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Published: September 27th 2013
Arriving in Dubai early morning after our 17-hour flight from Sydney across 6 time zones, we hadn’t planned much for our first day other than maybe catching up on a few hours sleep but, then decided we were better off to have a cat nap to take the edge off our sleepy state and to stay awake until what our body thought was our real bedtime to try and combat jet-lag whilst we waited for our body clocks to re-adjust themselves.
We settled into our room at the Movenpick Deira, which was really more like a small suite than just a hotel room.
We had all the appointments that we could want, we were well located to several supermarkets and the nearest Metro station was just down the road.
The best way to get around in Dubai is by the Metro. A fast, efficient service by driverless trains, with trains running every few minutes so, you never have long to wait.
Our only activity today was a visit to the top of the Burj Khalifa Tower later this afternoon - Burj, meaning tower and Khalifa – named after the current President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin
Zayed al Nahyan, in honour of his generous help and assistance during the recent GFC.
We had booked our tickets before leaving home for, to be able to visit the tower, you need a booking as the tours run on a time allocated basis.
Our tickets were for 5-30pm. Jenni had suggested this so that we would be “at the top” in time for sunset.
As babes-in-the-wood as far as negotiating public transport in Dubai, no time like the present so, we rocked up to the station down the road and purchased our tickets.
We had left “home” in plenty of time and to allow for getting lost (just in case) but, had determined via the hotel staff that the trip would take us approximately 45 minutes so, allowed a bit of extra time.
Announcements are made at every station, both in Arabic and again in English (by this very British male voice), which takes the guesswork out of knowing where you are at any given time and what the next station is going to be.
We got off at our stop - Dubai Mall/Burj Khalifa - and headed off to find out how
to get to the meeting point for the Tower tours.
The walk from the Metro station to Dubai Mall is not for the faint-hearted and is almost a kilometre long however, this is quite a comfortable exercise (literally) through an air-conditioned, overhead walkway. Every internal space in Dubai is air-conditioned. Trains, cabs, shops, hotels, shopping malls, etc. which is essential in the hot and humid climate.
Dubai Mall is the biggest shopping mall in the world with the Burj Khalifa being the tallest building. Coming in at 828 metres and 160 floors, it is truly an engineering marvel. It is also the tallest free-standing structure in the world. From the top, you are reputed to be able to see 95kms in any direction - (perhaps on a clear day 😊
We arrived at the meeting place where our tour was to leave from only to be met with wall-to-wall people, also waiting for their tours.
The “Burj” also has the longest and fastest elevator in the world so, we were whisked to the top in only a matter of a few seconds.
The enclosed terrace affords wonderful views all over Dubai – a very young
(by world standards), modern and progressive city. Construction is happening everywhere. It is certainly a city on the move.
Dubai is the meeting place of the world - people from all nations, living, working and holidaying here - people from all over the world – Brits, Germans, Russians, Italians, Africans (of all nations), Americans, Canadians, Indonesians, Indians, Sikhs, Filipinos, Aussies, Kiwis, ex-pats from everywhere.
We were in plenty of time for sunset so, wandered around enjoying the views, waiting for sunset to happen.
It was a pity that the atmosphere was so hazy – we were to find out later from an ex-pat Aussie living in Dubai and flying for one of the airlines that, it is always like that. We enquired as to why, and his reply was that it is because of the fine particles of sand blowing in from the desert. The sand in Dubai is very fine and soft and, also because of so much construction and building going on which stirs up the dust which is picked up by the breeze and swirled into the atmosphere.
We watched the sun set over the Arabian Gulf but, unfortunately, it disappeared into the
haze long before it disappeared into the ocean but, I still managed to get a few photos of the event.
After sunset, we spent a little more time watching the magic of the lights of downtown Dubai come on until, both of us, in our sleep-deprived state, decided we had had enough of the crowds and the crush of people for one day so, queued once again, to get down to ground level.
Feeling a little peckish and also wanting to see the Dancing Fountains perform, we found an Italian restaurant and chose a table outside which had a good view of the waterfront.
Sharing a pizza (because we were too tired to make any hard decisions about what else we would like to eat), we sat down and waited for the fountains to begin whilst downing several cold lemon drinks, one after the other, in an effort to try and re-hydrate ourselves after wandering around in the heat outside.
