International Travel

When you're a tourist it's hard to get in amongst the lives of people in other countries. You see them hurrying about on their daily round but there are few glimpses of their quieter times.

Countries are often identified in strangers' minds by what's in tourist shops. In New Zealand it's the tiki, the fern the koru and the colour green. For China we think of panda bears, pagodas, ornate fans and everything decked in red and gold.

Today it is Friday. Muslims believe that Allah told them that Friday is the day to glorify. The Jews consider Saturday as their special holy day and the Christians celebrate Sunday.

This will be my last report from Dubai, before I flit off to have other adventures in different countries. Because the majority, or over 80 percent of the Dubai population of 4.5 million is a large international block of foreigners, I felt you could be in

They came, silently swinging their powerful bodies through the trees, their faces vigilant, velvet dark eyes wary. We froze. My breakfast companions had arrived!

I had the most scary experience I have ever had in my whole driving life! I decided to go and find a shopping centre here in Dubai, that has approx. 4.5 million people and 80% are ex-pats of well over 100 nationalities!

Of course, there is no way I could, or anyone else for that matter. This Frenchman, also referred to as the French Spiderman, has no challengers in his field.

Taking a taxi into the Dubai to the Gold Souk provided me with an answer to why I never see any Police or Traffic Officers in Dubai.

Buenos Aires is often called the Paris of South America because of its grand old buildings and leafy boulevards which give the city a European ambience, but we found it much friendlier and relaxed than Paris with music and tango dancing in the streets.

A short drive took us to Marco Polo, our home away from home for our 16 days Antarctica and Chilean Fjords cruise. This was to be Marco Polo's last Antarctica cruise as the ship was being sold.