Dubai Day 1

Hey everyone, First impressions of Dubai were mixed to say the least. First of all we got to Dubai airport got stamped on the way out but no mention of a vistors visa like the travel agent said we would need. We doubled checked with a few people but apparently because we are Australian’s so there is no problem. So out of the airport and the heat hits you straight away. It’s 5am and it’s muggy and dusty, everyone wears white and we definately look like tourists. We are directed to a cab or airport transfer vehicle, the guy speaks broken english but is good enough to understand us. I’ve never been in a country where people drive on the left hand side of the vehicle so that’s the first strange thing. Our driver then asks if we are visiting for long and asks where we are from. All of a sudden it smells a bit funny and the driver picks up his aerosole can and sprays air freshner in a rapid fire motion. He was quite cool and collected about it as if it was business as usual. Quite amusing but obviously I’m trying not to laugh and I don’t think Maria knew what had happened till I explained later.

Dubai is strange, lots of contrast some buildings are spectacular, while the older buildings look tattered and ugly. On the way I notice a riced up 350z, it’s purple with a black bonnet and I think to myself there are tragic cars here just like home. We arrived at the hotel which was really nice, but very tired from jet lag. Had to burn a few hours before we could check in but at least our bags were at the hotel. So we walked around and the heat was pretty intense when wearing jeans and a singlet. We walk around the back of our hotel where there is some guys unloading bags from a few boats, the hotel is right next to a dock. We get lots of stares and I feel very foreign to say the least. I still can’t believe how hot and muggy it is and the sun isn’t even out.

I kept thinking Dubai didn’t look like this in the brochure’s but I’m enjoying the change of atmosphere. Finally check in and grab some breakfast, we look for a phone card to call home and try to get the litle things organised. The first day really is quite uneventful, we are informed by hotel reception that it is ramaden season which means they are basically fasting and are allowed breakfast very early around 5am. No food or water until 6:20pm each night. No music or live entertainment - later we find out no belly dancing either. No sex and a few other things which I can’t recall exactly now. As a tourist we can still do those things, but it would be much appreciated if we didn’t each or drink in front of the locals. Also local restaurants are closed which means we are limited to one place to eat and drink in the hotel. Frankly I have no idea how they do it in the heat and I think it’s part of the reason everyone drives crazy but hey who am I to judge?

We decide to go shopping and get a cab, the cab is much cheaper than the airport transfer, infact it’s a bargain like $3 AU. We get to a shopping centre which is pretty empty and really not that exciting. We end up heading back and sleeping early that night due to being tired from the flight.

Dubai Day 2

Determined to do more than just look around shopping centre’s, which we can do back home. We decide to make a day of it and do all the tourist things we can do possible. First we get on a water taxi called an abra, it’s a pretty dodgy boat, a bit oily and dirty from use and no seats but it has shade and it chugs along. We go all the way up the Dubai river. It’s quite nice and warm in the shade but not too intense, the driver of the taxi speaks broken english and asks if we want to go somewhere and I’m just like yeah whatever take us all over.

We get to the Gold Souk market and he asks for 150 Dirhams (50 AU) which looking back now is quite expensive compared with everything else, so maybe he used the language barrier to sting us for more cash, who knows? Not to worry, we look around the markets but it’s very hot and it’s all electronics or other in my opinion useless stuff I don’t need. Again the heat gets to you and we decide to leave, no water makes it even harder mind you. We get back to the Hotel for lunch and a drink and decide we will head to see the world’s 7 star hotel on Jemeirah beach - Burj Al Arab. We get a driver from the hotel to take us, but he informs us that to get into the hotel we need pants (we had shorts on) and a meal reservation. We didn’t bother too much with one and decided to take a look at the outside anyway. When we get there we see the enormity of the building, it really is huge, bigger than I expected it to be. It’s possibly taller than Melbourne’s Rialto (probably is) and it’s sitting in the middle of the Ocean. One rule for Dubai is, if your gonna build it, it’s gotta be massive. We take a few pictures while the driver waits in the air conditioned car, it’s very hot so we don’t stay out very long before getting into the car again.

Wild Wadi the water park is basically right next to the hotel, we had planned to go there for a crazy water park day, but it’s closed for maintenance and won’t open until the day after we have left. I took a couple of shots with Dean out the front, but couldn’t get in, from the outside though like anything unique in Dubai it looks pretty cool. The driver then takes us further down Jumeirah beach and shows us a palace hotel with a grand entrance and gold horses all along it. It has a watery moat around it and you can travel around the places grounds by boat. It looks very nice and very expensive, again we get out take a few pictures and get back into the car before the heat gets to us too much.

Next stop is the Palm Island. If you don’t know what Palm Island is, it’s a massive man made island in the shape of a palm tree and it’s visible from Google maps. This man made Island is huge, and there are buildings popping up all along it. We can’t get to the end because it’s not finished yet and construction is going on but when it’s finished it will be amazing. Like many other things in Dubai when they are finished they will be amazing and the growth of the place is crazy. I’ve never seen so many tall buildings in my life, almost every building seems taller than Melbourne’s tallest buildings. We get taken around various construction sites with guys in full overalls working their arses off. I don’t understand how they do it without drinking all day. To me it seems nuts, but there’s heaps of them building away. One of the things I noticed about this side of Dubai is there are nicer cars and I manage to see a Ferrari or two and the odd exotic, but I guess I was hoping for more, if I was ever gonna see a Bugatti Veyron I’d have thought it would be here, but it wasn’t to be.

