The return of the king

We reached the shores of Dubai Thursday afternoon and were pleasantly surprised by the chilly winds that awaited us. It turned out to be a really a great time to visit Dubai, the weather being just right, and with two nights to spend in town, we decided to hit one of Dubai’s main attractions – shopping – the first night.

The next day we went to the Jumeira beach – a magnificent picturesque beach, with crystal clear cool waters, the turquoise colored waters so inviting that I was ready to spend my day there.

But we headed back, for a quick lunch before we were to go “dune-bashing” or the desert safari – a pseudo roller-coaster ride on a four wheel car across the Arabian desert. With great insistence by our cousins to be taken to the bigger sand dune areas, our driver did go up & down the sand dunes, though Kochunni did not like the experience and started to cry. But we held on and enjoyed the (less than) 20 minute ride through the deserts. (According to our cousin though the dune bashing in Muscat is far better with the dunes raising far higher than its counterpart in Dubai).

Later the car took us to the camp site for dinner and some ‘extras’ – a little henna decoration on our hands, a very short camel ride and an opportunity to wear some traditional outfits for family picture time. Of course, no show would be complete without an area for shopping for some souvenirs. A while into barbecue style dining, entertainment in form of belly dancers and music made the rustic scene complete.

Kochunni enjoyed the later part of the night at the camp and as we headed back home, fell into a deep slumber. I mentally crossed off seeing another natural wonder – the desert – from my list of things to do and happily settled into family conversations. We were back home soon and had another round of re-packing as were heading back to US the next day.

Heading back to the airport, we contemplated the decision to do a stopover and realized that in a way it was a nice gamble, not only did we meet with family we had not met in years, we had something to look forward to while starting from India. And sometimes, God does work in wondrous ways, as we were treated with a surprise free upgrade to Business class at the Emirates counter. Not sure their reasoning behind it, but we thanked our lucky stars as we headed to the long 16 hour flight ahead.

In style, we headed back home. The spacious seating a genuine bonus for us, that left us wanting more air rides. As we landed back in US, I slowly accepted the fact that vacation was over and we were back into the grind.

Again nature has a way of healing our thoughts, and as I opened my backyard door, it revealed the magnificent blooms of spring flowers on our barren peach tree welcoming us back into its folds. It reminded me of another time zone, the love and the joys the journey bought us, and of the bright future that laid ahead of us. I felt rejuvenated and rather than mull the fact of the vacation spent, I decided to look ahead to the wonderful summer.