Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/40418
two large dunes is fi lled with Persian carpets and low tables, and lit softly by Moroccan lanterns. Along one side, our buffet awaits: Arabic salads, grilled meat kebabs and fresh fruit. Afterward, Grahaeme opts for a camel ride while I indulge in a henna tattoo. The evening wraps up with entertain- ment: fi rst an Egyptian tanoura dancer who spins like a whirling dervish while creating dazzling silhouettes with his long, colourful skirts, then a belly dancer who jiggles seductively – perhaps seeming all the more so because, aside from other tourists, this is the most skin we've seen all week. AS OUR DAYS IN DUBAI GROW NUMBERED, I take stock of my to-do list. Sun: check. There have been more than enough poolside days in the cloudless 40-degree weather. Sea: check. I've waded in the azure waters of the Gulf. Culture: check. I feel suitably enlight- ened. Now it's time to shop. I'd averted my eyes when we strolled through Dubai Mall, the world's largest, where the luxury boutiques run the gamut from Alexander McQueen to Ermenegildo Zegna. I'd dutifully ignored Harvey Nichols in the Mall of the Emirates, gazing instead in the window of Ski Dubai, the Middle East's fi rst indoor ski resort. Then I heard about Dubai Outlet Mall. This shopping centre boasts all the same luxury brands as the main malls, but at 30 to 90 per cent off. Getting to its location 20 minutes outside the city is easy, with free shuttles running from 65 Dubai hotels. And while the shop names may be unfamiliar, they're actually covers for the goods' pre- outlet origins. "Priceless"? That's Harvey Nicks. "Allied"? None other than Saks. "The Labels Factory"? Gap and Banana Republic. I only have an hour before dinner, but that's enough time to make a (small) dent in my wallet. I pull three silk Banana Republic dresses off the racks and, at $25 a pop, buy them without trying on. Then I dash across to Kenneth Cole where I pick up a pair of strappy sandals for $60. It's in these that I step out that night, as Grahaeme and I venture to the restaurants at Dubai Mall for a final alfresco dinner at Karam Café Lebanese restaurant. We take the state-of-the-art metro, which stops right out- side our hotel, for $2 each. Tonight we let loose a little, spending $75, the most we have so far on dinner, for baba ghanouj, tabbouleh, lamb kebab and grilled fi sh in a creamy tahini sauce. Everything WESTWORLD >> SEPTEMBER 2011 37 gets sopped up with hot, fresh pita, the pocket still bubbled from the oven. After- ward we sit back to puff on a pipe fi lled with grape-fl avoured shisha, watching the tower- ing waters of the Dubai Fountain dance to Arabic and opera music. A mix of people from all over the world surrounds us. A group of British girls in short shorts. An Emirati couple in traditional dress. Suited Chinese businessmen taking tentative pulls on their fi rst shisha pipes. In this amazing achievement of architecture and investment, excesses and contrast, we feel part of something extraordinary. We're in modern-day Constantinople – and there's still a bit of silver in my purse. AMA MEMBERS SAVE MORE Before you go: Visiting Dubai as a stopover on your way to another destination is an eco- nomical way to see this region. AMA's four-day Dubai stopover includes three nights at a hotel with daily breakfasts, transfers, a half-day city tour and a desert safari. From $399 per person. AMATravel.ca; 1-866-667-4777