I've seen camels (real ones) and strayed off-road in the desert. I've seen the underwater world of Atlantis and travelled on a monorail to the edge of the Palm resort enjoying the station-stop at "Trump Tower" (notable in that the "Trump Tower" has yet to be built). I've seen the 7-star Burj Arab hotel and swam in the Gulf itself.
At the Bab Al Shams Desert Resort I sipped lemonade while reading the regional newspaper. Best article on the front page concerned a Sharia Court case in Jeddah where a family has brought an action against a genie. Apparently the evil genie threw the family's possessions around the house in a poltergeist manner and also sent the family (who have had to be rehoused) abusive text messages by mobile phone.
Back on the subject of camels, I was driven around the huge camel pen complex by Nad Al Sheeba racecourse but we are off season and most of the 14,000-odd racing camels were elsewhere. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum holds the record price so far paid for a camel (2.7 million dollars), and the big change in recent years has been to stop the trade in 'slave' boy jockeys who used to weigh in at about 20 kilos. You now have to be 15 years old, licenced and weigh at least 45 kilos before you can be a camel jockey.
Home now. I'll have to see if I can find a camel to carry my 20 kilo suitcase to the airport.
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