The alarm went off at 530 and we had tea, got dressed, closed the cases and rang the front desk for help with the bags. Went downstairs at 615 and found our packed breakfasts in two boxes all ready. Far too much food lol! We shared one and gave the other to the Uber driver. The coffees were very welcome too.

It was about 45 minutes from the hotel to Kochi airport which looked very new. No problems checking in and we were soon through security and at the gate. The Emirates fight into Dubai was pretty full but as seamless as ever. The meal was very good and it was large and filling. Lots of little extras like cashews and trail mix as well as a great fish curry. The flight to Dubai was 4 hours. Just enough time to watch a 3 episode BBC docudrama about Julius Caesar.

Landed in Dubai at 1230 midday. It was very hazy – dust in the air – but warm, about 28C. No problems getting through the airport.

Now….. the strangest thing happened. We went to the official taxi rank and gave our hotel name in Fujairah, an emirate to the east of Dubai on the other side of the peninsula. Surprised to find that our taxi was driven by an African lady – generally taxi drivers in Dubai are always Asian men. Anyway, she made a bit of a face when I gave her the address and I remarked at the time that we’d clearly made her day.

We set off and she was a bit weird and asked if we minded if she stopped at a particular type of petrol station to fill up. We didn’t care at all as long as it was on route. She went into one and drove right out muttering they didn’t have what she wanted but then she found whatever it was at the next one. We set off across the scrubby desert. There were lots of camels but not much else, it’s quite a remote route. I noticed she was driving slowly, didn’t mind this at first but she got slower and slower till we were going a max. 50 kph in a 100 kph area. Everyone was overtaking us. We got to the mountain range that separates the deserty areas of Dubai from the coastal area of Ras al Khaimah and Fujairah and started to climb and go through the tunnels. It’s a stunning road for scenery but there are lots of bends and big drops.

She started to weave a bit and then make a funny snuffling noise and pant. I said to her “are you all right?” and she didn’t answer but we were literally just crawling along….. I repeated the question several times to no reply and the moaning and snuffling continued, then Bob asked her if she was ok. This time she answered “no, not really, I’m very tired”. Of course we clicked!!!! It wasn’t just that. It’s Ramadan, she’d undoubtedly been fasting since 5am and was starving and dehydrated and on the verge of passing out. Bob told her to pull over as soon as it was safe to do so. It was quite a struggle, she really didn’t want to. She could barely talk by now and was quite out of it. In one tunnel she almost ground to a halt and we were afraid someone would hit us in the rear…. We emerged and stopped and she just sat there, completely non responsive. Bob persuaded her eventually to move into the front passenger seat and he drove the taxi the last 60 km through the mountains and down to the sea to our hotel. The hotel staff helped us with her and they got her food and water and let her wash up in the bathroom. Really she should never have been driving in that state and we had quite a lucky escape. I do wonder about these rules that originated in different times and whether they are safe or beneficial today.

Anyway, we got another fantastic welcome from the staff at Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort where we are staying for the next 5 days, again using our Marriott points. They upgraded us to the Club level which means we get a lot of freebies, and they gave us a great corner room with full sea view. Absolutely gorgeous room. They also gave us some bonus points, free buffet breakfast and sent up a bowl of fruit,, a bottle of prosecco in a bucket of ice and a lovely dessert plate. We were very touched.

After dropping the cases in the room we went down to explore the pools and beach (both lovely) and called in to the Al Boom Dive Centre which is on the premises. They seemed very professional so we booked a 2 dive trip with them for tomorrow morning. Excited about that. Hopefully it will be good and we’ll do another day or possibly 2. We have masks and computers with us but will hire the rest.

Unpacked and rested for a while. Then, at 730 we went up to the bar on the top floor for the Club Lounge. A great time and another good bargain. A large list of drinks were free to us up to 9pm – we had 3 gins and sodas (me) and 3 gin and tonics for Bob. Remember this is not India… heck it’s not even UK price…. 6 gins and the accompanying soft drinks would have cost us £148 if we’d had to pay….. so that’s a nice perk. They served some small plate food up there but that was not free. We shared a plate of spicy chicken wings and a big platter of Arabian meze with a basket of pita. It beat us…. we just couldn’t eat it all. The food came to £28 which wasn’t too bad. Nice service too.

Not a late night we will have to be up and breakfasted to be at the dive shop for 0830….