Paupers in a Prince's World

Sept 4-7

We caught a late-night flight from Beirut to Dubai. My lovely friend Amina had arranged for us to stay with a high-school friend of hers who has been living in Dubai for the past 7 years. Without ever having met us, Lauren graciously agreed to have us in her home during our stay in this desert metropolis.

It was now 3am and we hailed a cab to the Dubai marina, the beautiful area where Lauren lives. Leaving the airport, we were expecting the dry desert weather we had experienced in Egypt and Jordan, but instead were hit with a humidity I have only felt in a sauna. Yeah, that bad.

Upon arriving to Lauren's flat, we were instantly welcomed and told to make ourselves at home. Her cats, however, had other plans.

Most likely a territorial thing or perhaps they could just smell my distaste for animals in the room, but the entire night they ran around; made bizarre, loud noises; and nibbled and jumped on Josh and myself.

After a feline-induced, sporadic slumber, Josh and I headed out to see what Dubai had to offer.

As soon as we stepped out the door, my sunglasses instantly fogged up. Upon trying to take photos with my SLR, it was nearly impossible because even the internal glass of my lens had condensation on it. By the time we had reached the metro, a mere 15-minute walk, I had probably lost a few liters of sweat.

Our first stop was the Dubai mall: an immense building containing every high-end fashion-house imaginable; many innovative, unique stores; a full ice rink, and even a Tim Hortens!

We spent a few hours window shopping before deciding to brave the unworldly humidity outside.

Right outside the mall is the world's highest building, the Burj Khalifa. Completed in 2010, the Burj Khalifa stands at an incredible 829.84m (2722.57ft), and is home to the Armani Hotel and other ridiculous residences and stores. To be honest, we thought it would look taller, hahahah!

Due to the fogging up of my camera, I had to rely on the puny camera of my IPhone 4. Better than nothing.

Also, unfortunately, they do not let hobos in their hotel, so Josh and I couldn't check out the interior.

We returned to Lauren's and waited in her building's pool until she got home from work.

Not only did she work all day, but she had bought groceries and made us a delicious fajita dinner. Talk about hostess with the mostess!

Due to out 4am arrival and Lauren's incredibly generous 4am wake-up call, we all went to bed early. Even her cats left us alone that night. All was good!

The following day we didn't feel like window shopping or indoor skiing, so instead we made our way to Wild Wadi, an outdoor waterpark. Nothing beats cool water when dealing with 50 degree heat and 100% humidity!

Wild Wadi also happens to be located next to the Burj Al Arab (the building shaped like a sail), the world's only 7-star luxury hotel. Once again we had to take a picture from outside its gates because they don't let people in unless they have reservations (aka $$$$).

That evening, Lauren had invited us to her coworker's birthday dinner at Loca, a Mexican Bistro in the Dubai Marina Beach Resort.

Josh and I went to join a table with lauren's colleagues from Tarapin. Apparently Tarapin only employs beautiful female expats from the UK for their Dubai office. Needless to say they were eager to meet the two random Canadian strangers staying at Lauren's place.

Lauren's colleague and also the birthday girl, Prima, treated us better than we deserved and wouldn't let us pay for anything. The night culminated in drinking games, which evidently I lost because the next thing I knew I woke up on my mattress in Lauren's apartment.

The following day Josh and I rented a ferociously powerful Chevrolet Spark, the name of which implies its likely source of propulsion, and drove to the capital of the Emirates: Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi is the second largest city in the UAE, but the richest Emirate in the country. You would never know it by looking at it, but it is currently supporting Dubai financially despite the latter's brash opulence and ridiculous structures.

Upon our arrival to the city, we met up with Josh's friend Kat, who had volunteered to be our guide for the day.

First she took us to a cafe overlooking Abu Dhabi's envious skyline and the we visited the Emirates Palace: Abu Dhabi's answer to Dubai's excessively luxurious hotels. Before entering, we were inspected at the guard station to ensure we were wearing pants (an extremely rare occurrence on our trip through the Middle East) and walked around, imagining how a night in this palace would likely cost as much as the budget for my entire year-long voyage.

From there we went to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, easily the highlight of our brief tour of the Emirates. Taking 11 years to complete, and using more precious stones and materials than anyone could imagine, this Emirati Taj Mahal (they look very similar) was absolutely stunning. After, we joined Kat for one drink on Yas Island before heading back to Dubai to saunter along the marina with Lauren.

I had a little taste of home on my last day in Dubai: a Java U coffee in the morning and Tim Hortens for lunch.

For dinner, my last meal in the Middle East, I met up with my elementary school friend, Nadia, at the Dubai Marina.

Nadia has been visiting Dubai since we were kids and now calls it home after moving there from Amman, Jordan. She was instrumental in my planning for the Middle East, offering suggestions and advice while I was still in Montreal.

My final meal in the Middle East was a fitting one: eating ful, tabouleh, hummus and smoking shisha while being served by Egyptian waiters.

