Before I leave for the airport....

I have just a few minutes to write a quick update before I leave for my flight to Bangladesh.

Yesterday morning I headed off to an out-of-the-way shop, the Antique Museum. The name is misleading, as it isn't a museum full of antiques, but rather a filled-to-overflowing warehouse of imported and local objects...aladdin lamps, arabic coffee pots, pashminas, etc. I walked up and down dimly lit, cramped aisles of goods. Very interesting place, lots of great finds. It's interesting because a lot of tour books don't have this place listed, and even my taxi driver didn't know where it was. It's back in the industrial area, amongst factories and such. Hard to find, but worth it.

In the afternoon, I walked to Jumeirah Beach Hotel, where my ride came for the Desert Safari. Awesome experience, I highly recommend it! We drove about an hour out into the desert, to a private desert conservation area. Here, we stopped for pictures of the dunes while the driver let air out of the tires. This was in preparation for "dune bashing." We drove up and down the steep dunes, over narrow ridges, and around sharp curves. This is especially terrifying, since driving in sand is a little like driving on ice: the driver doesn't necessary have precise control over the SUV. But it was a lot of fun...and I had the best seat: shotgun!

Then we stopped at a camel farm, where the camels were being herded off to dinner. Those animals are huge up close...especially the one that headed start for me! Cool pictures here, as the sun was setting over the dunes.

Next stop, the dinner place, which appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the desert. Low lighting set the atmosphere, and we sat Arabic-style: on cushions on the ground. Dinner was traditional Arabic food which was excellent. And then a belly dance performance. As the evening was winding down, they turned out all the lights in the camp and we laid back for some star-grazing....which was incredible! No light pollution here.

Got home around 10-10:30 and had a chance to call Mom....she didn't recognize my voice at first, and then had the nerve to say, "Ashley?". Hmph. Well, I need to finish scrunching the last few things in my bags; the taxi will pick me up in about 40 minutes, 10:30, for a 20-30 minute drive to the airport. Flight leaves at 1:15pm, and I should arrive in Bangladesh about 7:30pm local time, 9:30am E/8:30am C. See you in Bangladesh!

P.S. I hear you all are waiting for pictures...wait a little longer, I promise they're coming! I just don't have the time right now.