U.A.E. – Dubai

Dubai, UAE

The tallest building in the world …. nuff said ! It is the huge attraction of Dubai and yes, I went up to its viewing deck and looked out from the highest I had ever been in a structure. It felt like the height you would look out from a plane window to see the ground below …. dizzying ! Amazing steel and glass structure that glistens in the sun and I couldn’t even get the whole height in one photo shot it is so tall !Of course, the famous shopping Mall (reputedly the biggest in the world) is here, next to the masses and masses of skyscrapers – business and residential. Here are the fanciest hotels, golden beaches and clear blue waters, the monorail, the 6 star (I kid you not !), sail shaped hotel and the overhead superbly modern Metro. Try the Souks in old town, trips down the long creek waterway to the sea, and see stunning buildings at every turn …. just so much to see and experience …. I need more time …. make sure you give yourself plenty !

I Visited Dubai U.A.E as part of my 4 country, 5 city tour of the Southern Gulf area, specifically to Muscat in Oman (click here), Abu Dhabi in U.A.E (click here), Manama in Bahrain (click here) and Doha in Qatar (click here).

Love it loathe it (and I’ve heard fans of both versions), Dubai has to be up there with the must sees even if just to say, “been there, done that”. I have to admit that I knew only a little about this city – the wealth, the beaches/resorts, the tallest building in the world, the highest rating Hotel in the world, the biggest Mall in the world, Massive highways next to the desert. Not much really and nothing about the culture, food and history of the country.

This was the big attraction for me, I was for once going somewhere that I felt I did not know inside out before I arrived, as I usually do.

I was slightly concerned at the stories of opulence and excess and would a humble, non-millionaire like me actually enjoy Dubai. Was I naïve as an unseasoned traveller or what!

So, I arrived in Dubai from Abu Dhabi on the coach. Yet again I was snapping away taking pics of the skyscrapers that lined the route along what was a 14 lane highway, more similar to Los Angeles than a desert kingdom, but there again is the surprise at what you unexpectedly find when travelling.

Where I stayed In Dubai

I decided to stay in Deira, at the Grand Excelsior Hotel Deira, in the old part of Dubai.

One of the reasons I stayed here wasbecause it was near to the airport. Secondly, because I had heard it was away from the over-the-top skyscrapers, massive highways and glass and steel structures of a central business area. Lastly, because it was near a Metro link for easy access around town, (click here for Metro info and lines).

Being near a Metro station proved invaluable, as the bus routes were hard to decipher and the only other transportation would be taxis. Because of the spread-out nature of the city taxis would be long drives, involving expense and slower and the Metro effectively took me pretty much to the main locations I wanted to get to.

Hotel was great but it had construction nearby. My original room faced it so I asked to be moved,as I am a light sleeper and they graciously upgraded me from a standard room to a business suite!  I had  a separate lounge with huge sofa and dining area, a massive bathroom – actually a bit too big as it was 7 paces from the door to the shower each time and you could have put an extra bed in it. I even had my own walk in dressing and clothes storage room off the bedroom. Someone was looking after me that day and the service in the hotel was great too.

The breakfast area, big and stylish, with an indoor courtyard feel with its five storey atrium, also served as the main evening restaurant. It had a delicious buffet evening menu that left me stuffed each time. There was another restaurant for a la carte but I was happy with the cheaper buffet style one here. Staff very very professional but chatty and I was made welcome each time.

The hotel had a roof top pool (I used it to cool off in the evening after my long strolls). There was also a bar in the pool area, a gym on another floor (never used it!), hair dressers and finally a nightclub (never heard any music luckily). There was a more evening cocktail-style bar that went on into the night, but I was in bed too early to use that one!

It also had a really comfy Cafe near the lobby, appropriately called Le Cafe. Here I stopped off, now and again for a coffee and cake and to use the wifi, if I fancied a change of scenery from my room. Lovely chatty and welcoming staff each time with great service and snacks.

I can thoroughly recommend it. They arranged a cheap but high quality taxi transfer to Al Maktoum airport (not Dubai airport where I flew into about 2 km down the road unfortunately) which was about 30 mins away, for my flight to Doha.

Deira area near hotel

I used the nearby Metro station each day which was a 10 min walk along a main highway adorned with shops and hotels. However, I loved my shortcut which took me down safe wide side streets into a local area that was clearly full of guest workers.

Here were lots of repair shops, small businesses, small cafes and restaurants full of workers and a real community feel. I often got a look, (of amusement and wonder rather than aggression!) as they clearly didn’t see many non-Asians walking their streets but they were friendly and I often picked up snacks or water from the local shops here.

What to see and do In Dubai

My first trip into the city was to be on the Metro via a scenic route to Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world at present. I walked to the Metro in the blazing sun, a hot day but glad to be able to walk around again after my Abu Dhabi mega walking trips. I started from Abu Baker Al Siddique Metro on the green line and stayed on until it reached Creek station as I wanted to go …. Yep, you got it … to the Creek.