Alpha becomes Omega.

The United Arab Emirates is a weird place: from its unimaginable wealth and larger than life structures; to its white-clad, Bedouin-looking Emirati and South-Asian working class; there is no other place on earth that is more contrasted and ambitious at the same time.

The one definitive conclusion I can make about this country, is that our hosts and guides were beyond generous and to them I offer my sincerest thanks. You made our short stay truly memorable and we won't forget your kindness.

Shukran.

Lebanon Part II: Hezbollah's Home

Aug 29-Sept 3

Following another night out, Gus and I woke up early to make our way to Baalbek, located in the Beqaa Valley region of Lebanon. A 2-hour minibus ride from Beirut brought us to this ancient city.

It was quite remarkable to see the transition from the ridiculously humid, rolling hills of coastal Lebanon, to the dry, flat valley region of Beqaa.

Baalbek is known for two things: a) Heliopolis (City of the Sun), some of the best preserved Roman ruins in the world and b) being the home base to Hezbollah, the Shia Muslim political party and terrorist organization as classified by the US, Canada and many other western nations. Hezbollah's position of anti-Zionism and ties with Iran were quite evident, with statues of the Iranian Ayatollah at several roundabouts leading up to the city.

Gus and I exited our minibus and proceeded right to Heliopolis. We were instantly impressed by the size of the site and the grandeur of the temples.

We climbed onto a stone structure and were immediately reminded where we were: we could hear some machine gun fire in the distance, probably not directed at anyone, but still startling none the less.

We sauntered through the immense temple of Jupiter and the incredible temple of Bacchus, being one of the most complete Roman temples I have ever seen.

Even though Baalbek is only 2 hours from Beirut, it remains far removed from the culture of the capital: the liberal, seemingly rich Eurabs were replaced by conservative, modest Muslims. Baalbek could have easily fit right into any other Arab state we had visited up until Beirut. This was the Arabia I was accustomed to. Before we left, Gus bought a Hezbollah T-shirt as a souvenir/joke gift.

We hopped on a bus to rejoin our Eurab contemporaries in Beirut, but only after being told that it was uncommon to see westerners in local buses due to the prevalence of kidnappings in the area. Needless to say we were glad to be back in Beirut!

The following days, we split our time between Hamra and Gemmayzeh, taking full advantage of the perpetual party-scene which is Beirut.

We also visited a beach in northern Lebanon called Batroun on probably the only day it wasn't sunny and ridiculously humid during our stay.

Unfortunately it was Gus and Chris' last night with us: Gus had to head back to Madaba and Chris was off to Turkey, before making his way back to Australia for mid-September.

We had spent an incredible month-and-a-half with these guys and would definitely miss their company.

What better way to celebrate the departure of great heterosexual friends in a city full of beautiful women, then to go to a gay dance party!

The PC party or Party Circus, Pony Club or some other abbreviation I could find on Google, was the suggestion of a friend we met while visiting the campus of AUB. Her first suggestion of the Sporting Club had been a blast, so we decided to take her word on the PC party, although we didn't know it was a gay event.

While unofficially a gay event (since homosexuality is illegal in Lebanon), the crowd comprised mostly of men, a handful of drag queens and people in costumes; and the remainder being either couples or underaged girls. Since we had already paid for entrance, it had an open bar and the music was pretty good, we decided to stay and all had a pretty good time.

A pretty unconventional sendoff in the Arab world shortly after Ramadan, but hey, that's how we roll.

Then there were two.

Like any other city where the majority of time is spent partying, I took my camera and took some pictures of the city the same day we were leaving it.

Josh and I woke up early and explored the many neighborhoods of Beirut on foot, giving the finger to the blistering heat and humidity that Lebanon throws at you in the summer months.

We walked along the corniche until we had reached Beirut's iconic Pigeon Rocks.

From there we went through Hamra and back to the downtown core, taking extra time to admire Beirut's many churches, mosques, monuments and even some Roman ruins to boot!

I took some extra time to visit the Martyrs Square, commemorating Lebanese Nationalists hung by the Ottomans in WWI.

Many remnants of Lebanon's tumultuous past and uncertain future can be found throughout this beautiful country. From the burnt out Holiday Inn in Beirut as a reminder of the Lebanese civil war, to the current spillover of the Syrian civil war in the northern city of Tripoli; Lebanon is in a very fragile position.

Even though being in the center of Beirut you would never feel this instability despite seeing barbed-wire, soldiers and convoys of Humvees on a routine basis, it is still a volatile country, which I hope will one-day achieve a prolonged and substantial plan for peace.

On a side note, once on our way to Gemmayzeh, we were passing an office of the Phalangist Kataeb political party. I was walking by a seemingly unarmed guard, when I saw what I thought was a garbage bin behind him. As I was reaching over to throw out my shawarma rapper, he made a motion towards me and had a surprised look on his face. As I got closer, I instantly realized that this wasn't a garbage bin, but a holder for his AK-47. I quickly lunged backward and gave him a smile. Thankfully he returned the smile and we both continued with our respective evenings.

