into the cool of the morning - only 30 degrees or so along the Creek. We tripped over a bank and changed the very moderate amount of US$50, which was to cover a patch/badge for our backpacks, 2 postcards and have some Dirhams left over for our return stopover in September. Yeah right. The first part of the stroll through the spice souks went off without a hitch. Then it was off for a look at the gold souk and the location and purchase of our souvenir items. Well, we were obviously at a bit of a vulnerable stage, over-tired and thoroughly bedazzled by the hordes of riches presented by the many shops in the souk. We looked in a few for the air-conditioning if nothing else then accidentally found a fabulous pair of earrings that would match perfectly a bracelet and ring I have stashed in Sydney. We went back to the hotel for lunch and a think... and then back to the shop for haggling to begin in earnest. The "postcard earrings" as they are now known were eventually purchased and stashed away for 24 hours until my official birthday tomorrow. Very lucky girl indeed. Being the last of the big spenders, we were at the airport shortly after 7.00 pm Wednesday - and we got to see what the fuss is about when people complain about Dubai's traffic. Glad it was a fixed price transfer. We cashed in our Emirates meal vouchers for comfort food - Fish & Chips and it seemed no time at all until we were getting on the plane and setting ourselves up for a good sleep stretched out in our exit row seats... The kibosh smacked that idea when a 5 month old baby set up next to us... Between her and 3 other infants taking turns screeching and of course loud announcements being made periodically, we've sworn off night flights forever (unless the Business Class Fairy is waving a wand). Much healthier to take a day flight, watch endless movies, drink like fish and avoid the pressure of even trying to sleep...