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In my hotel room there is a black arrow on the ceiling pointing in the direction to Mecca, a common site in Islamic countries.

Labels: dubai, mecca, religion, uae

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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Labels: chicken, dubai, uae

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What a difference a tree makes in a baking hot city of concrete. With all the money that is pouring into Dubai to make it one of the premier global cities of the world, they should start planting shady trees everywhere to make a more pleasant place.



A good example of a green city in a hot and dry climate is Madrid. The Spanish capital in the middle of the Iberian Peninsula is one of the greenest cities in Europe. The shady elm trees make the summer days bearable.

Los Angeles has realised the benefit of urban trees and have embarked on a campaign to green the city by launching the Million Trees LA project.

Trees For Cities is another site about beautifying our cities through tree planting.

Having greenery is one thing, but it needs to be usable as well. I found this park near the creek only to find that you can't use it!

Labels: dubai, tree, uae

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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Labels: dubai, food, uae

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Fashion that never goes out of fashion.

Labels: dubai, fashion, uae

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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...it's hot, damn hot! At the end of September the forcast maximum is 40 deg C and a minium of 29 deg C. Step out of the air conditioned comfort of the airport and it hits you in the face and fills your lungs. And this is at 6 in the morning!

For 4 months of the year Dubai gets to over 40 degrees Celsius every day. The rest of the year is in the more managable 30's and in the "winter" months down to the very comfortable 20's.

Rain is so rare here that there is not need for street drains. In the south of Spain they boast of 300 days of sunshine a year. Here in Dubai the boast is of 360 days of sunshine a year. You would be unlucky to get those 5/6 days of no sunshine. No wonder they are building beach resorts and theme parks everywhere here.

Labels: dubai, uae, weather

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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I have been wanting to visit Dubai for some time but I've only considered it as a stopover destination rather than a destination unto itself. While it makes more sense as a destination from Europe, travelling from Australia or North America is too far for a city that is a work in progress.

Most airlines flying between Europe and Australia stop in one of the Asian hub cities, so getting a decent priced flight via Dubai can be hard. If you fly with Emirates though you can get a Dubai stopover and quite often they offer the best price going on the kangaroo route.

One advantage of flying with Emirates is that you can fly from Australia to 22 destinations in Europe (including 6 UK airports) with only one stop. A direct flight to Dubai, then connecting to the city you require.

Labels: dubai, emirates, stopover, uae

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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Long haul travel from Australia often means a short stop at the award winning Singapore Changi Airport. I'm here for an hour flying from Melbourne to Dubai with Emirates.

Changi Airport now have free mechanical foot massages from Big Foot Massage.

Labels: airport, singapore

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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I visited The Amazing Human Body Exhibition this week. Using the word amazing in a show is usually reserved for circus acts that aren't that amazing, but this was really amazing.

The show is a display of real human bodies that have undergone plastination. Basically water is replaced with plastic at death, with willing donors of course, preserving the body forever.

The Amazing Human Body Exhibition is on at Melbourne Docklands from 30 June to 1 October 2007. I have seen similar show advertised around the world ( a similar exhibition featured in the latest Bond movie Casino Royale), so highly recommended if this circus comes to your town.

amazinghumanbody.com.au

Labels: australia, melbourne, the amazing human body

Posted by James Clark - editor of itravelnet.com
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