Dubai

Being shoehorned into a tin can fitted with a propeller is much nicer when it's the flash Emirates A380 Airbus.

At 8.00am today it was already 40 degrees.

Emirati customs officials all look as though they are channeling Omar Shariff.

The hotel is the nicest I will probably ever stay in (cheapest room £600 a night).

The lead story in today's daily rag screamed in 20 point letters that shop keepers will be "severly reprimanded" if they don't give customers the correct change. Presumably the unrest in places not too far from here isn't significant enough to rate a mention.

My eyes are almost falling out of my head with tiredness but such is my enthusiasm for being here that I may as well be wagging my tail and panting.