The Creek.

The creek is a long inland waterway that enters into a huge lake forming the Ras Al Khor wildlife sanctuary. It was extended onwards as a very wide river that ends at the coast, effectively forming a massive island of part of the city. The Metro trip in itself is interesting as it passes directly by many enormous skyscrapers and high-class hotels, effectively giving you a view into their luscious gardens and through the windows of some of the structures. The view of sand, palm trees, intermingling with highways and structures is surreal and something I had not seen before. The Metro is super modern, air conditioned and swift.

It has a female only carriage at the front. Not knowing this I inadvertedly walked into it as it is not physically separated in the train, just a few signs.

The locals realised I was a tourist and not accustomed to this and the men on one side beckoned to me to come towards them. I was looking at them thinking “what are they trying to tell me”. Then one of them pointed to an overhead sign saying “women only” and I realised my mistake. I beat a hasty retreat and joined the men and we giggled at my mistake between us … easy to do if you’re not used to it, so be warned!

I got off the Metro at the Creek stop, taking a pic from the outside of its sci-fi image- it looks like a starship from Star Trek! From here it is a few mins walk along a covered pavement to the ferry terminal for my trip along the creek. This is not a tour trip but simply the normal ferry that runs along the lake/creek and I waited for it in a plush, modern air-conditioned glass walled building facing out over the creek. There were local craftsmen making traditional boats alongside and many small dhow looking boats were tethered to the quay.

The ferry arrived on time and yet again, like most things here, was an ultra-modern, clean fast catamaran styled ferry. The seating area inside was air conditioned and looked more like a very wide plane cabin but it thankfully had outside standing and seating area. From the outside you can get all the photo opportunities you want as you pass under bridges, look over to the wildlife sanctuary, see new buildings going up in this ever increasing city and at one point the Burj Khalifa tower comes into view through the haze.

Not sure if haze is normal here but I noticed that every day the horizon objects were covered with a thin veil of haze so some pics have that unfocused image to them. The ferry was cheap and lasted over an hour but with the cooling breeze as you stand looking out across the waters it passed really quickly. There are several stops along the way and to see the mega structures along the way was impressive. Constant building shows where they are constructing new residential and business areas and then between them strange areas of barren emptiness of sand and new roads for infrastructure for the future.

The opposite journey ferry came by and several times a few luxury motorised yachts came by with sunbathers who merrily waved at us as we waved back. This was a trip I had planned after seeing that a ferry transverses the Creek and it was as good as any tour boat would take. It was an unexpected highlight as lakes and masses of water are not what I initially connected with a skyscraper city in a desert setting.

I stayed on the ferry till the very last stop when the Persian Gulf came into view through the small sea harbour entrance. The final stop was a little secluded and with no taxis outside it did mean a short walk in to the nearby buildings and roads to hail down a taxi in the street. I was concerned that none would come by as this is a fairly remote and underdeveloped area, but as always, a taxi will appear somewhere here.

Dubai Mall.

I wanted to now get to the big Dubai Mall which also has the Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world next door as part of the massive complex. This was my first encounter with the gridlocks that can occur in Dubai. The taxi seemed to take forever in what should have been a 10 min journey as traffic ground to a halt or crawled along the roads.

Dubai is a linear city stretching along the coast so if your journey takes you parallel to the coast from one end to the other, no problem. The issue is going from the coast, inland as I was doing. This meant crossing the many parallel 10 lane highways at busy junctions. At one point I seriously asked the taxi driver if it would be better to get out and walk but he kept assuring me once we were over certain junctions, traffic will free-up. He was actually right but what a frustrating initial journey.

The Dubai Mall is massive, (click here for info), but not the biggest in Dubai and is famous for the attractions it has, as much as the shopping available here.

A central theme is the huge cascading wall waterfall, over three stories high, complete with diving statues.

Several grand restaurants were on its perimeter and a seat here watching the water flow was mesmerising.

It also has an indoor ice rink with high viewing galleries from the shopping areas and a massive aquarium, but this one has a two-story glass wall that allows you to see into part of the aquarium and the swimming fish and sharks from the shopping Mall.

Shops galore here and I did the usual once round to see them and the stunning merchandise displays they have. The artwork was amazing and everything so expertly tidy and neat that I was afraid to touch anything in case it messed it up.

The expression “window shopping” definitely applies here, just to see the creations in each shop front. It’s as if they are all competing with one another to have the most impressive/colourful or over-the-top arrangement.

The Opera House.

The Opera House was still being finished on my visit but the newly built construction was already a big attraction in its adventurous style. Big names have since performed here and is proving a big hit with the population.

Burj Khalifa.

