For Linens, Lamb Kabobs and Mother Persia

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I have a rule, a simple rule: I don't wake up before sunrise unless I'm catching a plane. However, I made one exception and that was to be on top of the world's tallest building for sunrise. Ana and I woke up in the dark of night, threw on some clothes and grabbed a taxi to the mall, which leads to the entrance of the Burj Khalifa.

As we made our way up the elevator, our ears popped as it sped to the top. 20 floors, 45 floors, 73 floors, 100 ... 110... 135 and ding 163rd floor! The doors open and we were met with a buzz of people already taking photos from the amazing vistas on each side of the observation towers. I didn't know where to start! We found a place, poked around, went outside, had a few photo ops and continued to wander as the sun came across the desert. No amount of photos I share on this page will be enough to explain the awe I felt as the sun grew bigger, brighter and taller in the sky. We watched and admired its journey until we knew it was time to let it do it's job for the day ... and for us to first shut it out for a needed nap, then bask in its strength by the pool!

We made our way down, back to the hotel and promptly snuggled in our beds for a nice nap. Ana woke me up with the needed alarm of "pool time!" and we made our way to the top of the hotel. I will admit, i expected a more intense sun; it's the desert after all! I suppose January in her cold, distant nature is to blame. We still made the most of the sunny weather and demanded our skin soak in the rays. After awhile, we acknowledged it was time to shower, pack-up and enjoy our last day afternoon in Dubai (for unless it was for work or another layover we'd never be back to the middle eastern Las Vegas.)

Ana had a few things she wanted to buy before we left, so after storing our luggage at the hotel, we made our way back to the old market and began our search for the perfect scarves with the dinar we had left, making sure we had enough for the airport and dinner. Stall after stall, bargain after bargain, MILE AFTER MILE we searched for the perfect scarves at the best price -- haggling can sure be exhausting! As evening rolled around we knew we had to get back to the hotel and have a good dinner before heading to the airport. The original plan was to have a taxi take us to the airport but we didn't realize how much it would cost. We didn't have enough to go get dinner AND get to the airport! Instead, we had him take us to the hotel and we'd find a place near the hotel that took cards.  Well, that proved harder than it sounded. We walked up the street then back to the hotel and down the other way, stressed that time was ticking, we had no dinner and little money! The last restaurant on the strip at the last-minute we would have had time to actually eat, by the miracle of Allah, took credit card! Not only that but it was some of the best hummus, tabbouleh, babba ganoush, kabobs, pita and tea I'd ever had in my life! We wanted to wrap it up and take it home with us because it was so delicious, which we did except we had no room in our luggage. haha.

We ran back to the hotel and asked for the car we'd booked. Why book a car? Because while more expensive, with weekend traffic it could have taken double the amount of time to get to the airport and it literally wasn't a gamble we could afford! When we arrived at the airport we gave the driver literally every bit of money in our pocket. He turned to us and said, "it's okay, the hotel told me you had no money. I am doing this for free." My heart was so filled by the kindness of this man living his religion to the best of his ability, so much that he was willing to take two strangers to the airport out of his own pocket. We thanked him profusely but gave him what we could explain once we went through the doors, we'd have no need for it. I admit that over a year later as I write this, I still think of that man and his goodness, wishing people in the west had experiences like these to realize what it meant to truly be a devout Muslim.

And let me tell you, after wandering for a bit at the airport, i plugged in my UP band to see that despite laying out at a pool for several hours and a nice nap, we managed to walk over 10 miles around the roads of Dubai.