United Arab Emirates - Dubai Part II

On our first day in Dubai, we spent most of our time indulging in some of the amazing luxuries available in this cosmopolitan city like an indoor snow dome and high tea at the world's only 7-star hotel. Our second day in Dubai should be called the Emirate Heritage Day. We kicked off the day by taking the metro just a few stops to the Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding. I've said this before, and I'll keep saying it until any potential Dubai travelers heed my words. Dubai is not a walkable city! They have 2 metro lines, and they're building more, but the stops are essentially useless except for a few things (mostly malls). By day 2, the reality of this still hadn't sunk in yet. So, we took the metro across the sand pit from our hotel only two stops, but then still had about a 15-20 mins walk after that. (FYI - be very careful what kind of metro card you buy. I don't remember exactly what happened, but for some reason we bought the wrong cards and both had to pay an exit fee. This just goes to show you just how different countries and cultures can be. When this same thing happened in Thailand, they just smiled at me and waved me through. But that's another blog for another time. And I know what you're thinking. I need to pay better attention to what metro cards I buy! Yeah yeah...I know.)

We pre-booked a tour of the historical quarter and also a cultural lunch, but since we arrived too early for the tour, we went to the Dubai Museum first. For a country with very little history, they had a really nice display. 

Dubai Museum

After that we went back to the Sheik Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding. Because we arrived a little early, we waited in the waiting area and read a rather disturbing article about Bush, Blair and the war in Iraq back in the beginning of the 21st century. It always saddens me to read articles like this that are published in foreign newspapers. I wish other countries didn't pass judgement on the American people based on the decisions of a few politicians. Yes, we elect our officials, but in a country with 200 million people, surely they have to understand that we all have differing opinions on things and shouldn't be judged the same. At any rate, we seldom suffer ill treatment when traveling abroad which always restores my faith in humanity.

Anyway, before too long we gathered together as a group, and took a very nice walking tour of the Bastakia Quarter. The guide explained their old architecture and wind tunnel system that they used before they had electricity. Given how hot it can get in the UAE, it fascinated me to see how the people coped with the weather extremes before modern conveniences like air conditioning.

Bastakia Quarter - Historical District - Dubai

After the tour, we walked around a bit until our cultural lunch at 1:00 inside the center where our tour began. We could only stay for the first half of the lunch, but the whole experience was very interesting and enlightening. We all sat around the food on the floor with our shoes off. When they uncovered the food, they said something on the order of, "now, don't expect us to select one side of the group to go first in an attempt to be organized and efficient about this. In our culture, its every man for himself." And with that, everyone looked at each other uncomfortably, and then slowly, we all started getting food. We enjoyed many authentic dishes. We ate chicken and fish with saffron rice, white rice, a chicken and vegetable stew, and sesame/honey donut holes for dessert. 

Just before lunch - Dubai Center for Cultural Understanding

Culture Lunch - Dubai Center for Cultural Understanding

After we all had plates of food, our tour guide rejoined us along with another lady and gentleman from the center. All of them were dressed in full covered Muslim attire, and they opened the floor for us to ask any sort of questions we wanted about their country and religion. They did a really good job explaining things from their perspective and took no offense to the questions we asked. They addressed all manner of things from having multiple wives to their opinion of the more radical Islamic terrorist groups. They insisted that they, along with their government, believed that Islam is a very peaceful religion and that groups and governments who try to use it to spread fear are doing so with political agendas. Having had little contact with the Muslim community and knowing next to nothing about Islam, I really appreciated how open they were to clear up many stereotypes and misconceptions of their religion and people.

Around 1:45, we excused ourselves from the lunch and hustled back to the hotel to change. One of the top rates activities in Dubai is going on a desert safari. Platinum Heritage Safaris were a little pricier than some of the other companies, but they were well worth the expense. What an amazing experience! (You can read my trip advisor review of them as well.) You may be asking yourself, just what is a desert safari? Well, my friends, I will tell you. 

A driver Fahad (or Jaquel - his nickname) picked us up at our hotel around 2:45. We stopped at 2 other hotels to pick up 4 more people; a couple from Germany (Marius and Francine) and a couple from New Zealand and South Africa (Paul and Angela). From there we drove about 45 mins to the Dubai Desert Conservation which is privately owned by the Prince of Dubai. Once we arrived, Fahad gave us all special head dressings to wear to help keep the sand out.  We loaded into old 1950s land rovers and began our trek across the desert. 

