Here are some final pictures for your viewing.

The first image, of course, is the Middle East you expect to see. And you are right, it is there, in places.

Here is one of the many mosques visisble from the roadside. At night, the towers are lit up with green-colored neon. I’m serious.

Here is a view from the office in Abu Dhabi. In the distance, they are in the process of rebuilding the Souk, which is the gold-trading area of town.

And this is another view of Abu Dhabi, from one of my many taxi rides.

Meanwhile, in Dubai, the building craze continues unabated, with workers running things 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When finished, it will look like this:

And this is how far along they are:

Also for your amusement, another picture from inside Ski Dubai:

The aforementioned arrow in my hotel room, pointing to Mecca:

Some pictures of the sandstorm in Jebel Ali on Friday.

This is what Ski Dubai looks like from the outside:

And last, but not least, a picture of the strangely squarish Middle Eastern style toilet. Note the incredibly low water level.