Dubai in the United Arab Emirates was our next stop. We stepped off of the plane at 7am and it was already 100°F. We were driven to our beach front hotel in Jumeira.

Here's a vertical panorama from our hotel room.

The airport, freeways, buildings were all very modern and first rate. And construction was taking place everywhere. I noticed buses and buses filled with workers on their way to building sites. They work in three shifts to cover a 24-hour day.

The air temperature was 120°F or so which is manageable. It was the humidity which was overbearing. We walked down to the water to freshen off. Unfortunately it was a boiling 93°F in the water. So much for that idea.

Construction everywhere.

Here is a very wide panoramic standing in the waters of the Gulf and looking back at the hotel construction along the beach.

Click in and view the original.

We took a cab from the hotel to the souks, or bazaars, of Dubai. On the way we spotted the towering Burg al Arab hotel. It was incredibly impressive. Wherever you were in Jumeirah, you could always see the Burg towering in the distance.

The skyscrapers (already completed) were a very modern design and apparently no cost was being spared. There were giant billboards proclaiming "Nothing is Impossible." Apparently so as one of their buildings was a giant cylinder tilted at 45°. It housed an indoor ski slope.

The souks are famous for there gold which, unfortunately, we weren't really interested in. We were looking for hand-made souvenirs. So we wandered the streets and alleys of Dubai. Everyone had something to sell.

Unfortunately most of the things they were selling we could have bought at the local 99¢ store or Walmart.