Part 2 of my adventure to Nepal with Approach Intl.
We got into Dubai in the late evening. The flight was long, but not too bad. We both got good naps and felt pretty good upon arrival. Andy booked us a hotel just off the airport for our layover. After going through immigration, getting my stuff searched through, shuttling to the hotel and dropping off our bags, we headed into the city to see some sights.
We were dropped off at the mall around 10pm. The place was busy, people everywhere. We headed into the mall and started to see just how crazy the consumer culture was here. The mall was massive, with everything scaled up from what I’m used to in American malls. Our main goal was to see the Burj Khalifa and the skyline. It took us nearly an hour just to escape the mall. Every time we exited the mall, we ended up in a parking garage. When we finally made it outside and got our first view of the grand tower, it was a spectacle. Flashing lights glittered all the way up its great height. It is definitely a display of mankind’s engineering progress. Even though we were enjoy the building’s grandeur and noticing the crick in our necks, we even more excited to see God’s mighty towers in the mountains of Nepal.
We eventually found a taxi back to the hotel and received an Indy-inspired ride, tires squealing, engine revs and rapid lane switching. We weren’t in a hurry, but he sure was. We settled in for the night and got a few hours rest. Neither Andy or I really slept much, but we did rest, so we both got out of bed earlier than planned and had plenty of time to enjoy breakfast before going to the airport. One major thing about Andy, he can talk to anyone. He struck up a conversation with an American flight-ops contractor who was en-route to Iraq. He gave us his take on the state of affairs there and we talked about our experiences traveling to other countries. At the airport, it was a bit of a struggle to get me a boarding pass printed, but eventually we got it and verified our checked luggage was still set to meet us at our destination. At the security checkpoint, surprise, surprise, my camera bag received another inspection. Documentary filmmaker issues, am I right!
Next stop Kathmandu, Nepal! Only four hours of flight this time.