The main attraction here was to go up to the viewing deck of the Burj Khalifa (click here for info on tickets and opening times). This is one attraction that you must book in advance online. I did so in UK and had my tickets ready as I had read that usually tickets are not available on the day. I had not travelled all this way just to see this amazing structure, to miss out on a once in a life time event because of bad planning!

I got there early and indeed saw that there were no tickets left for the day and the next available ones would be in 2 days – phew! Thank heavens for advance planning.

I grabbed something to eat from the huge food court – lost count of the number of eateries after 12 – got rehydrated and then headed back for my queue, and they were long and somewhat slow. We filed along wide corridors and snaked round corners and wall adverts showing the history of the tower building (something to read as you waited, at least) and then towards the lifts.

Apparently, the queues were so big that day that they called over certain people (I was one) and took us separately via a side door into an elegant atrium (actually the Armani Hotel private entrance), showed security passes to the guys there and whisked us up in a smaller private lift to the top.

What the criteria was for who they selected I was unsure but noticed that who they selected were all non-family groups, and well dressed (the one day I wasn’t in shorts thankfully). I realised that it was because they were using the 5-star Armani Hotel lift as an emergency overflow and no riff-raff would be allowed into that area, I guess!

Got to the top, with my ears popping at the speed and height achieved, and walked out into the sunshine of an amazing view over the skyscrapers of Dubai. I was incredibly looking down on the skyscrapers that earlier I had been looking up at in awe of their height.

Wandered for a while to take in the views across the city, to the desert on one side, the sea on the other, the whole city on another and up to the creek on another. It was spectacular. So glad I made it here. There were places to eat and drink and for me the highlight was the walk into an open-air area (high glass walls obviously) and to feel the breeze on your face at the top of the world.

I have problems with extreme heights as I get a bit of vertigo and dizziness but the amazing sights strangely made me forget this and it was only towards the end of my visit that I felt it return after my initial excitement. It actually cured me of the vertigo feeling and I can now do these heights with no effects so even more reason to be amazed at the experience.

Dubai Fountains.

Back down now after my fill of the views as I wanted to catch a sight unique to this area of Dubai. At 6 pm every day the big lake in front of the tower and Mall comes alive with a huge water show of fountains and water jets synchronising their sprays to music.

It is a fantastic show and yet again a new experience for me – ok, I’ve led a sheltered life – and I captured it all on video.

The whole Tower area is full of people shopping, dining at the eateries, kiddies playing on the wide walkways and generally a feel of affluent and modern indulgence. I loved the atmos – unusual for me to enjoy something so overtly man made but the scale and design is something else. Try it for yourself and see if you are not amazed.

Dubai Old Souk area. 

My last trip of the day was to get back to the hotel area of Deira as there was the older part of town to explore. I hopped on a metro train at the Mall, zipped along and changed line to get off at Al Ghubaiba station (bus station area) to walk back along the riverfront. I wandered along noting the boats picking up as a ferry service. It looked somewhat scary as many were smaller open boats where it seemed easy to fall out and no-one had life jackets on, but rules are different here.

If you want a ferry for the river drop off points, this area is where you catch it but I walked the promenade to catch the souk area. Reconstructed in the old style it was the usual alleys of stalls selling crafts, tourist trinkets, clothes to locals, spices, perfumes etc but did not feel as authentic as the ones I had recently seen in Morocco and Oman and so I skipped through without much browsing.

The souk walkway bring you back out at the waterfront and from here I walked past the Govt building and side of the Mosque into the Al Fahidi historical quarter.

Al Fahidi Historical district.

This is a partial reconstruction but using existing walkways and some old buildings to recreate the old Dubai of the past with the air tower architecture and baked mud walls of the houses. It houses arts & cultural exhibits & a couple of museums. A stroll through here is a world removed from the skyscrapers Dubai is famed for. You can’t even see them, so visit the large, cheap entry museum here, the small shops and cafes but also head to the Mosque.

Al Farooq Mosque.

At evening time, when I was there, the Al Farooq Mosque was lit up beautifully and as the call to payer came over the tannoys, people thronged into the building, as I stood watching in the dimming light. Atmospherical indeed.

…

Dubai Old Fort.

From here the Old fort is around the corner and again, lit up in the evening, is picturesque. The displays inside are somewhat wooden and not well presented and not that interesting for me as lots of artefacts abounded that I had to guess what they were about, as scant info was available. It however gave a real insight into how this area was, only 100 years ago  – before Dubai gained its present-day fame.

This area is very much a local guest workers residential area too. There were gold and silver shops in their dozens each with ornamental and glittering showcased windows. Small artisan shops and food shops mingled with bakeries and hardware stalls all perfectly maintained and clean and now I was the only European wandering the area.

