Dubai Experience

I visited Dubai during September (Just towards the end of their summer) and quickly learnt the technique of staying in air conditioned areas at all times. Luckily even the bus stops and metro train stations are cooled. The second metro line recently opened and this system is very impressive. The city has “futuristic vision” written all over it. It boasts the tallest building in the world, the Burj al Khalifa and building projects such as blocks of future sky scrapers as well as manmade islands “The World”, “The Palm” and many others. The trip up to near the top of the Burj al Khalifa is well worth the effort. The views are awesome. Shopping (High End) and entertainment in Dubai is unbelievable. Shopping centres such as the Dubai Mall are incredible (and even to just see the huge aquarium glass wall is something else). Other amazing things to do are Kidzania, Segaland and Ski Dubai (The Kempinski Hotel has ski-chalet rooms with views on the indoor ski-slopes). This huge indoor ski resort offers all kinds of slopes (with a ski-lift) and rides for children. This is the perfect place to go and learn to ski on the way to Europe. The children can spend some time in their own city, Kidzania, where they rule and learn all kinds of skills (From pizza maker to heart surgeon!) The resorts along the coast is of course great (imagine hot and humid and fantastic five star hotel on the beach). The Palm, one of the large man-made islands is also the home of the famous Kerzner Resort, Atlantis the palm, a huge resort with Water Park and many other entertaining things to do including fantastic beaches (the best water rides ever!). Dubai is home to some of the best quality hotels and resorts I have seen. The rooms are often of a good size and the service (all foreigners) impeccable. Some of the old Dubai remains near the mouth of the original creek. There the old Dhows can still be seen; nowadays they are mostly used for tourism purpose such as a Dinner on the Dhow cruise. These are very special; just make sure that you are seated in the air conditioned section. The gold souk is also situated near the creek – what an experience. (I have a great hotel to recommend near the creek and it is home to the only Gordon Ramsay restaurant outside of Britain). Another fun thing to do is to go out in the early evening on a 4X4 safari into the dunes around Dubai city and after some exhilarating dune surfing, the evening is ended off with an Arabian barbecue and traditional belly dancing show. Dubai is all in all a great city for a short stopover. Emirates airlines fly three times daily from Johannesburg to Dubai with onward connections to almost anywhere in the world. It is easy to obtain a 96 hour visa to visit Dubai on a stopover. An alternative, lower cost way to get there is by Etihad Airways, flights to Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates with free bus connections to Dubai city. Then there is of course also Abu Dhabi to visit! Until next time.