I have transit through the middle east several times while traveling to the US during the last 15 years. But my experience of the Arabian deserts was limited to aerial views while landing and takeoff from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. That changed this winter when we visited the UAE during Christmas time. And my dear friend Sudeep and his family made it a trip to cherish forever!
I usually plan my trip with day to day details well in advance but with my friend around for more than half the trip, I decided to take it as it comes. We landed at Dubai after a 3 hour flight, whizzed part immigration, collected our baggage and met my friend at the arrival. After a quick check-in at Towers Rotana in Dubai Downtown, we went for a fantastic drive around Dubai. It was a foggy day and with cold weather, it was difficult to imagine that we were in the middle of a desert!
The first stop was Atlantis and it was exciting to watch our progress through Palm Jumeirah on Google Maps. An absolute dream on a man-made wonder!
The next stop was Jumeirah beach beside Burj-Al-Arab. The fog that day made it look like a haunted tower!
It was then time for the show at Dolphinarium, a great experience seeing three dolphins perform some amazing tricks! After dinner at Saravana Bhavan, which became our regular dining place for the entire trip, we wrapped up the day for some well deserved rest!
I woke up the next day keeping my fingers crossed on fog conditions! I had booked tickets online for Burj Khalifa at 10:30AM and it would be worthwhile only if I could see the city from the top of the Burj! I went for a run on the treadmill and saw the dawn through a bit of fog. I hoped that the sun would clear-up the fog but it turned out to be wishful thinking. As we headed out to Dubai mall, the fog got worse and as we got to the top of Burj Khalifa, we only got to see the shadow of Burj Khalifa on the clouds below! Still, the experience of traveling up the tower on high speed elevator and just being inside the top of the tower in itself were moments to cherish. I have seen several tall buildings around the world but I should admit that Burj Khalifa is the epitome of modern architecture. The sight of a thin tower rising beyond the clouds is awe-inspiring!
We spent the rest of the day at Dubai mall – a true shoppers paradise. You name a top global brand and you will find it at this mall in all its glory. Dubai mall is not just about shopping – the gold BMW, Fashion Avenue, human waterfall, dinosaur display and a lot more makes it an indoor theme park! We watched the Dubai Fountain and called it a day.
Having covered modern Dubai for two days, it was time to explore old Dubai on day three. We headed towards Dubai creek and started with Gold Souk. It was a fascinating sight to see rows of gold shops with display of huge gold jewelry, they were not ornaments but full size dresses made out of gold! A 5-kg gold ring with a Guinness certificate accompanying it was the highlight. We continued onto Spice Souk. I could not recognize most of the spices from all over the middle east that were of all vibrant colors. We then took an abra, a traditional boat across the creek and walked along the creek to the sight of a heritage village under construction. We then walked through Textile Souk and surprised to see a Hindu temple beside a mosque. We spent some time at Dubai museum and walked through beautiful lanes in Al-Fahidi historical area.
After some rest in the afternoon, we headed again to Dubai mall for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and night view of Burj Khalifa.
We headed to Abu Dhabi the next day and my friend drove through a foggy morning to pick us up enroute to the capital city of UAE. We had booked an overnight stay at the Emirates Zoo, for what promised to be an exciting stay beside the giraffe and zebra enclosure! But before that, we headed to the Emirates Auto museum to take a look at the fabulous collection of cars owned by the Rainbow Sheik! The drive along Sheik Zayad Road or E11, the most important highway running North-South along the entire length of UAE was amazing. It was an experience driving through the newly widened road with Google Maps still showing the old exits. And that led to us missing an exit and we ended up driving an extra 100Km in pursuit of the next exit! I felt guilty as the failed navigator but we saw some extraordinary sights of the barren desert during this drive!
After lunch at Yas Mall and a sneak peek into Ferrari World, we were back at the zoo to enjoy the rest of the day. We started early the next day to Ras-Al-Khaimah to get an amazing insight into real Arab heritage. As we drove through E11, the white desert sands of Abu Dhabi gave way to the red tinge of RAK sands! I have seen stray dogs and stray cows on Indian roads but never stray camels!!!
After spending some time at my friends place at the beautiful Al-Hamra village, we headed towards Jebel-Jais, the tallest mountains of the UAE. It felt like we landed on the moon, it was moonscape at its very best!
We then headed for the final program of our trip – for an evening in the real desert at Bedouin Oasis. Had a great time with dune bashing, sand boarding and some belly dancing!
After a long morning walk with my friend along the coastline of Ras-Al-Khaimah, it was time to head to the airport to board my flight back to India. A great winter vacation to one of the largest deserts in the world made prosperous by global oil-economy!
