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The beginning of our last day in Dubai.
We had breakfast at 8, the same as yesterday. Delicious again served by the very cheerful Rowena.
This morning we did a tour “Culture on Wheels& Cultural Brunch through the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding (SMCCU). We arrived at the SMCCU at about 8:55 and joined the rest of our tour group, about 15 all up. Our guide was Kalid or (maybe Kalif?), a young Emirati, we all got on our ride for the morning a 36 seat “Heritage Express” air-conditioned bus.
The tour started with a description of the area we were in. It was a historically significant section of “old Dubai”, so much so that the government bought the entire area to preserve and restore the buildings and way of life. The building were all made the traditional way, using mud and coral stone, this helped keep the houses cool naturally through airflow.
The area sits next to Dubai Creek, which in the past was much narrower and not as deep. In the past you could walk across the creek at low tide. The work to widen and dredge the creek was carried out first in 1959 to allow it to continue being used for trade and navigation, it is a continuing project.
The house here are not traditionally painted due to the sand storms they experience here. Cleaning of painted surfaces after the sand storms causes the buildings to deteriorate. Solid, permanent homes/buildings are a relatively new thing here, and are only 150to 200 years old. Before that the locals lived in (as our guide said) “Hair” homes, or as I thought, Bedouin Tents.
All of the larger homes, usually owned by Royal Emirati, had watch towers built into them for protection. Homes our more prosperous Emirati had towers built next to their homes, called barjeel, as a form of natural air-conditioning, using/encouraging air flow through the house.
Prior to the discovery of oil in 1966, the primary sources of income in Dubai was from fishing and pearls. The pearl industry took a big hit when the Japanese introduced cultured pearl farming.
The UAE was officially formed on 2 December 1971 when 7 Emirates joined together.
Our tour continued along past the old waterfront/ wharf area ( this is in the process of being relocated to allow the redevelopment of the area). There were still a lot of dry docks and ship repair facilities operating there.
We past the old ship Queen Elizabeth II (QE2), which retired from service in 2008, it is now a 13 deck floating hotel in Dubai.
We the drove through one of the early areas of real estate development, where luxury Homes were built and then we went to the Jumerirah Mosque.
While we couldn’t go into the Mosque, we did get to go to the museum and Cultural Centre attached to it, and we also got to see a camel and its’ calf, 
and hunting Falcon. We both passed on getting some henna work done, instead opting for a relax in the air-conditioning. Here I discovered I was at the point of information burnout, I tried looking through the Museum but just couldn’t do it! So I went back downstairs for a shot of emirati coffee (weak and decaffeinated) and a date.
Today was very hazy, not a good day to go up to the top of the Burj Khalifa, you wouldn’t see much from the top.
We were told of tradition Emirati greetings, nose touching/Forehead kissing/hand kissing, each is reserved for greeting different people, and all are signs of respect.
We drove back to the SMCUU and walked to one of the “traditional houses” in the complex, where we were given brunch. It was an Emirati smorgasbord, Biryani Chicken, Dango (Chick Pea), Balaleet (rice), Sweet pasta with egg, Khamir (flatbread) and Lagimat (deep fried dough – think donut) with date syrup. Before lunch we were given an Emirati coffee and a date.
Traditionally, if you go to someone’s home and they give you a full cup of coffee, it means please finish you cup and leave. If you’re given half a cup of coffee it means please drink your cup and you’re welcome to stay and have more, subtle. Our guide had a quick Q&A and answered a mix of cultural questions from how many wives can you have to what are the clothes you are wearing and why do women wear black.
Once all the things concluded we walked back to our room to relax, pack and generally get ready to go home. About half an hour after we got back Deb realised we had left our small backpack at the SMCUU, so I walked back there. They had found it and it was in the office waiting for collection. That’s not too back, it took almost 7 weeks for us to nearly lose something!!
It’s been pretty busy around our accommodation today, and we found out why over dinner. Apparently there is a Hindu Temple nearby, and all the Hindu have come to pray and socialise. A bit more vibrancy to the area. The creek was particularly busy today, there seemed to be many more boats on the water and their speed was ramped up a few notches.
It’s a real pain at this point, we are all packed almost ready to go, and there is still an hour before our airport transfer arrives. But time passes, ever so slowly when you watch the clock, but it still passes. We were out the door and onto our way to our pickup point at about 9:30. Yes, our accommodation is away from the roads a little, we lad about 100m + of laneway to traverse to get to where we needed to be.
We were picked up at about 10:40pm, its Diwali, so all those Indians who were rising the temple today are now out partying, and the streets are a little chaotic. We got to the airport In good time, had our bags checked in and were through security and emigration by 11:20pm, on a train to our terminal and in the lounge by 11:35. Yes, less than an hour after we were picked up, how good is that. So we settled in and waited for our 1:40am boarding.
Waqith that I’ll sign off for this adventure.
And to everyone who has followed our journey, thank you. I hope the history didn’t turn you off (too much). We have had an incredible time, seen and learnt so much.
Next year’s adventures have already been planned and booked. Watch this space for details closer to the date, hint early next year.
Until then, it’s been a great ride, and our pilgrimage continues.