Fahad and our Land Rover - Dubai Desert Conservation

I'm not sure if I can accurately explain the concept of dune bashing, but take a look at my picture above. Imagine driving through the desert at a pretty fast (though still safe) speed and bumpity bumping all over the place. Because these vehicles are refashioned from the 1950s, they had some trouble restarting every time we loaded back into them, but that let us know they were authentic.

Fahad stopped often and made sure we saw lots of wildlife including orcs, camels, and antelope. He generously took pictures for us even though the company arranged for a special photographer to follow our car and other cars around and take photos that we could later buy. 

Wildlife in the Dubai Desert

Some more wildlife in the Dubai Desert :)

After dune bashing for about an hour and stopping often, we came upon a small campsite where a gentleman from South Africa performed a falcon demonstration. One of the falcons only had one eye, and the guy explained that this falcon required special training or else he wouldn't see the prey and fly off. Unfortunately, about 2/3 of the way through our demonstration, the one-eyed falcon got confused and flew off anyway. That cut our demonstration short because the guy had to go "track down his bird" as he said. Fortunately, the birds all had GPS trackers on them. I contacted the company when we got home and they confirmed from that he did, in fact, get the falcon back. That made me happy! 

Falcon Demonstration - Dubai Desert Conservation

From the falcon demonstration, we continued on to a Bedouin camp. The sun was setting, and we enjoyed traditional Bedouin dancing, camel rides, henna tattoos, and a delicious dinner. One thing we were all happy to see when we got there were bathrooms. Until that point, the guys had been able to find a private spot in the desert as necessary, but us ladies were stuck waiting until we got somewhere with accommodations. And being a desert camp in the middle of nowhere, we had no idea what to expect. Fortunately, the company was first class all the way, and the bathroom accommodations were amazing. 

Bedouin Camp - Dubai Desert Conservation

Camel rides - Dubai Desert Conservation

When we first arrived at the camp, we went for a short camel ride and then sat down to eat. They served us a variety of food on small trays. We ate everything they served us commenting among ourselves that while quite tasty, it wasn't exactly a terribly filling meal. Then to our surprise and delight, they called us over to the open flame kitchen and served us each a plate full of lamb and chicken kabobs with rice. Now after eating every morsel of the appetizers, we were beyond stuffed after eating the rest of our dinner. 

After dinner, we enjoyed some dancing, henna tattoos, and they passed around a pipe that contained some sort of cherry tobacco for communal smoking (which we didn't partake, but looking back on it, we probably should have at least tried it. Alas...I was too timid). 

Henna Tattoo - Dubai Desert Conservation

Like I mentioned above, they had a guy following us the whole time taking pictures. While we sat listening to the music and watching the dance, he came over to us and showed us the digital prints that he took throughout the day. We were very pleased with the shots he took, and since he offered them at a decent price (not like the penguin encounter from the day before), we bought them and got the CD. 

The whole desert safari experience lasted over 8 hours. We didn't get back to our hotel until after 10pm. From our morning at the cultural center, an afternoon of dune bashing, and an evening of amazing food and smells and getting to know the folks who were with us, we had a pretty terrific day. If only the next day would be just as good. Unfortunately, it wasn't. What happened? You'll have to read my next blog HERE.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

United Arab Emirates - Dubai Part I

Welcome to the start of my trip to the UAE. In my introductory blog, I told you a big about why we picked Dubai and the UAE for our next adventure. This blog starts with our actual adventure.

Thanks to a 13 hour flight and a 9 hour time difference our first day was awfully short. Our flight landed safety at Terminal 1 of the Dubai international airport around 4:40PM local time. We weren’t even slightly hungry because they fed us 3 times on the flight (not to mention dinner at Wendy’s before we left).  We cleared customs without waiting too long, got cash out of the ATM and searched unsuccessfully for the Hyatt Regency counter to request a shuttle (which we later found out didn't exist despite what their website said at the time. You can read my full Trip Advisor Review on this hotel to give you more specifics). Instead we took the metro. Brand new and very clean but we were still scrunched in like sardines given the busy hour. When we got off the metro at our station and came out, we were right in the middle of a sandy field (absolutely no grass). It's almost as if they meant to build an entire station but didn't. That worked well for us, because when we hit the street level, the hotel was literally right in front of us (well, in front of us but across the sand pit that was about the length of a football field and smelled really bad). We checked in with no problems, and our room on the sixth floor was very large even though I bought the absolute cheapest rate I could find on hotels.com.

