I’m loose on two wheels again – white and pink ones at that! When Emma offered up her bicycle I couldn’t untangle the bike lock fast enough, saved at last from public transport woes and trudging the construction sandpit of Dubai.

I now ride everywhere. To breakfast, lunch and yoga.. then dinner and everywhere in between. It brings a smile, recklessness and an air of spontaneity as I dodge, glide and jump the people, back alleys and curbs of Bur Dubai. Apparently I’m staying in “the real Dubai” on Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road, a stones throw from the creek and this is how you get to really experience it, up close and personal.

If daylight brings traffic and chaos, it’s when darkness decends that the alleys really come alive. Cars and trolleys are put to bed (almost) and everyone’s on foot, brimming colour as neon beckons you this way and that; a souk here, restaurant there and soon enough you wonder where the night went before grabbing a quick samosa for your midnight snack track home.