One other remarkable thing is despite all the heat there is green grass everywhere. It’s just to do with smart irrigation but it’s still kinda funny to be in the desert and see all this green grass along the road.

We get back to the Hotel after driving for at least an hour and it only costs us about the same as the water taxi. Bargain really, cabs here are the cheapest so far. However they do drive like nutters here, speed limits are merely a minimum speed guideline and you see lots of smashed cars on the side of the road. The main street through the major city buildings is a wide 5 lane highway on each side and everyone drives crazy through here. If anyone stops suddenly the horn is the first reaction following by the brake. It’s really quite funny, I can’t help but laugh at the usage of the horn.

Driving through the main city strip is funny though with so many tall buildings you feel like this little ant in the middle, hard to explain I guess but almost daughnting. We have one more crazy adventure for the day, I took my mate Kavit’s advice and decided to go on a desert safari. I’m told that there is no entertainment (I thought that would mean no 4X4 through the desert) but apparently that’s ok, just no belly dancing, music or falcon. You see they usually take you trekking through the desert and stop at a camp where they have belly dancing, 4 wheel dirt bikes for dune bashing, a falcon (as in bird) that obviously swoops and returns. As a result though we still get dinner in the desert and dune bashing and if we like we can dress in traditional arab outfits. The 4X4 safari guy picks us up from the hotel and I notice the 4 wheel drive has a roll bar. Maria is naturally a bit worried but I say it’s ok the roll bar is only there incase we roll lol. The car seats 8 and we pick up some other tourists along the way. Dean and I get in the very back (although Kavit said the front seat is the best, I thought I’d be polite and offer the front seat to the others).

After driving out to the desert we finally get to our destination, they let some air out of the tyres to help with stability i’m guessing and before we know it we are on a desert roller coaster through the sand dunes. I tried to video it but it just doesn’t capture how crazy it is. It really is a desert roller coaster and sometimes it looks like you might slide down a large sand dune with the 4×4 on it’s side but we manage to get far into the desert with no problems. We can then do some sand surfing which is basically sliding down a large sand dune on a snow board type thing. It’s alot of effort to climb a sand dune after though. Next it’s more 4×4 madness and we stop at a camp site in the desert. Once there we can ride camels, I rode grumpy the camel while the one behind tried to eat my toes, even though he was muzzled. I call him grumpy cause he was grumpy alright. The guy guiding him kept whipping him and he was growling back, it was quite funny actually but I kinda felt sorry for him, he just didn’t wanna give camel rides.

We then had a nice BBQ dinner in the desert with some meat I don’t think I’ve tasted before. I didn’t want to ask but I had a feeling it could have been camel. By that time Ramaden was over the our guides were drinking and eating in their own corner. Once we finished our meals we were taken back to the hotel. It was definately good fun and I’d recommend it to anyone.

Dubai Day 3

Feeling quite satisified with yesterday’s adventures and seeing as Wild Wadi was closed we figured we would go to the snow park. Again into a cab since it’s on the other side of this huge city and again it’s really hot. We get to the mall of the emirates, which should be called mall for american teenagers. There were teeny boppers everywhere, it was like “oh my god”. Despite annoying teenage brats everywhere, we head to the snow park. We have a choice of going on the slopes or just in the snow park. I’ve never been skiing before so I am a little anxious as to what I should do. They tell us if we are not good enough to be on the slopes we will get booted out and put in the snow park. I figure I’ll just lie and tell them I’m a good skiier since I can roller blade and ice skate and as Dean says “you’re not a retart”, although some may argue differently.

So after organising our gear which doesn’t include gloves, get gloves trust me (I didn’t) we get to the revolving door where you go from normal mall (shopping centre - not center) into a snow field. I’m trying to use the polls to propel me over the snow and finding these skii’s strange and limiting. Maybe I should have tried snow boarding I’m thinking. Anyway Dean gives me a few pointers since he’s been skiing a few times before. He tells me what to do to get onto a snow lift which was funny to say the least and so far I think I’m going ok. We get to the top of a the hill and I look down thinking what’s gonna happen here. All I know is how to kinda stop and how to kinda turn. I go down first and remember Dean saying lean forward, just lean forward. Somehow I get to the bottom without falling on my arse and manage to pull it off like I’ve done it all before. Dean is impressed, but I’m not out of the woods yet, Dean reakons I should try the bigger slopes, so I try the second largest one there. I manage to get down ok and I seem to only fall over doing low speed maneouvors (spelling?). Dean manages to convince me to try the highest slope, I get to the top of the ski lift a little anxious but take the plunge. I manage to get all the way down but by the time I’m nearing the end I’m going so quick that I think if I try and turn I’m gonna fall on my arse.

I see some kids and think if I don’t stop I’ll hit them so I make the mistake of leaning back and I fall on my butt right at the end. Dean comes down to have a good laugh at me cause I have snow all in my hair. It’s not the fall that hurts but my hands which are freezing cause I don’t have gloves. I try to get a set but I need to exit the ski park to get them so we do a few more runs before calling it a day. I think I managed a mild case of frost bite cause my hands were burning for a few days after. Another words get gloves! :).

We get back to the hotel and checkout, then we head to the airport for our next stop Dublin!

Filed under: Travel by Gavin Doolan