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Arrived 5am Sunday morning and caught a transfer to the hotel, thankfully. Do this. You don't feel like arranging transport after an 8-hour flight and sleeping tablets that haven't worn off.  Imperial Suites. Nothing Imperial or suite-ish about it. Don't stay there. Couldn't check in until later so had to book another half day in the hotel, which we didn't actually end up being charged for.  Needed a shower badly after the long flight. The room smelt muggy, the shower leaked and as a result the carpets were wet. Even the toilet paper was soggy. Opened the windows to let some fresh air into the room. Air so hot it set the smoke alarm off. We asked to be moved to another room, which they arranged, and the next room was much better. No water rose between our toes when we walked around without shoes on. Luxury.  Went out in search of breakfast. Negative on that. Unsuccessful. Dubai only opens up at about 10am. Decided to walk around a bit. Negative on that. Dehydra...

Paternoster - Western Cape, South Africa My partner was in need of a new vehicle, and the one he had his eye on was over a thousand kilometers from home. So naturally, we took the opportunity to plan a little exploration and coincide it with the purchase of this new four-wheel drive (Subaru XV in rust orange, for visual perspective). The mission - fly into Cape Town, purchase the vehicle, drive up the R27 West Coast and explore as much as possible before driving back home to Durban.  First stop - Paternoster. What a pleasant and pretty place, no wonder its name begins with a "P". It looks tiny on Google maps, and it is. But charming as anything. There's a main road running though the little town and surprisingly it's not called "Main Road" but rather St. Augustine's. This is the official road linking the 5-star boutique hotel side from the 'hood'. There are one or two other roads, but mostly crevices posing as streets.  There...