Admiring the Tallest in the World, Dubai, UAE

787 Dreamliner Large WindowLeaving Doha, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves on a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The inside was beautiful! There was a ton of overhead space and the walkways were not cramped. There were large windows that tinted for the sun rather than completely blocking the view with a plastic shade. The seats felt spacious and very comfortable. Too bad our flight to Dubai was only 45 minutes long! Once we arrived, we had another quick and easy transfer to our hotel.

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Dinner at Afghan Kabab House – mixed kebabs and chicken kadai

The heat was still present along with fasting for Ramadan. Our hotel, Landmark Plaza, was right across the street from a metro station so we only had to briefly brave the heat while crossing the street. We hid in our hotel room the rest of the afternoon while waiting for fasting Continue reading

We’ve been digging and finally emerged in China!

Shanghai to be exact. This city is like a showcase for the future – almost everything is brand new. From the airport we took a mag-lev train to the city. The top speed was 186 mph and the suburbs just whizzed past. By the time we found our hostel it was pretty late so Sara and I decided to eat there. After two meals and drinks the total bill was only $15 (I could get used to this)! The hostel was in Old Town and had many of the expected amenities other than weak plumbing that required all paper be thrown in the trash and only provided hot water during set hours.

On Saturday we started exploring the city. Continue reading