Set on the 30-acre Burj Khalifa Lake in front of Dubai Mall, the fountains shoot water up to 500 ft into the air which is equivalent to a 50-storey building. The fountains themselves, were designed by
the same creator as the famous Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas. They perform every half hour between the hours of 6pm and 11pm each evening, for about 5 minutes at a time and are also set to music.
During our meal, we saw the fountains perform several times before deciding that we had had enough for one day and, a hot shower and bed were calling.
Back into the mall to get to the walkway to walk the kilometre back to the Metro station and home.
One interesting thing that we did notice, was a sign at the entrance to the Metro advertising the Dubai Campus of Wollongong University! We thought seeing the same sign in Christchurch, New Zealand, a number of years ago was unusual and a bit far from home but, this one takes the cake!!
And so to bed …….
DAY 2: DUBAI
Dubai: the 2
nd largest emirate of the 7 Emirates that make up the UAE and located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf (locals call it the Arabian Gulf – both are correct); with a population of just over 2 million and covering an area
of 4,114 square kilometres and is 85% desert.
There is no oil in Dubai. All the oil is in Abu Dhabi, about 160 kms south. Consequently, Dubai is pouring a lot of money into tourism as a very successful industry.
There are no elections in Dubai and also no income tax. The ruling Sheikh looks after his people by providing a home, free of charge, when a couple get married. They are allowed to live there, rent-free throughout their lifetime.
The President of the UAE is elected by vote from the Emirs of all 7 emirates who meet every 5 years to elect a successor. Candidates are all from royal families within the emirates and the candidates themselves are nominated for election by the other members of that royal family.
We were up early the next morning to be ready for our city tour. Pick up was at 8am.
Over the next four hours we toured the city which included viewing many of the city’s iconic buildings with a stop at the Grand Mosque where we were allowed to walk around the building and take some photos but, could not go inside.
Our tour
also include a visit to the Heritage Centre which was an area with a collection of buildings constructed in the old style and showed us how things would have been back in the early 1800’s when the British arrived and began civilisation as it was to become known. Until then, the only inhabitants of the area were the Bedouins who lived inland in the desert, away from the coastline where modern-day Dubai is now located, because it was too dangerous.
Other nations, particularly the Portuguese and the Ottoman (Turks) empire, had ruled these areas since the 16
th century and had harassed the shipping industry of the Arabian Peninsula and trade routes of the Arabian Gulf at the time, plundering these areas along the coast, thereby making it too dangerous for people to live there and settlements to survive.
After the British arrived and these areas were secured, envoys were then sent into the desert to talk to the desert tribes and to encourage the Bedouins to move to the coast. Many of them did and so began the emergence of Dubai as we know it today.
In 1966 when it became clear that the British could no
longer afford to govern what is now known as the UAE and also be able to defend the sheikhdoms, they finally announced their intention to withdraw which occurred in March of 1971.
With the news of the British withdrawal, the 9 sheikhdoms made an attempt at unification but could not agree on the terms. Finally, Bahrain obtained their independence in August 1971 with Qatar following in September of that year.
The UAE is a relatively new nation also with its beginnings in 1971 when the rulers of the 7 remaining sheikhdoms met and held talks about the unification of their nations into one and so, the UAE was formed as we know it today.
It was interesting to wander around the Heritage Centre (although melting in the heat) and to see how the homes had been constructed and the materials used to be able to house the numbers of people who were now moving to the coastal settlements.
Having no timber to build anything, houses were constructed from a mixture of coral, crushed sea shells, mixed together with a solution of gypsum and seawater to make a kind of mortar to bind the harder materials together
and form a kind of stonework as a building material.
For cooling, a tower-like structure was added to the building which was open on all sides so, no matter which direction the breeze was coming from, it would trap the cool air and funnel it down inside the dwelling. Working something like our chimneys but, in reverse – instead of smoke going up the chimney from the fire, cooling breezes would blow down the tower, thereby cooling the residence below. Nature's air conditioning.
We also made a visit to the Dubai Museum which was fascinating and told us much about “the old days”; visited the Spice Market and learnt a lot about the spices that Emiratis use in their everyday cooking at home and also getting to try fresh dates (dates back home don’t taste anything like these – yum!!).