After checking in and getting settled we explored the hotel complex and took a walk around the surrounding area. The hotel had several on-site restaurants, an ice skating rink (yes, that's right), and a minimart. Then we wandered through some local streets. The hotel is in Deira which is considered the "old" part of Dubai mostly due to its proximity to the gold and spice souks (old markets). Normally, I would gobble up this sort of thing (which is one of the reasons the location appealed to me at first), but instead we felt out of place and very uncomfortable. This area of Dubai while it might be the old section, was completely taken over with foreigners and very rundown. There were lots of men everywhere and very few women. I made a point of packing only clothing that would help me to fit in better in this predominantly Muslim country (or at least not be offensive). I wore long skirts everyday and almost always wore long sleeves. But even dressed as I was and walking with my husband, we got all manner of angry stares. We kept walking for about 20 mins and found the Gold Souks. Wow! You’ve never seen so many jewelry stores here in your life! And these weren't like American jewelry stores where there is a mix of cheap and expensive. You only had expensive and more expensive. Gold and diamonds everywhere! Unfortunately, we felt most unwelcome. The shop owners would stand outside their stores and bark at pedestrians walking past trying to get them to come inside. If you didn't acknowledge them and go in, as you walked past them, the tone of their voice got angry and instead of getting you to buy their gold, they started yelling curses at you and spat. We were terribly uncomfortable and started questioning what we got ourselves into.  After some distant window shopping we walked back to the hotel, got some snacks from the grocery store and called it a day. Perhaps our first full day in Dubai would be better.

Monday, February 18

Oh no! Our first day in Dubai is plagued with lots of haze! Since we went there in February the temperatures were decent the whole time but the haze was something we didn't expect. This will make seeing the skyline difficult throughout the day, but what can you do? That morning we hopped right on the metro and took the green line and the red line to the station closest to the Jumeirah Mosque which is one of the only mosques in Dubai that opens its doors to non-Muslim tourists. Unfortunately, the closest metro station still left us with over an hour walk. (Have I mentioned yet that Dubai is NOT a walkable city?) But being the early birds we are, we still arrived 45 mins before necessary. We killed some time by enjoying a skinny blueberry muffin in a starbucks. Because what does this timid traveler do when she's on the other side of the world? Find something that reminds her of home. 

Jumeirah Mosque - Dubai, UAE

At 9:45 we joined the other tourists and prepared for our entry into the mosque. For the ladies, this meant hair, arms, and legs covered. If you didn’t dress for the occasion, you could borrow local clothes and scarves. The mosque tour took about an hour. Inside the building was absolutely beautiful and not at all what I expected in terms of color and decoration. The tour included an introduction to the 7 pillars of Islam and a demonstration of the call to prayer. I found the whole experience fascinating and the people very welcoming and friendly. 

Inside the Jumeirah Mosque

After the mosque visit, we took a taxi to the Mall of the Emirates (not wanting to walk all the way back to the metro). At the mall (which was nothing spectacular after seeing the Japanese mega-malls just a year earlier) we got lunch at the food court. 

The biggest problem we had up to this point was currency. At the airport we withdrew 600 Dirs (about $300-$350). The ATM gave us 2 bills; AED 100 & AED 500. We had problems all day finding someone willing to change the AED 500. We even gave the taxi driver an American $20 because he couldn’t change the AED 500. (Very kind of him, by the way.) But a little sandwich shop in the mall graciously changed it so we ordered meat kabobs on flat bread sandwiches from him. 

After lunch we continued exploring the mall. We located Ski Dubai (an indoor ski slope and the only place to ski in all of the UAE considering the hot, desert climate) and had planned on doing the Penguin Encounter. 

Inside the Mall of the Emirates looking into Ski Dubai

Ski Dubai Penguin Encounter

When we arrived, we debated a bit whether or not to do it, but since we figured that this might be our only time in Dubai, we should make the most of every experience. First up, we had to acclimate ourselves to the subzero temperatures inside Ski Dubai. They helped us transition from the Arabian desert climate to the North Pole by giving us rental gear. Growing up in Pennsylvania, we are no strangers to cold winters. Our winter wardrobe is complete with hats, gloves, scarves, and all manner of snow pants, heavy coats, etc. In Dubai, however, no one in their right mind would ever buy apparel for cold weather, so at Ski Dubai, they had everything available for rent. And part of our admission fee included free souvenir gloves (because who wants to use after someone else has used them? Eww!). They even gave us booties that fit right over our own shoes. 

