Day 1: Dallas, Dubai, Salalah - And Off We Go

A long day of travel today. After a non-eventful and long 12-hour flight from DFW to Dubai, we realized we had an 8-hour layover so we decided to get out of the airport and head to the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall to hang out and pass the time.

The Dubai airport is massive with flight arriving and leaving to every corner in the world ... including multiple cities in Russia and Iraq.  Massive amounts of people efficiently going through gates, immigration, customs, baggage claim, and ground transportation. Even Uber is fast.

Dubai is a beautiful, modern city with wide multi-lane avenues, freeways, skyscrapers, BMWs and Mercedes and Lexus everywhere.  The Dubai Mall is the largest shopping center in the city and it is next to the Burj Khalifa building.  

The mall is a huge multistory shopping Mecca ... every brand under the sun ... including a complete hall with all the best watchmakers in the world ... Patek Phillipe, Hublot, Lange & Sohne, Breguet ... and every designer including a Manolo Blahnkik store : ) ... and a beautiful Apple store overlooking the Dubai fountain and the Burj Khalifa building.

The mall also has a 60-70 feet tall aquarium in the middle of it ... sharks, manta-rays, barracudas ... a mesmerizing sight.  After some food and a cappuccino, we made it back to the airport in time to catch our night flight to Salalah.  

The flight was uneventful.  Landing in a sea of black with a few lights was interesting. Like landing on Mars.  I wondered what was down there ... how developed, architecture, people, terrain,   

Salalah is actually way more modern than I expected.  A resort town visited by people from all over the world.  Nice airport, great roads, cool big houses, and a very nice and big resort where we will spend the next 2 days fighting yet lag (10 hour difference!).  

We also connected with Chuck who flew 2 days earlier.  The group is now complete, the motorcycles are here, and the luggage made it. Wow.

Tomorrow, we head to the Yemen border along the coast to check out some amazing beaches.

Waiting to board our Emirates Boeing 777 at DFW

Nice business class set up

Landing in Dubai - always hazy ... and hot

Our lounge for an ... 8 hour layover!

The airport in Dubai

The Museum of the Future as we make our way to the largest mall in the city

Huge aquarium - impressive 60-70 feet tall wall

Every brand in the universe under one roof

The Burj Khalifa from the balcony at the Apple Store

Does this look las Las Vegas?

Made it to Terminal 2 in Dubai for our flight to Salalah.

Lots of weird destinations around here ... and prayers on the speakers at 6pm

Our 737-800 to Salalah

Made it!

The group is now complete ... here at the pool bar in our hotel in Salalah