UAE – Gallus Lad

One of the more fortunate things to happen when traveling is knowing someone who already knows their way around the city. We were lucky enough to have this in Dubai; and our hosts kindly offered to drive us around the city. This was an excellent bonus to our trip – showing us areas of Dubai we would not have the opportunity to see otherwise.

We were kindly driven around several of the otherwise out of reach residential area and through the regularly tourist-ignored backstreets of the Downtown area before heading down to the Palm and Jumeirah Beach.

I highly recommend you spend some time down on Jumeirah beach if you make it across to Dubai. A few of the fellow visitors I have spoken to have remained in the downtown area only.

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Water Parks are always one of my favourite attractions to attend in any city, and I had been told both the water park at Atlantis the Palm AND Wild Wadi were viewed as being one of the best in the world. This left me with a difficult choice to make …which one to attend?!

We eventually made the decision to show Wild Wadi some love due to its closer location and the presence of the infamous Jumeriah Sceirah slide. You may have seen the Jumeriah Sceirah on the internet. If not, you can check it out HERE.

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In my opinion, the best thing we did over the whole trip though was taking part in the Arabian Nights Tour though. It truly was a special experience.

We got to experience the fantastic Dubai Sand Dunes, ride camels and taste some fantastic local food as part of a help-yourself meal.

What else could you ask for really?

“If you are going to spend the money to visit somewhere really special – Dubai is not the place to go.”

These are not my words.

This is the strong opinion of Dubai that I received from an acquaintance after announcing that I had finally booked my trip to visit Dubai.
It is the tiny kick to the stomach that everyone wants after parting way with a significant chunk of their own cash is it not?

However … now that I have returned from the city… I can honestly say that I completely disagree with the opinion stated above. I loved Dubai. I would go back as soon as possible …and fully intend to do so!

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After initially arriving to the city in the middle of the night, my girlfriend and I decided to take our first day in Dubai city reasonably easy – relaxing by the swimming pool of our carefully chosen hotel, the Mövenpick Hotel and Apartments of the Bur Dubai area. Our chosen hotel was incredible, a beautiful 5-star rated hotel; and with the incredible service we received, it deserved every single star.

We wandered the local area and saw some of the “out of the city centre” gems that I love so much when visiting a new city. Having never experienced any part of the UAE previously, this was a very big culture shock for me. However, as you will no doubt be aware, some of Dubai can be extremely Americanised … especially our chosen dinner venue … CHUCK E CHEESE!

Following this initial full day of R&R, we make the most of the bustling downtown area of city by making our way to the vast Dubai Mall.

The only words I can find to describe Dubai Mall are awe inspiring. Regularly declared as the largest shopping mall in the world and containing over 1,200 stores, this place was vast. A few locals even explained to us that to cover every store in the building would take approximately 3 full days of shopping… without stopping.

This was not a challenge I was particularly eager to undertake.

It is important to note however that there is definitely more to see in Dubai Mall than just restaurants and shops. For instance we took the time out to visit the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo which is actually located inside the centre itself. The main attraction for the Aquarium/Zoo is definitely the “King Croc” … a monster of a Crocodile measuring in over 5m in length. He truly was a terrifying beast of nature.

The highlight of this day which we had cram packed with tourist activities however was definitely climbing the Burj Khalifa to floor 125 and seeing Dubai from the great height. The Burj is the tallest building in the world and in any other city, getting this spectacular view would take a helicopter.

If you are visiting the Burj Khalifa, my advice to you would be book online and in advance of your trip. This method proved to be significantly cheaper and allows you to skip a pretty significant queue. Also, find out what time sunset is expected to occur during your stay; then book your visit time for approximately an hour before. This allows you to see these fascinating views in daylight, watch the stunning Dubai sunset, and then witness the city light up as darkness descends. It truly is an experience like no other.