I'm here only for a couple days. Got out to town and got some food, a real bed, a real shower, and some drinks. This is better than Bahrain. Now that place is a real shithole.

The gold here is pretty cheap...well, relative to the US, anyway. Prices are just a tick higher than market price. Last time I was here in Dubai (15 years ago), gold was about $500/oz. Now it's over $1800/oz. 15 years ago, Dubai was very similar to the way Bahrain is now - up and coming but lots of sand and lots of new construction. Now Dubai is a HUGE city and there is too much to see in such a short amount of time.

I am going out to the spice and cloth souqs tomorrow to pick up a few things. If anyone needs me to pick up spices or whatnot, shoot me an email (gnemish at *** dot net) and we can work something out. I hear saffron is much cheaper than in the States. Persian/Turkish rugs are also more reasonable here.

No riding for me for a while. Big Navy prohibits driving or riding overseas. Most bikes here are Royal Enfields and small 125 or 250 commuters. I've not seen many scooters as I would in Europe (Greece, France, Italy). My guess is it's just too frickin HOT here so there aren't many riders. My '86 VF500F has twice the power of any of the above, so it probably wouldn't be much fun for me anyway.

I wonder....if people in the Middle East rode more, do you think they'd fight less? Other than the oil (which wasn't discovered until about 100 years ago anyway), I can't fathom what there is to war over. My only conclusion (based on deductive reasoning) is that they're all pissed off 'cuz it sucks to live here. I can see the new Honda ad now: "Allah says to ride a Honda. It will make you happy!"

 

Hey...if you can package up a Royal Enfield, I'll take one! Can you ship it UPS?

 

A scooter shop here in San Clemente sells a retro model Royal Enfield. I think it's a 500cc twin, and it costs about $4000 or so. I've only seen one on the street though. Pretty tough to get parts, I would imagine.

Hey Greg, you should try launching a few golf ***** off the helipad of that huge hotel in Dubai, like Tiger Woods did a few years back.

 

yeah, there's a place on the south side of town here that sells them too, but having one from over there would be better, right? besides, I bet you could get a pretty good price over there. I suppose shipping might be prohibitive, but hey...uncle sam could pay that part.

 

Not sure how much you believe in the Bible, but it talks about how Israel and it's enemies will constantly be at war. If you don't believe that, just look at history in the Middle East. The Crusades were Europe's first venture into that area, but it's been fought over for millennia.

 

Answering this from my hut in Afghanistan.. .. I'd say,, after 5 deployments, 25 continues years as an Infantryman, my response is NO, No difference.

Good you getting out and seeing the sites.. me too, well kind of the same,,Im flying out to a remote location, where only 1 of 100 want to see my head separated from the rest of my body, there are no spice or rug shops, but if so inclined, one can get a great deal on ammonia nitrate fertilizer that comes form Pakistan, opium by the kilo, or a great price on a dull knife,,only used one.

 

Guess where I'm at...again!