Me (Jan), who loves dates, thought I would buy some and nearly passed out when the shopkeeper said, “that will be 100 Dirham, thank you”, which equates to around AUD$30!! And, it’s only a small box about 6” x 4” (or 15cms x 10cms). I will savour every mouthful!!
We also learnt that there are 32
million date palms in Dubai (don’t know who counted them 😊 there are 600 types of dates in the world with the Arabian deserts growing 73 different varieties and, in a good season, a flourishing date palm can yield as much as 65 kgs of dates!
One of the “must do’s” in Dubai is to take an “abra” (small wooden boat) across “the creek” (Dubai is situated on Dubai Creek which is saltwater and also huge), where we ended up at the Gold Souk (market) which marked the end of our tour.
The Gold Souk covers quite a large area undercover area with shop after shop full of every kind of gold jewellery that you can imagine and then some. (You can also buy silver jewellery and diamonds) It also has many other shops selling all kinds of clothing and other goods.
You can buy all manner of regular type jewellery; rings, chains, earrings, bracelets, the list goes on and on. If you can imagine it and have a budget to match, they can make it for you. Perhaps a gold belt – not just any old gold belt but an extravagant creation about 10 cms wide
and intricately woven.
Maybe a mini skirt embroidered with gold thread and hemmed with an intricate gold braid? No? How about a necklace, reminiscent of Cleopatra, which begins at your neck and continues down over your chest in a triangular shape, finishing at your waist! You could have one of these if that’s what tickles your fancy.
Shop after shop. Gold everywhere.
The amazing thing to me was, that – and I suppose there was sophisticated security somewhere guarding all of this wealth - but, from the outside, the shops just looked like ordinary shops. No bars or grilles on the windows; no security guards at the entrances. People just wandered in and out, seemingly totally unconcerned by all of this wealth surrounding them.
Dubai is one of the safest sheikhdoms of the UAE. At no time did we ever feel apprehensive for our personal safety.
The purchase price of your gold item is set by the world gold price for that day and these are displayed on an electronic board in the market place. The extra cost comes in the making of your item of jewellery and that is set by the carat quality
of the gold that you have selected - i.e. 18k, 21k, 22k, 24k, etc and, is priced accordingly, depending on the weight.
We had about half an hour to wander around – not nearly enough time to buy gold if that was your intention (it wasn’t ours 😊 but, it gave you a feel for what to expect and how the system worked and to come back later on if you wanted.
It was hot, and we were tired so, not much in the mood for wandering in the heat and, like all market places, there was always someone wanting to sell you something. I did feel though, that the pashmina scarf that had been draped around my neck was a bit much in the 35 deg heat! Talk about heat exhaustion! – I’m melting here - get it off me!! However, the red and white check headwear that someone had plonked on Ted’s head, did something for him – very sheikh! (chic). He did look the part and would have blended into the general population without any trouble at all. 😊
Back to our hotel for a quiet afternoon after our tour of the morning and
to rest up a bit after having been wandering around in the heat for the last few hours.
As Ted and I would be away for both of our birthdays, our family had given us a celebratory moonlight dinner cruise for our birthday present(s).
Pick up was at 7.30pm and we were whisked away by Arabian Adventures to the wharf to board our traditional wooden dhow to cruise Dubai Creek for the next couple of hours. There are a number of these floating restaurants cruising the waterways, all decorated and lit up with fairy lights strung from one end to the other with the waterways looking like a fairyland with all of these boats floating along. What a lovely relaxing end to a busy day. Thank you, family. And, Happy Birthday, to us! 😊
Day 3: DUBAI:
I always keep a journal when we travel and, keep in touch with family by email.
In this day and age with all of the technology that we have available at our fingertips, I decided to try something different this time and, set up a travel blog to make things a bit more interesting for them.
Now, not being the most tech savvy person on the planet, this posed a bit of a daunting prospect for me but, thought – “how hard can it be? And it could be fun.” So, with the help of some very good friends, avid travel bloggers themselves (thank you, Kangaroo Jack) and, who were responsible for our name, SkiSet 😊 set up our account with TravelBlog.
Several weeks before leaving home I had seen on one of their forums that, there was to be a weekend TB get-together in Sydney, not far from where we lived.
