When I found out that my first layover on the way to Bali was in Dubai I was really excited because I have heard so many good things about it. Then I realized that my flight was landing at 12:40AM. Usually not an auspicious time to find open stores.

Well, I have been thoroughly surprised by the Dubai Airport. Apparently, everything is open all the time. As the women at the duty free store told me, “We never close.” Crazy!

Arriving at the Dubai airport is the equivalent of flying into a high end shopping mall. There are Clinique counters, Armani and Hermes boutiques, and cigar shops.

I contemplated going through customs just to say that I made it out of the airport in the UAE, but that seemed to hard. So here I am. Hanging out at Starbucks waiting for my flight.

After this I fly to Kuala Lampur where I have an hour layover and then on to Denpasar, the capital of Bali. My flight left Istanbul at 19:25 on Saturday and I arrive at 18:30 in Indonesia on Sunday. Wow, a whole day lost flying! I think it will be worth it though.

When I found out that my first layover on the way to Bali was in Dubai I was really excited because I have heard so many good things about it. Then I realized that my flight was landing at 12:40AM. Usually not an auspicious time to find open stores.

Well, I have been thoroughly surprised by the Dubai Airport. Apparently, everything is open all the time. As the women at the duty free store told me, “We never close.” Crazy!

Arriving at the Dubai airport is the equivalent of flying into a high end shopping mall. There are Clinique counters, Armani and Hermes boutiques, and cigar shops.

I contemplated going through customs just to say that I made it out of the airport in the UAE, but that seemed to hard. So here I am. Hanging out at Starbucks waiting for my flight.

After this I fly to Kuala Lampur where I have an hour layover and then on to Denpasar, the capital of Bali. My flight left Istanbul at 19:25 on Saturday and I arrive at 18:30 in Indonesia on Sunday. Wow, a whole day lost flying! I think it will be worth it though.

Today is my last day in Istanbul. I will jump on the 16:30 Havas (shuttle) to the airport and will be taking off around 19:30 on my way to parts unknown.

I didn’t realize how much I had bonded with our little neighborhood here in Cianghir until I was walking around running errands yesterday and it hit me that it was the last time that I would be doing so. All of a sudden the shops looked cuter, the colors seemed brighter and the permanent pedestrian traffic jam on Istiklal even seemed quaint.

I walked into the local corner store last night and a man who works there actually greeted me with handshake. We have seen each other almost every single day for the last month either when I come into the store or when I am just walking by on my way home. I have no idea what his name is and neither of us speak the other’s language. But he is always friendly and tries to be helpful when I am looking for things.

This was the first time that he has shaken my hand, which is a customary form of courtesy here in Turkey. I have finally broken through a cultural barrier, a tiny step toward cultural acceptance and understanding. I was excited for a second and then really sad when I realized that I am leaving today and will never see this man again. I have these visions of the seasons changing and him looking out the window hopefully, waiting for me to return and ask where the eggs are, but I never do.

I am glad that I am leaving Istanbul on a high note. The weather is beautiful, the outdoor cafes are packed and the tourists are flooding in. There are a few things that I wasn’t able to see while I was here like the Topkapi Palace and Chora Church. But it’s also nice to have a reason to come back. Istanbul is definitely a city that I want to come back to.

Our CouchSurfing host, Eslam, took us to an non-touristy restaurant in Cairo where he introduced us to a local delicacy: pigeon. Apparently Egypt is one of the few countries where they actually eat pigeon, which accounts for why we saw very few of them on our trip.

According to Eslam, when Egyptians travel abroad they seek out opportunities to take photos of themselves in squares with lots of pigeons. This is impossible to do in Egypt because the birds are just plain scared.