All the advertising spruiks Dubai as a destination. Jelly summed it up best while we walked
around the gold souk in 40+ degree centigrade heat. Dubai is a hub not a destination. And I agree, here’s why.
Dubai has some of the biggest shopping malls in the world. But within these shopping centres are the same name brands that you see all over the world,
A camel in the Dubai desert.
including Australia. There’s very little local content at large Malls. They are nearly identical the whole world over and in Dubai we found that the prices on everything were comparable to home. So why buy anything if it’s the same price? You will probably lose out on the conversion rate and you still have to lug it home.
Burj Al Caliphe
Likewise they have the tallest building in the world – the Burj Al Calipha. It looks magnificent but you have to be a long way off to really appreciate it because up close you’d snap your neck looking straight up. But once you’ve seen it there’s not much more to do unless you’re one of those freaks that like standing on a glass floored lookout 700 metres above ground! Pass.
Other interesting buildings around the place are the hotels around the Jumeirah district. These include the Burj Al Arab (sail shaped), the Atlantis and the Jumierah Beach Hotel. Again, interesting shapes and beautiful architecture but once you’ve seen them, there’s not much more to do. These buildings don’t like visitors unless you want to pay a fee. Well, not quite true, the Aquarium does have a smallish mall but it’s very pricey. Pass.
The largest and most popular water theme park is Wild Wadi.
Hotel Aquarius on the man made island called The Palm
We got there when it opened at 10:00am and stayed almost till closing time at 7:00pm. It was fun, we had a ball and would recommend that anyone staying a couple of days in Dubai spend a day there. At $AU100 per person its not cheap but that’s how it is with theme parks. Of course they hit you up big time for locker and towel rental and fast food styled lunch, so its closer to $AU300 for 2 people. Hard to justify but awesome fun. The park is a series of interconnected water tubes that move you around the park. Depending on the ride you can go fast or slow. Some of the faster rides require you to climb up very high so that gravity can help build your speed. One high speed ride had us buzzing around very high above the ground level and there were times you could see the cars and highway far below. At one point it almost felt like a little more speed might send you over the edge, but just at that moment as you start that high speed slide to death the wall panels grow on that side and stop you going over. I wonder how many test pilots they lost on that ride!
The Gold Souk… What a joke. If you’ve been to the bazaars in Istanbul you might be expecting a large open market place bustling with shop keepers and their wares. Well…. Not quite. Picture instead tight streets with small shops side by side running around in a maze. All of them selling the same thing. Gold necklaces and bracelets etc. A guy from India said it was a great place to buy gold but we don’t know enough about the stuff to tell whether we are getting ripped off or not. The one thing we do know is that the locals in most countries will rob you blind if you don’t display some street smarts. So we left the gold purchase alone. We were hassled constantly by individuals trying to sell us copy watches, tshirts, handbags and iphone 6’s (really…). We just ignored the lot of them. Best not to strike a conversation with anyone that you don’t want something from. They will just use conversation as way to guilt you into buy stuff you don’t need. Your local flea market will be more fun than the souks of Dubai. Pass.
The sail shaped hotel – Burj al Arab
Taxi drivers. Do not climb into unmarked cars. They will charge you too much. It doesn’t matter how many cons you’ve suffered before, they will always find a new way to stitch you up. Always climb into a taxi that says the word ‘taxi’ on it and preferable also the word ‘meter’! Then once you climb in, insist on the meter being activated before they drive away. I think most world travellers have a horror story that involves a taxi – we certainly do and that includes tuk-tuks and rickshaws too. We’ve been taken by the best! Use them as often as you need to, they are a cheap form of transport if you get an honest driver.
Desert Adventure. At the end of 5 weeks away from Australia and being submerged in quite a few different cultures and languages it was very refreshing to catch up with friends from Tasmania on our last night
The dual lane highway on the man made island – The Palm
in Dubai. David & Libby, Greg & Joan were also on their way home and also resting up in Dubai before the final hop back to Australia. Jelly and I were lucky enough to get on the same 6 seater 4-Wheel drive and join them for the Arabian Desert Adventure. It started very slowly with a long drive out to the desert conservation park where we waited half an hour for another 300-400 people to turn up. Then we watched a 10 minute hunting falcon show before being hustled back to our air conditioned cars for some dune bashing. This was great fun and the highlight was when our driver got stuck at the top of a dune. We all had to get out while the car was towed backward off the dune. Then onward for more sand dune fun before stopping to watch the sun set over the dunes. The sun was very diffused through the haze of sand dust that sat in the air and there was still a lot of ambient light about for perfect photo taking. Onward to the main oasis where camel rides took place. If you’ve heard they are smelly then you’d be right, they were. But it was a very natural desert smelly and the guys all volunteered to be guided around on their camels – think children’s pony rides and you’ll get an idea of the silly looks on their faces. Me I volunteered to stay on the ground and take the photos.
A mosque
Then onward to the main camp area where the seating arrangements were. It seemed like an endless supply of beer was available. We gave it a nudge but they just kept bringing out more (note: there was no additional charge on the alcohol). Because we’d spent so long on the camels we got the worst seating under the canopies which kept the heat in. so it felt like 40 degrees. I also felt like the fluid was sweating out of me faster than I could swig the beer and we all know that there’s no happy ending if you keep that up. So we all moved out and into the open section where the hookah lounge was. At first we were just sitting around drinking our beers and enjoying the desert breeze but it didn’t take long before we had those hookahs fired up and were smoking our apple flavoured baccy. The championship hookah toker’s in our little group were Greg followed closely by Jelly. Both proved to have tight lips and impressive lungs. The meals were delicious and the belly dancer was wooah – drop dead gorgeous.
Around 8:30pm we were bundled back into our car and driven back to the guy’s hotel. From there Jelly and I took another cab back to our hotel and then to bed. Up the next morning at 6am and at the airport for a 10:15am departure. We were lucky to get on the flight because Emirates had over booked – bastards!
Getting bogged in the desert.
As I write this critique of our time in Dubai it is done knowing that we are safely away from the place – they can’t lock me up for saying bad things about them! In review, its culture is vastly different from what we experienced in Eastern Europe, which itself was very different from what we experience in Australia. Maybe I’m just a little bit over the travel but I am really looking forward to touching down in Hobart and to everything being the way I am use to. Our travel reminds me how lucky we are in Australia and I think part of that luck is that we are well away from most other countries. I wish we could stay out of the wars and keep to our own business. Then maybe the world would forget about us completely. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Dubai rating 3/5. It’s a hub not a destination. You call in there on the way to elsewhere.