Thinking that this would be a good idea to go along and meet some fellow bloggers and to glean a bit more information as to how things worked, I sent off my request to attend. By now, it was very last minute (within 24 hours) so, thought that it was possibly too late.
It is here that the TravelBlog family really look out for each other. Before long, I’d had a several responses from the organisers of the weekend but, the one most responsible for my attendance was one known as The Travel Camel.
Technology is a wonderful thing.
Because all of the other bloggers (some of them moderators for TB) involved in the weekend were already out and about enjoying themselves and weren’t at home, the site wasn’t being monitored as closely as it would normally have been.
However, Shane, (The Travel Camel) who was holidaying in Ethiopia at the time, saw my request and contacted the Sydney contingent of the TB get-together and, my contact was made. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have made it to the gathering at all.
As a very novice TB-er, I am happy to say, that I was very warmly welcomed with open arms on the Sunday and spent the next several hours, meeting and enjoying the company of the other bloggers who were there.
However, back to Dubai …….
Just before leaving home on our trip, I had noticed that The Travel Camel was now living in Dubai and, thought how neat it would be if Ted and I could catch up with him on our way through to Europe.
Once again, technology to the rescue and, after several messages backwards and forwards, today was the day we had arranged to meet.
It
was a hot day so, the appeal of being able to get acquainted and also be able to see one of the iconic structures of Dubai in air-conditioned comfort, we opted for the Dubai Mall.
We had a free day until around 2-30 this afternoon so, ex-pat Aussie Shane met us in our hotel foyer around 9am and we headed off once again to the Metro station down the road.
Dubai Mall is the biggest shopping mall in the world based on total area and is part of the $20-billion downtown Dubai complex and includes 1,200 shops.
We had briefly been there a couple of days previously when we went to the top of the Burj Khalifa but, hadn’t spent any time there as such.
When discussing where we should go, we hadn’t really minded where we went or what we did, the main reason was to be able to spend some time getting acquainted with Shane and learning a bit more about Dubai from someone who lived there.
He was an excellent guide and over the next few hours, we learnt a lot more about Dubai as we picked his brains about whatever it
was that we wanted to know.
We weren’t interested in shopping but, were interested in seeing the internal aspects of this massive complex – one of them being the huge aquarium housed within its confines.
This massive fish tank houses many different species of fish- as well as sharks of several different types (including leopard sharks), stingrays, gropers, etc.
The aquarium is also in the Guinness Book of Records.
The aquarium measures 51m x 20m x 11m and is in the record book for having the largest single acrylic viewing panel in the world measuring 32.8m high by 8.3m high.
Dubai Aquarium has 33,000 living marine animals representing 85 different species including over 400 sharks and rays combined.
We stood watching the fish and rays for some time then, as it was nearing lunchtime, we headed off to get a bite to eat. Shane suggested “The Rainforest Restaurant”. This was the coolest place.
You walk in through the front door and are immediately transported into a jungle environment complete with jungle noises, mood lighting and animals (not real ones!) that become animated every 15 minutes or so, scattered throughout the restaurant.
There
were monkeys swinging in the trees; elephants trumpeting and flapping their ears; tigers roaring and gorillas beating their chests.
At one part, you would have expected to see Indiana Jones being chased by South American natives as he escaped through the Incan Temple gates amidst a volcanic eruption with realistic lighting effects. There is not one square inch of bare wall or ceiling in the whole place. This place is incredible.
And, if all of this is not enough, you can sit and watch the fish in the aquarium whilst you eat your lunch as, the whole front wall of the restaurant looks straight into the aquarium. What a place and what an experience!
After checking out another couple of “attractions” in the mall - the Dubai Fountain being one of them – a huge wall of water with the “drop” being the length of two floors or storeys of the shopping centre and resembling a wide waterfall with life-size figures “diving” down the waterfall. It is simply stunning!
Time was marching on and we had to think about getting back so, thanking Shane for giving up his time to show us around, we all headed
back through the 1km undercover walkway to the Metro to head home. It had been a great day and it was a really special time being able to meet Shane, The Travel Camel and fellow travel blogger.
Shane left us at his station and we continued on to ours, Abu Baker al Siddique. Just enough time for us to freshen up at the hotel and get changed for our “Dinner in the Dunes” experience tonight.