Ready for the snow dome at Ski Dubai

We didn't actually ski while we were there, mostly because the indoor ski facility consisted of 5 "slopes" none of which were terribly exciting. For people with no other outlet for skiing, it's great. But we didn't travel half way around the world to ski inside. The facility itself, however, amazed us, so we looked for something else to do while we were there. Hence the penguin encounter. 

For $50/pp we spent about 25 mins learning about Gentle penguins and King penguins. They let us touch the King penguins who were calm enough and incredibly soft. Unfortunately we weren’t able to bring our cameras with us, and it cost AED 400 (about $150) to buy any photos. I even went back a few minutes later and asked someone else if that price was accurate because it cost us $100 for 2 people to do the encounter. Surely I misheard how much the pictures cost. But alas, they assured me that it was more expensive for the pictures of the experience than the experience itself. I’ll have to settle for the pics of us in our snow gear because I refused to pay that much money for a picture even in Dubai. 

After our picture-less penguin encounter we walked around the mall some more before standing in a very long taxi line to head up to the Burj Al Arab. No metro stop got us close enough, and since the taxi from the mosque to the mall was relatively cheap, we thought that was our best option. 

Burj Al Arab at night; Dubai

The Burj Al Arab, the self proclaimed world's most luxurious hotel and the world's only 7 star hotel. We decided not to pay the outrageous rates of $1,500+ per night for their basic room, but we still wanted to see this grand hotel. You can only physically get onto the grounds of the hotel if you are a guest or if you have a reservation at one of the restaurants. Now since the hotel rooms are just a little on the pricey side, you can imagine how expensive it would be to dine there as well. But you're only in Dubai once, right? Surely there had to be somewhere we could eat without spending a fortune.  

After doing a lot of research, I booked a reservation for high tea on the 27^th floor at the Skyview Bar. The idea was that you could see a view of the famous palm islands. And the reviews that I read about high tea assured me that it was worth the $275 for 2 people. (Ok, so I don't know that it was worth it, but it was pretty awesome!)

When you first walk into the Burj Al Arab, there are amazing fountains. The picture below shows a few stories of the hotel. The pillars that you see are gold leaf. What else would you expect from the world's most luxurious hotel?

Burj Al Arab interior

I know what you're thinking. For $275, the tea itself better have had gold in it. Fear not, my friends. The tea..most certainly did have gold in it. Don't believe me?

Cappuccino with gold flecks; Skyview Bar

Ok, so this isn't exactly tea, it's a cappuccino, but that shimmery stuff on the side of the cup, was gold flecks/dust. The hazy day made the view pretty terrible, and we could barely see the palm islands, but that didn't really matter. The tea experience itself was so fun! We had 7 courses, almost all of them being bottomless except for chef carving of the day. The first course started off with champagne and the traditional stuffed dates which they served all over the country. 

High Tea at the Skyview Bar; Dubai

The fact that most of the food was bottomless, made us eat our fill and help ease the blow of the price. Like any afternoon tea, one would expect finger sandwiches, yes? Well, that's exactly what we got, but not in the way we expected. They still had the little cucumber sandwiches on white bread, but then they also had bread with squid ink, salmon with caviar, sliced beef with some sort of delicious jellied sauce, etc. The waiter must have thought we were crazy, but we just couldn't get enough of the squid ink sandwiches, the beef wraps on a stick, or the salmon and caviar. But they let us eat as much as we wanted. 

High Tea at the Skyview Bar; Dubai

Unfortunately, we ate so much, that when they brought around the tower of scones, pastries, truffles, creme brûlée, and other tasty desserts, we were already stuffed. Did that stop us? (Chub chub chub!)

After tea, we walked down the street to the Madinat souk near the Madinat Jumeirah hotel. Now I see why some refer to Dubai as an Arabian Disney. This area very much caters to tourists and everything seemed very superficial and commercialized. Diera (where our hotel is)…not so much but then it also scared us, so pick your battles. We then took a taxi back to the Mall of the Emirates, got donuts for breakfast and then took the metro back to the Hyatt. 

What a wild first day in Dubai. Despite the first night, we were beginning to feel better about our overall experience here. Day 2 in Dubai features the historical Bedouin aspects of the small desert country. Lots more exciting adventures ahead! Click HERE to keep reading.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler