The following afternoon we were picked up for yet another tour, this one a desert safari and sunset tour. We were stuffed in a 4WD and driven into the desert somewhere outside of Dubai. The air was let out of the tyres and we got ready for some fun in the dunes!

But not before a falconry show. The falcon is the national bird of the UAE. I mean of course it is - it's the world's fastest-moving creature given their diving speeds of up to 320km/h (200mph) while hunting.

Imagine that coming at you.

Then we hit the dunes! We were just one of many vehicles out there tearing them up, and it was a hell of a ride. Video here.

I wouldn't want to be stranded out here, but it's quite an awesome sight!

I was sure to grab the front seat, a) to get photos, and b) to not get car sick hehe.

After 30 minutes of punishment we parked up to enjoy the sunset. Lovely :)

We were then taken to this camp for a dinner, complete with camels to ride. Kristina and I already did this in Egypt and so didn't bother on this occasion. They didn't seem to be in the mood anyway.

After a big feed of local grub we were treated to a belly dancer who looked suspiciously like Latoya Jackson.

Kristina got stuck in to the shisha (or tried to), and then it was back to civilisation.

The next night we headed up the tallest building in the world (not every day you can say that!).

Kristina had organised a site inspection of the restaurant on the 124th floor, more as a means of getting us in to the bar next door than anything else hehe. The view out the window of the restaurant overlooks the Dubai Fountain below, with the Dubai Mall on the left. The Burj Khalifa has 163 inhabitable floors in total, plus another 46 maintenance levels in the spire. Damn!

With the formalities out of the way we enjoyed some of the good stuff 450-something meters (1,500ft) in the air.

After dark we visited the observation deck on the next floor up for incredible 360-degree views over the city! This is looking over the downtown skyline...

Looking down over the Dubai Fountain during one of its shows...

Looking southwest along the coast towards the Dubai Marina...

And looking back up at where we'd just come from. Ah-mazing :)

The next day was our last full day and we decided to spend it lapping up the sun at the beach, but not before the obligatory stop at a pet shop we happened to pass by. We caught a bus out here since the metro doesn't (yet) connect to the coast. The bus stop shelters (on the left) are air conditioned and feel like a refrigerator compared to the heat outside hehe. These would be no good in New York - the homeless would set up camp in there and they'd all smell like piss.

That night we headed back down to Dubai Marina for quiet drink while trying not to think about the 14-hour flight the next day.

So that was Dubai (and Abu Dhabi). Quite an amazing destination to say the least - we absolutely loved it! Just for fun I shot another video of the view during takeoff.

An hour later I happened to look out the window and this is what I saw - a mountainous area and several small towns somewhere in Iran. Over in the distance on the left behind the haze is Iraq. Quiet surreal!