Arabian Nights................

To say we were happy to be back in Dubai would be an understatement. India was definitely a life-changing experience. It changed my perspective on a lot of things, and let me know that I'm living exactly where I was meant to be.. But I digress...

We had an early morning flight back to the UAE, and stayed awake the majority of the flight talking noise about how rude the passengers on the plane were. Like, in my whole life, I have never seen men walking up and down the aisles after the stewardess have warned them to buckle up and have a seat, people blaring Bollywood music loudly out of their phones & men pushing and cutting women/children in line to get to the bathroom. Unfortunately women's rights are not all that in India & the majority of the men we interacted with were downright DISRESPECTFUL as fuck to the women, even the flight attendants. But, let me digress again, because I am over India.....

We made it back to Dubai and checked into our final hotel, the JW Marriott Marquis, rested up for a bit.... checked out the Mall of the Emirates and went back to our rooms to rest some more before our Desert Excursion...

Let's just say, by now we were beyond exhausted. I don't remember much of the drive to the desert because I was sleep within seconds of us pulling off. When I woke up, I saw nothing but sand dunes all around. We waited a while for the rest of the caravan to arrive, then we were off to the dunes.

Our driver took us away in a Land Cruiser up and down the sand dunes, with us catching every bump, curve and slope along the way. It was kind of scary, but definitely made the thrill seeker in me come alive!

We of course stopped for a mini-photo session so everyone in our group could take photographs in the sand before we headed off to our campsite....

My friend Noelle captured this photo of me, and it is hands down one of my favorite pictures ever....in life! This is probably one of my favorite moments from our trip as well. I literally felt at home.

I'm pretty sure our drivers were sick of everyone by now, because we all took so many pictures! And then it was time to take off....

Or campsite was very authentic, and we out sat down on rugs in a circle around the stage where there would be performances later that night. I went and got henna done at one of the tents, while my friends explored some of the vendors selling souvenirs.

Finally, it was time for us to eat and watch the entertainment for the night...

The evening was surreal. The only thing I hate we did not get to do was ride the camels. Other than that, it was an amazing and authentic night.

It was lights out again on the way back to the hotel, and this is probably the first night we got a chance to go to bed at a decent hour.

We were fulfilled,

yet exhausted.

And then, it was lights out.