I know I suck because I didn't update my blog yesterday :( But in my defence I was absolutely exhausted by the time we got home!

We (again) had a really awesome day. We accidentally overslept but then when we did finally emerge we headed to the bastakiya, which is also known as the old quarter. In my eyes it's pretty much the Middle Eastern equivalent of the European old towns - which I love, so it was great!

The lay out was reaaaally nice. It felt like I was walking around a real-life Aladdin scene! The buildings are all that kind of beige sandy colour and very square with little doors and few windows. I was also amazed by how cool they are inside, like temperature wise! It's been pretty hot the last two days - I think today was over 25c, but inside these little buildings it was very refreshing. Within the old quarter we also saw a beautiful mosque, and remains of the Wall of Old Dubai! There was also a wall with random crazy art which was super bright and colourful. It looked totally out of place but maybe there's some intense explaination.

I don't think there's that much else to say about the Bastakiya - but I'd recommend you look at the photos I've uploaded on Facebook to get a better idea of what I mean! It's definitely something I think people should check out if they go to Dubai because it's easy to only see the modern aspects of the city - but I think it's really important to get a feel of what it used to be like!

Next to the Bastakiya is the Dubai Museum! At first we weren't very interested, but then it was only 3AED to enter (about NZ$1) so we thought we may as well. At first it looked pretty lame - just a courtyard with a few artefacts. But then we went in to one of the doors and it led to this entire underground museum which was really cool. We learnt heaps about the history of Dubai, how people survive in the desert, importance of certain animals and so on. We easily killed an hour or two just reading up on the area! It's really worthwhile checking it out :)

Afterwards we went to search for a camel burger serving restaurant! We had heard there was one in the Bastakiya but we're idiots and couldn't find it anywhere! Eventually we settled for an English pub opposite the museum that was advertising that they cooked it! So we went there. I had a boring greek salad (I really lose my appetite when it's warm) and Matt had a camel burger!!! His conclusion of it was that it was like a normal burger but just tasted quite drier.

With full tummies we decided to have a short walk along the Creek. It was really beautiful and had lots of boats both parked alongside the edges but also zooming around. Heaps of people were offering to take us in their boats as we were walking along, but we were short on time so politely declined - the nice stroll would have to do! We were planning to get home around 3 because we were heading off to the races that night :)

Something that's really cool in Dubai is that accessibility and cheapness of taxis. Usually catching a taxi is the last options because it's usually the most expensive method of getting around. But here it's definitely affordable - for a thirty minute drive Matt and I would pay less than $20 (bearing in mind there's limited public transport so they could easily get away with charging you more). And they are everywhere too - we literally walk outside the apartment block, wave our hand and they're there! It's a good feeling.

When we got home Matt's cousins prepared a tasty dinner for us with looooooooots of veggies :) If you don't know that I absolutely love vegetables all the time then you don't know me at all. There's nothing better than that post-veggie eating sparkle! We also ate it alongside a glass of gin and tonic :) It's obviously a Higgie thing because I think the only other time I've ever had gin and tonic was at Matt's other cousins place in Melbourne!

Our next activity was heading to the race course. This was a pretty chilled event and I didn't actually watch much horse racing - more enjoyed the cider and the games we played! It was a nice experience and chilled way to end a hectic day :)