Crisis averted!

Lebanon Part I: Land of the Eurabs

Aug 23-28

Visiting Lebanon had always been in the back of our minds, but increasing turmoil between pro-Assad and Syrian Free Army supporters in the northern city of Tripoli, made that decision a complicated one. We asked countless people their opinion on visiting, but their answers were usually split right down the middle. Gus had already planned to visit with a work colleague of his, and Chris wanted to go anyways. Josh and I decided that we would be a larger group, and if worse came to worst, we could always just take the earliest flight out.

We were going to Lebanon!

The flight from Amman to Beirut was a mere 45 minutes. I had arranged a driver to meet us at the airport. As we left the airport, it was rather surprising to see the military presence at nearly every turn: countless soldiers, APCs with mini-guns and even a few small tanks. Rather than being startled by this, I found it rather reassuring that if things were to go down, the response could be immediate.

The driver dropped us off at our hotel, Talal's New Hotel (www.talalhotel.com), in the Gemmayzeh district. Gemmayzeh centers around Rue Gouraud and encompasses scores of bars, clubs and restaurants. We had hit the jackpot!

Once we dropped off our bags, we decided to scope out the downtown area. Dominated by the Mohammed al-Amin Mosque, downtown Beirut looks more like a pristine, upscale European city than the typical Arab capitals we had grown used to.

Beirutis made us look like hobos: everyone very well-groomed, impeccably dressed and nearly all contributing to the German economy by driving BMWs, Mercedes or Audis.

As for the women: Oh My God! Beirut is the only place on earth that can rival Montreal in terms of beautiful women per capital, at least in my opinion.

The one caveat being that plastic surgery is a very prevalent and lucrative industry in Beirut, with many people having work done: nose jobs a-plenty, tummy tucks, and it seemed as though most young women strived to emulate the mountainous landscape of Lebanon on their chests using silicone as their foundation. However, after having spent a month-and-a-half in conservative Muslim countries during Ramadan no less, dominated by women wearing Hijabs, Niqabs or no women in sight at all, we were definitely not complaining!

After having spent just a few hours in Beirut, I was convinced we were no longer in Arabia, and Beirutis should be called Eurabs, a cross between Europeans and Arabs. A far more fitting desciption.

In Beirut, our first order of business was finding a travel agency to arrange our Visa for Dubai. For most western nationals, a free Visa is issued upon arrival, but because the Canadian government does not believe in bilateral accessibility to Canada for the Emerati, Canadians now have to get a Visa in advance, have an onward ticket prior to entry, and pay a whopping 110$ for even our short stay of 4 days!

Well, what're you gonna do?

Over the next few days, we visited various areas of Beirut: we walked through the bustling student district of Hamra, the campus of the American University of Beirut, the uber upscale port area and the trendy Achrafiye neighborhood.

After a long night of partying at the Sporting Club along Beirut's corniche, we decided to visit one of Beirut's fabled 'beach clubs'. Although Senses was situated on the Mediterranean, there was not a grain of sand in sight. Instead there was a massive pool, a swim-up bar and many bronzed Lebanese gods and goddesses.

After the weekend, when Josh and I had finalized our Visas for the Emirates; Gus, Chris and I decided to do some good old fashioned sightseeing!

We hired a car to take us to a candidate for the New 7 Wonders of Nature: the Jeita Grotto. The Jeita Grotto is situated 20km outside Beirut and comprises two levels of some of the largest and most impressive stalactites and stalagmites in the world. The upper level is traversed via raised platforms and the lower level is visited by boat because it is channeled by an underground river. The two levels span a total length of 9 kilometers.

The grotto was incredibly impressive, but a power-failure midway through spoiled our visibility in the cave for the final portion, although not completely.

The only criticism I have of the experience is that if the Lebanese government is pushing to increase tourism to the site and wants to validate its candidacy for a New Wonder of the natural world, they should at least let you take pictures in it! I had to check in my camera upon entering and the only explanation I received was that by eliminating photography inside, people wouldn't stay as long and it would decrease congestion inside the grotto. As a consolation, here are photos I found on Google images.

http://world.n7w.com/new7wonders-of-nature-finalists/jeita-grotto-lebanon/

From there, our driver took us to Byblos, touted as the world's longest continually-inhabited city.

Inhabited as early as 7000 years ago, Byblos contains ancient relics, artifacts and architecture showing ties to the Egyptian Empire, the Greeks, the Mesopotamians, the Phoenicians and the Romans.

The archeological site is now dominated by a crusader castle built in 1104 A.D.

Chris, Gus and I spent a few hours exploring this beautiful sea-side wonder, a little in awe of the wealth of human history it encompasses.

After taking it all in and enjoying the views of the rolling hills and turquoise seas, we headed back to our hotel to join up with Josh and resume our nightly ritual of partying in Gemmayzeh!

I love Lebanon.