Discovering the Homeland

We spent our last evening in Dubai packing our belongings and preparing for our flight the next morning.  Roj insisted on having one last swim in the pool at Joyce Chechi’s house where we were staying.  He has really enjoyed having access to a pool to cool off at the end of each evening.  The next morning was an early start with a quick bite to eat and then heading off to the airport.  We need to return our rental car to Budget and brought it to the airport as we were instructed.  This turned into a communication nightmare and took almost 2 hours to actually successfully return the vehicle.  It’s a good thing we were early as we never expected the amount of runaround for this rental (we will never be using Budget Rentals again!). The queue to check-in for our flight was backed up past the rope barriers and into the middle of the airport so we got in line and proceeded to wait to check in.  This took so long t...

During our last full day in Dubai, we decided to do something very touristy and visit the Dubai Miracle Garden attraction for a day of leisure and enjoyment.   This attraction is only 4 years old so it wasn’t around with Roj and his parents lived here.  It spans over 775 000 square feet and has over 50 million flowers and more than 250 million plants.  It seems that Dubai likes holding world records and this is no exception; Miracle Garden is the largest flower garden in the world!  We were amazed at the sheer size of the various characters and buildings made out of plants.  The amount of work and water required to keep this going must be immense.  I was told that since it’s winter in Dubai, not everything is in bloom and that summer looks even more amazing.   In contrast to what we left back home in Canada, the abundance of bright colours and sweet aroma were a welcome addition to our final day in Dubai. ...

Monday morning began with mom and Villyamummy making puri in the kitchen.   A traditional bread made out of flour, water, oil and salt and then fried in oil…. Yummy deliciousness to start the day! We had a lovely breakfast and then went on the road to do some sightseeing.    Our journey began at Khorfakkan beach.    Roj and I took a walk along the waterfront while the rest of the family relaxed in the shade.    The water had a slight shade of green and apparently this happens when the algae oxidizes.    We saw a few fishermen sending their nets out for a catch but didn’t see any fish at that point.   Roj used to come to this beach regularly during his childhood, so it was quite nostalgic for him.  Shortly after the beach we took a long drive and eventually ended up at a little Mosque at the side of the road.  I soon learned the historical significance of this little mosque.  It is ...

Growing up, Roj was very close to his father’s brother, John, and his wife, Lovely.  Roj and his brother lovingly named them Villyadaddy and Villyamummy, which translates to Big Daddy and Big Mummy (as they were older than his parents).  Villyadaddy and Vilyamummy live just about one hour outside Dubai in a city called Khorfakkan. On Sunday, we drove to meet them at their home for lunch before heading out on an epic adventure they had planned for us. We drove about an hour and a half and then arrived at our destination.  Villyadaddy and Villyamummy treated us to a full Dubai Dessert tour which started off with some ATVing in the sand dunes.  This was possibly my favourite part of the day! Roj and I got suited up with helmets and I asked the staff if they spray in between guests for head-lice… he had no idea what I was talking about but nodded yes, however I the saw the staff taking them off one person’s head and placing them direc...