Corporate Travel Incentive - Cairo dubai & arabian Desert Fantasy,

Our Dubai and Cairo journey was a perfect juxtaposition of ultramodern with the ancient.

He's the opposite of xenophobic. Credit is due to the ruling sheik with his entrepreneurial vision and super tolerance. It is now home to worldwide mega corporations, with favorable tax rates. Dubai seeks to become the world's premier tourist destination. It has exploded with even more growth, since my visit last year. We came to planet Dubai to be astonished and this 21st century wonder did deliver.

" Tropez of the Gulf" and "Monaco of the Desert. "St, "Las Vegas of the Middle East", snow and sex is a pocket of freedom in Arabia with such titles as; sea, sand, this land of sun. The hundreds of new islands in The Palm and The World are visible from space. Today it expands at an astounding rate with 800 miles of new shoreline added from the man made islands. Dubai was a sleepy village for pearl diving and camel trading, once upon a time. Each tiny kingdom is ruled by an emir or sheik. Oman and Saudi, qatar, the 7 emirates are sandwiched between Iran.

It was hard to comprehend that there's a war going on next door in this clean and crime free city state. The dichotomy is found in its Islamic culture within an environment of western affluence forming a total fusion of East meets West.

Capital of the emirates that is actually an island, we toured neighboring Abu Dhabi. ) We visited the Spice Souks and glittering Gold Market. Thus "Burj Tower" ironically means "Tower Tower", ("Burj" means tower in Arabic. Tallest building in the world along with countless other architectural marvels, nearly completed Burj Tower, we saw the new. Our city tour revealed that camels have been replaced by cranes. We were welcomed with an Arabian dinner cruise onboard a wooden dhow.

) There the women in our group had to cover head to toe in borrowed black abayahs (sort of a burka. 000 worshippers, it holds 40. Visited a fish market and entered the world's largest mosque, we tasted chocolate dates. We drove along the rich Corniche lined with lush gardens set against the turquoise Persian Gulf.

He chatted on his cell phone, as I screamed. Our driver Ahend careened like a drunken sailor at sea over the steepest dunes. Our caravan of 8 jeeps headed deep into the desert for some "dune bashing". One evening was our Desert Safari.

They could have brought soap, the water was so bath warm. The majority of our group went skiing in the morning and swam the crystal clear Gulf beaches in the afternoon. My favorite time was spent on our leisure day with its endless options. Like the Arabian tale of 1001 Nights, we arrived to a tented camp oasis for dining and dancing under the stars.

It was 32 degrees inside and 102 outside. Winter gear is included in the nominal entrance fee. Machines hidden in the ceiling drop 3 inches of snow daily. Envision a 25 story mountain of 6 acres under one roof with 5 ski runs and chairlifts. World's largest mall with 1563 stores and Ski Dubai, terry and I began our day at Mall of the Emirates.

The chocolate mousse explosion with figs and berries was layered with thick sheets of Godiva. A work of art cake was discreetly presented to him, it was Terry's birthday and at the end of our meal. The restaurants gourmet spread of delectable goodies exceeded my expectation and will never be forgotten. Entering the lobby was like standing inside a kaleidoscope. Albeit at an unheard of 3 figure price, we were fortunate now to get a reservation for lunch. It had been closed to tourists for months to give its billionaire guests privacy. The iconic 7 star masterpiece shaped like a sail and set on its own artificial island, later I fulfilled my travel dream of dining at the famed Burj Hotel.

All was eased when we checked into the deluxe 5 star Sofitel Hotel. World's largest capital city of 17 million, i've always enjoyed the chaos of Cairo. We felt like the Jetson's traveling back in time to this land of Cleopatra. We then flew to Egypt on award winning Emirates Airlines.

He intended to educate us in a crash course of Egyptology 101 but did so with such an entertaining style that brought things to life before our eyes. Hany has obtained tourism awards and is the current president of Egypt's Tour Guide Union. I'm guessing this was my 9th visit to Cairo and this one provided the most outstanding guide ever.

The crowning jewel was the Royal Mummy Rooms which exhibits 11 bodies of kings and queens. Hany enthusiastically performed a skit with members of our group to ensure we understood exactly the story to King Tut and what we were viewing. 000 antiquities, crammed with over 100, inarguably one of the world's greatest, another day we toured the Egyptian Museum. " We were allowed to enter one of the pyramids built around 2500bc to see the burial chamber. But time fears the pyramids, "The world fears time, it is written. A full day was spent at Giza viewing the only remaining wonder of the 7 World Wonders.

We all said our goodbyes during a farewell sailing by felucca on the Nile. "The khan" is a crazy maze of souks where one can haggle over anything from hookah pipes to bras. We intentionally got lost in Khan Khalili Bazaar, in our free time.

We experienced magical affects in a new land with a vision that knows no end, " In Dubai. There was much more included on this one trip to two different "worlds.

" Another journey well done. Frankincense and mir, my carry on is filled with gold. "I feel like its Christmas, belinda said to me, as we boarded our departing flight. We were aspiring "citizens of the world" who felt most welcomed in those Islamic lands. Each place indulged our five senses. Virtual knowledge of civilizations past, we gained knowledge, in Cairo.