Hello Steemit!

This week's Fit for Life episode follows me adventure holiday in Dubai! Last year I won Employee of the Year for the gym that I work at and the prize was an all expenses paid trip to Dubai. Obviously, being a gym, this was going to be an activity holiday and I was really looking forwards to it!

I'd never been to Dubai before, and I'm not one to just sit on the beach, so this was an amazing opportunity. I wanted to make the most of every minute because this trip was only for three days, which is quite short considering it's a 9 hour flight! Let me take you on this adventure as I stay fit, have fun and stay active while on holiday. I'll explore Dubai's Old Town, get on a boat, go to the gym, go dune bashing in 4x4s and hit the water park.

Cultural Exploration in Dubai's Old Town

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I landed at 8am from an overnight flight to Dubai and got a bus from the airport to our first stop - a cultural experience and traditional breakfast. I was absolutely exhausted because a 9 hour flight, with take offs and landings and two meals, just isn't enough time to sleep! Let alone trying to sleep well on an aeroplane. However, once we got to our first activity, the adrenaline was flowing and I was ready to get some traditional food!

This was a really interesting experience. I was welcomed into a kind of replica of a traditional home, with a central courtyard where the meal was served and eaten. This was the coolest part of the house with the natural shade from the high walls. Though it was probably already 30 degrees, it felt quite comfortable to sit outside in the central courtyard. The food was amazing, with a mix of different foods from eggs to flat bread to a kind of doughnut. Not quite my usual breakfast but it was very tasty and I needed the energy after a long flight!

You can see the courtyard here with all of the food laid out ready to eat. First, we were treated to a short presentation by the 'host' for the morning meal who told us more about Dubai customs, traditional dress and answered any questions that we had. I have to say, I wasn't given much food on the flight so I ate far too much! But I figured I probably deserved a few extra calories!

Next stop on the tour was the Dubai Museum which detailed much of the history of Dubai. Dubai is one of the fasted growing metropolises in the world so it was strange to see representations of Dubai's recent history as a rural, rustic little fishing down on the banks of a river. Here you can see an example of one of those boats that would have been used for transport and to make a living.

The museum was located in an old fort that was once used to defend the area, made mostly of mud and bricks. It was still quite an impressive structure and had a lot of interesting information about the area, including showing how much the area had changed. They showed different ways that locals used to make their living, mostly from the river and the surrounding ocean.

From the Museum I then got a boat up the river to my next stop - the market. This was really fun and it was wonderful to see the old boats next to some newer, fancy yachts. The same was true of the buildings, with many of them looking older and more traditional, next to big buildings of concrete and glass. I think that because Dubai has grown so fast, many of these old elements are still present and provide interesting contrast between history and the future.

Atlantis: The Palms Hotel

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By now, it was finally time to check in to my hotel. The company had put me up in Atlantis: The Palms Hotel which is a beautiful five star hotel with everything you'd expect of a luxury Dubai resort. An amazing pool, a beach, restaurants, shopping, exceptional service and a special surprise of a massive water park.

Unfortunately the best shot that I got of the resort was a panorama which I can't seem to upload onto Steemit. This was the only other photo I got of the building itself. It was huge and impressive, as you'd imagine for a resort built on the very tip of the massive PALM built out into the ocean.

The point of this trip was to enjoy myself and I wanted to stay active too. There was a lot of food at the different restaurants so I decided to take advantage of the excellent gym by going for a training session early in the morning.

Not a bad view for a gym right?

Of course, it wouldn't be Dubai without everything being massive. Within the hotel was one of the largest aquarium tanks I've ever seen. It was actually not that big for Dubai, with other bigger ones being located elsewhere around the city. Still, you can see how big it is from the diver that was cleaning the windows of the tank inside!

Going Dune Bashing in 4x4s

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At the end of the second day it was time to get out in the desert for some Dune Bashing. This is basically just being driven around on sand dunes in some crazy powerful 4x4 cars. This was the one I was to ride in. I'm a bit of a thrill seeker so I was really excited to get out into the dunes.

You can't tell how fast it feels in these vehicles. You were rolling up and down and sideways and skidding everywhere. It really extremely fun! As you can see, there's nothing for absolutely miles out here so the drivers could really just let rip and not worry about crashing into anything. Though I guess you wouldn't want to roll the car!

Need I say more about these views?

Finally we stopped at a desert camp for dinner and I watched the sun set over the desert. If you look really closely you can see a black line reaching up to the bottom of the sun - amazingly that's actually the Burj Khalifa which is the tallest building in the world at 830m. From this exact spot in the desert, 1.5 hours drive away from the city, you could see the building and it lined up exactly with the sun. This was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen - man meets nature in one of the most extreme places in the world.

Having Fun in the Waterpark

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Didn't get many photos here because obviously I was in a swimming pool without a waterproof camera! Here's a photo of me on a vertical drop slide that a friend that I made took. If you look closely you'll see my mouth is wide open in a shout of exhilaration! It was only mildly girly...

This water slide goes through an aquarium with sharks and stingrays

Thanks for joining me on my active holiday. This shows that you can go somewhere that demands luxury and relaxation such as Dubai and you can still keep your body and mind active.

I hope you've all enjoyed reading about it! If you enjoyed it, please vote for my post and follow me for more travel, fitness and to keep up with my quest to stay Fit for Life! Looking forwards to hearing from you in the comments below - who has been to Dubai?

Yours in health,
Coach Ben