I felt totally safe among people going about their evening business and it gave me a peek into a normal citizen’s life, albeit as a guest worker. This is where they live, socialise, shop and work and is such a difference from the glitz of the skyscraper area. My legs were now telling me that I was done for the day and the Metro station, that I knew was just around the corner, was inviting enough to call it a day well accomplished.

I headed there for the journey home.

The next day was a trip to the south of the city and meant a long journey via Metro. Who was I to complain as the Metro is fantastic? Yet again I noticed it’s not used by many Emirati and was overwhelmingly used by well dressed guest workers and some tourists. I took it all the way down to the Jumeirah Beach Residence.

Jumeirah Beach Residence.

This, as the name indicates, is a conglomeration of mega tall residential blocks set amongst a river/lake and with an attachment to the beach side. It is clearly new, wealthy and modern and I am told holds a big ex-pat population too.

I wanted to ride the modern tramway here and see how the others in Dubai lived. I don’t often get to ride a tram so this was a novelty for me – sad I know but there you have it! The tram was fast and drove alongside the roadway, over bridges and is really a super transport system for the locals.

It connects with the Metro and runs out to The Palm Jumeirah area where the millionaires reside along with a famous hotel (more on that in a moment).

I took pics from the tram as we circled the residential skyscrapers and travelled to the terminus where I got off.

Monorail and The Palm Jumeirah Island.

I crossed the road via the overhead covered walkway and entered a new area to catch the Monorail. This is a silent overhead transportation system and one of the few monorails in the world. It travels along the length of the Palm residential/hotel area that is a Palm shaped (hence the name), long, raised, lengths of embankments to the ocean.

The views into the parks and gardens from above were spectacular and you can see back to the Jumeirah beach area too.

My photos here look a bit off-colour but that is due to the fact that the window are subtley tinted a blue-greenish colour, as shade against the sun. the fact taht is was a very hazy day also dosesn’t help when trying to get good clear shots of things.

Palm Atlantis and Aquaventure Waterpark

The monorail ends at the Palm Atlantis 5-star hotel with its unique and world-famous designed building. Here is Aquaventure Waterpark next door, another aquarium and yet more shops and restaurants. The hotel was huge and wonderous but I personally felt I was in an amusement park or semi Disneyland in many areas, (which I suppose in many ways it actually is).

The emphasis on family holidays was evident with loads of kids everywhere, beachware worn everywhere and the smell of the sea salt in the air.

The views out across the storm wall into the Gulf are great and if you really want to, the walks along the branches of the palm designed island are possible. Not for me in today’s heat however and after my foray into the area, I was ready for the air-conditioned monorail back to the land area.

Once I got off the monorail it was simply a case of hailing down one of the omnipresent taxis and getting from here to my next stop.

Burj Al Arab.

I asked the taxi to pass by the Burj Al Arab 6-star hotel – yep officially called 6-stars and regarded as the epitome of luxury of any hotel in the world. Room prices often start at £1000 per night and is so exclusive it is on its own island off the coast. You can’t go in it just for a drink unless you are resident or pre-booked in advance for the restaurant.

A pic here of its structure and the nearby Wild Wadi Waterpark was enough for me and we continued on to my next port of call.

The Mall of The Emirates.

The next place on the list was The Mall of The Emirates. Often classed as the biggest Mall in the world. Now my past in retail always pulls me into shopping areas just to see what the latest trends are in that country and the displays of merchandise and goods and this one was overwhelming.

The Mall is indeed huge …. Too huge even to see in one day. Just to walk around it takes hours without even stopping to buy anything, but I had promised myself to tick it off the bucket list if I enjoyed it or not. After about an hour I was all “malled out”.

Suffice to say every conceivable high-end store was here, beautifully and sometimes imposingly big or ostentatious. Just some figures here and we will leave it at that.

It has over 630 shops, parking for 8000 cars, its own Metro station and over 100 restaurants. It has a massive ski centre – yes a glass wall allows you to look inside at people skiing down slopes in minus 10 degrees, when it is nearly 100 degrees outside. It has a 500 seat Theatre and Arts Centre.

It has a huge entertainment centre with 180 amusement games and equipment. There is also a 12 lane bowling alley, a 14 screen cinema complex and three major hotels. You could stay here a month and still not get to visit every facility and store. It’s overwhelming in size and as I thought. there’s no way I will get round it all .

I left satisfied in having seen just a small part of it!

I had now completed all I wanted to see of Dubai. Not a big historical or cultural adventure as is usually my quest but interesting none the less. Being surrounded by mega structures, 10 lane highways, modern rapid transportation systems, air con “everything”, and wealth in abundance was unreal.

I never saw an ounce of poverty here so it felt a surreal trip. I’m glad I have been here and seen it all, as the feeling is in 10 years’ time the skyline will look very different. The facilities etc in the city will be even more modern according to the plans I still see for expansion. Happy to now describe it to my friends and actually, it isn’t as intimidating as I initially thought.

April 2017.