Day 2 Market and desert safari

Weather was still hideously hot so we took an expat’s advice (met him at the Origin telecast) and visited the Souk Medinat (new markets that are air-conditioned and under cover).

Ladies may have purchased a couple of items while gentlemen braved the heat and visited the Burj al Arab Jumeriah, a short walk from the markets. They were stopped at the gates as guests only are permitted. About $2 000Aud a night to stay there so Mark reckons he’ll book in….when he wins the lotto.

Of course, a visit to a foreign market will never end without incident. An unnamed person (what happens on tour stays on tour) in our party of four decided to purchase some exotic dates. The amount of 80 Dirhams was misheard as 18 Dirhams. We ended up with $40Aud worth of dates that had to be eaten before we left. Needless to say we didn’t finish them and the room attendant had a nice gift awaiting him or her.

In the afternoon we went on a desert safari in open land rovers. We all donned headwear and went for a drive around the desert dunes. Saw a few animals and then got to see a falconer with her peregrine falcon named Mystique (Wayne’s highlight).

We were then taken to a desert camp where we experienced a camel ride, tasted lots of home-grown produce and had a three course and very sumptuous dinner. Food was beautiful but a little rich. A few grumbling stomachs settled by some Moroccan tea. Mark has told Wayne that he can’t eat the same thing twice and that he has to try new things. He sure had a lot of new thing to try in this experience. Wayne hated the truffles, wasn’t fussed on the haloumi cheese, and refused to have the oysters (don’t worry I had his share … and more). He did however love the lentil soup.