Sad, sad, our last day. After another yummy breakfast featuring 'beef bacon', we packed hurriedly and paid a visit to the Country Club Spa for an Ayurveda massage. A relaxing and slippery experience, involving as it did being slavered with oil from head to toe on a wooden board before being sat in a 'steam cupboard' and finally being sent into the shower with various products to wash off the oil. All rounded off with a herbal tea. By this time, it was after ...

Breakfast consisted of more Indian offerings plus a man cooking eggs so I though it would be rude not to give him something to do and ordered an omelette. We walked to the Creek, past the ship-shaped Dubai Customs building and via a Carrefour supermarket (they seem to be taking over the world: Tesco eat your heart out) which boasted an astonishing array of spices, dates, fruit and vegetables. Many things are very cheap compared with home and the array of breads ...

After some much-needed sleep, we headed downstairs to the cafe for our buffet breakfast; Ange went for fruit and what resembled an 'English breakfast'; I had chana masala, paratha and pineapple. Very Arabic. We walked down to the Creek, watching the endless aircraft taking off from Dubai International, just southeast of the City. This part of the City has such a different feel - grubbier, a little rougher and a whole lot more real. We crossed the Creek on an a...

'Twas a gorgeous flight, almost empty so we had 3 seats each to lie across to sleep. We arrived at some unearthly hour in Dubai and went through the passport desks staffed by Arabs in various traditional headdresses. Angie has developed a fascination in the said attire, thinking that they say something about their owner but she can't think what! After whiling away some time in Costa Coffee as it was still only 6.30am, we emerged from the airport and were direct...

Strangely enough, there were lie-ins all round today. Sam's head felt a little delicate today, probably because of her age. We mooched around drinking coffee; Angie packed swiftly and efficiently while I looked helplessly at my mountain of belongings on the bed. It was a miserable day, cold and pouring with rain, which perhaps reflected our moods - tired, sad that our China trip had come to an end and sad to be saying goodbye to Sam after an amazing three weeks. ...