Arabian Adventures picked us up at 3-30pm for the hour and a half drive out into the desert, collecting 2 other couples from one of the other hotels on the way – 2 ex-pat Aussies now living and working in Dubai and their visiting family. (Aussies are everywhere in Dubai 😊
Luckily for us, Natalie and Arthur (the two ex-pats) befriended us for the evening and, as they had previous experience and knowledge as to how things worked as they had done this before (this was Natalie’s 14
th “Dinner in the Dunes” experience) so, she knew her way around as well as all the names of all the guides there so, in effect, she became our own personal guide for the evening!
Our first experience for the evening was to meet Henry and Mojo, the 4 year old peregrine falcon. Henry was her handler and he was going to put her through her paces to show us just how efficient she was as a hunter.
Mojo sat on his gloved hand wearing a small “helmet” over her head (called a burkha) to keep her quiet and undistracted until it was time for her to do her thing. Henry explained what he was going to do and how Mojo would perform her part in the proceedings.
After he had removed her burkha and released her high into the air and she got her bearings by circling around a few times, to demonstrate he had some meat on the end of a long rope which he would swing around and around above his head and she would swoop down and grab it.
Bearing in mind that these birds can fly up to 300kph when going into a dive for food, you had to watch very closely to see her move.
After a couple of high circles around, she then swooped down and grabbed the piece of meat from the
end of the rope.
The action was so quick that, you had to keep your eyes on the end of the rope at all times to be able to see her actually grab the meat.
These birds are so well trained that they make perfect hunters. It takes about 6-8 weeks to train a falcon.
In the old days, the Bedouin living in the desert, used to catch the young birds as they migrated from Asia to Africa and would only keep them for around 6 months of the year during the cooler months; train them up to hunt for them in the desert and then release them back into the wild again when the weather began to get too hot once more so as to let the birds return to cooler climates.
For those who keep these birds these days, this is no longer the case as with modern conveniences, the birds can now be kept all year round in air-conditioned, climatically controlled premises.
Before our dinner experience, we were to go 4WD-ing over the dunes so had to stop and let the air pressure down in the tyres to be able to drive
across the sand.
The skill required by the drivers of our vehicles was exceptional as, not only did they need to know where they were going of course but also, as there were about 40 vehicles in the dunes at the time, care had to be taken and enough distance left, so as not to have a collision by running into one another as these vehicles appeared and disappeared over the tops of the dunes.
We were on a schedule as we had to get to a certain point in the desert by a certain time to be in time for sunset. Watching the sun go down in the desert was an unforgettable experience with the colours of the dunes changing from the yellowy-tan of day to the peachy pink of late afternoon to a dusty rose as the sun set. The soft colours were breathtaking.
As we were driving to the sunset we passed a family of Bedouin driving their camels from one place to another – you can’t really say “pasture” as there isn’t any as such but, the government now has a programme in place to protect these desert areas from destruction by indiscriminate
grazing by animals by allocating areas for these families to live and raise their camels which is their livelihood.
Soon it was dinner time so, off to our Bedouin camp in the middle of the desert. On arrival, we had the opportunity to have a camel ride (Ted declined, after his most uncomfortable experience riding one along Cable Beach in Broome a few years ago) but, I wasn’t going to miss out.
Camel riding isn’t the most comfortable mode of transport but, my Cable Beach experience taught me that, once you get the pelvic thrust action happening as the camel walks along, you have a much more comfortable ride! 😊
Before dinner began we had the opportunity to have a bit of a look around – to try a shisha (hookah) pipe if you wanted or maybe get a henna tattoo. I must confess and can almost guarantee you, that this is probably the only tattoo that I will ever get in my entire life. 😊
Dinner was a feast of Middle-Eastern food for our stomachs whilst the belly dancer (who was Brazilian 😊 was probably also a feast for the eyes of the men in
attendance 😊
After a delightful evening in the quietness of the desert sand dunes, we returned home again by around 10-30pm.
Tomorrow ……… Vienna
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The Travel Camel
Shane Dallas
Many camels
Apart from meeting both of you, this was the highlight of my day! Thanks so much for taking the time to meet me in Dubai - it was great to be able to show you around this remarkable city.