Our Emirates Airlines provided chauffer arrived a bit early as we had hoped she would. They called the Mount Nelson to confirm but we were not able to tell them about our extra luggage. That is why we wanted some extra time. So with the help of the driver, two bell hops and the front seat, we were able to get it all in. We got to the airport earlier than usual and it was a good thing as our Australian Visa was not in the system. A call to the embassy, a failed attempt to load the Australian Visa App and finally an expedited visa application had us ok'd for travel with just a few minutes to spare. We had a team of four Emirates employees working with us and rooting us on. As the departure time got closer they tagged the bags and we were all just waiting for the visa to go through. Leslie was chanting "Come On Baby, Come On Baby" and when her visa came through we all cheered. My visa came through 15 minutes later and we all cheered. One of the Emirates team was chanting Come On Baby too. We were very relieved but we still needed to clear immigration. As we were trotting to immigration Leslie had her hand on her heart and we were both sweating. Out of nowhere two airport workers looked over at us and came over asking Leslie if she was OK. This woman had a wheel chair with her and she put Leslie into that wheel chair without asking her. These two Angels told her to breathe and relax as everything was going to be OK. We rounded the last corner only to see 150 people in line at immigration! Yikes this was not good, but as we got closer we wheeled past everyone in line and went right up to the counter and right through to our gate! Halleluiah! At the gate boarding had already started and we went right the bus that took us to the plane. After climbing the stairs we were finally our seats. The flight took 9 hours with only a little turbulence. We had to circle Dubai for a half hour due to fog. Since it was still dark, the fog made for a pretty sight with the highways glowing from underneath. The ease at which we breezed through customs and immigration was a thing of beauty. We went to the Emirates counter and we were given our vouchers for a chauffer driven ride to the JW Marriott where our complimentary hotel room awaited. Emirates has a deal for layovers over 6 hours but less than 24 hours, a room to sleep, shower and eat. We did all of those things a couple of times over. But soon it was midnight and time to get back on another plane and fly to Australia.
I did not want to show her face without permission but I wanted to show the uniforms. The white face mask is removable
Big smiles for a guy who did not know if he was going to make this flight
7.652 KM is 4,755 miles which is 1000 miles longer than the distance across the USA
Still foggy as the sun is rising
the Gulf
Huge receiving area leading to customs
https://youtu.be/80NET6HVqbM
Here is where the vouchers are processed
It is pretty empty at 5:30 AM
We are off the plane and in a car in 30 minutes
A mass transit terminal
The architecture is something special
The buildings are peeking our from the fog
The tallest building in the world
The Burj Khalifa shining in the sunlight
Already we are seeing the very cool architecture
Still building more buildings
These are the JW Marriott buildings
Nice backdrop for the reception desk
Great beds
Very comfy
Our view
The restaurant area
The ovens for cooking naan
Sushi spread
Beautiful design accents everywhere
The obligatory massive floral display
Huge glass frontage to the hotel
The car drop off area
Across the street
In the bar each bottle was back lit
An excursion boat
A waterfall under the overpass
The Burj all lit up
We took a stroll in the pool area
We will have more time to explore in February as we pass through again
Airport lounge
Details on the top of the columns in the airport
A very elaborate display in front of the Dubai International Hotel which is in the terminal
It is busy here at 2 AM
It has been 136 and 137 days since we began our Migration
