Dubai
The city of Dubai is located on the emirate’s northern coastline and heads up the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Well known historically for oil, Dubai has now also emerged as a cosmopolitan metropolis of glam and tradition mixed into one. A sun glinting oasis rising out of the desert sands.
How we got there
A panic, two flights, an unexpected overnight stay, an Uber ride, and a drive through the manic highways of Dubai. Let the adventure begin.
The joys of travel
As little storm Bert raged through Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK/Ireland. British Airways, which has now lost its crown for once a great airline, cancelled our flight for the next day, and moved it to a day later without explanation. This wouldn’t have worked with our connecting flight to Dubai. At first instance, we weren’t sure whether the tiny puff of Bert was their reason, but it amazed us that other flights were still on schedule.
We found out later that they had scheduled another flight a mere 20 minutes before our original. Why on earth they didn’t move our booking to that one is beyond us. The only logical reason we could think of, other than incompetence, is that they had overbooked so they shoved us off! They wouldn’t answer phones, when we tried many times, so we were left in the dark with a choice to make.
We had to make a snap decision, so we opted to leave a day earlier via Ryanair to Stansted. From Stansted we would need to get a taxi or bus to Heathrow. There were no buses available with a direct route to Heathrow. At £94 , we opted for an Uber taxi which was only £10 to £40 more than the bus, depending on what bus we would have taken. Other private cab companies were ranging from £140-185. A shout out to Maz for assisting us with this, our friendly company on the Ryanair flight over.
The hour and 20 minute journey flew in with great chat with Smian our driver. We arrived around 2am pretty exhausted but happy to be at our Heathrow hotel. Ireland is great but damn annoying for long distance travel.
Hotel
We opted for our usual cheap, clean and convenient Premier Inn on Bath Road at £80 for the night. It’s a good location for terminal 3 in Heathrow.
As our Virgin Atlantic flight wasn’t till 9.55pm, and with no late check out, we had to purchase another night at £63 the next morning. This give us time to relax as well as going through refund and compensation process with British Airways. The second days booking probably worked out cheaper than hanging around Heathrow airport all day.
Finally we arrived in Dubai
Thankfully, the flight to Dubai was smooth and uneventful. On arrival at Dubai airport (DBX) all travellers can pick up a free SIM card for 10GB of data for 24 hrs. Immigration line went quickly and we found it serviced with a smile.
Car hire
As a Gold member, we opted for Hertz. It was dirt cheap at £58 for the 4 days. A great price that allowed for a cheaper option than getting a taxi to and from the airport. It also gave us freedom for sightseeing travel over the relatively long distances.
Certainly, the multiple towers of downtown and the Marina, regularly labelled with the EMAAR real estate name, create a grand and affluent symbol of this wealthy nation.
Real estate is the number one game here and the pace they are built with is astonishing. Plenty of ordinary cars dodge in and out of the 8 lane highways amongst the flash Lamborghinis, Bentleys, Rolls, and Ferraris.
Where we stayed in Dubai
We made a decision to stay in the marina area for the relaxed vibe.
Vida Dubai Marina & Yacht Club hotel
We were impressed by Vida Dubai Marina & Yacht club hotel. The map direction made it easy to find.
As we drove up, we made use of the convenient valet parking and the early check in of 11am was much appreciated. Indeed, it afforded us time to freshen up before getting right into the busy day of sightseeing.
The view from our room on the 11th floor was stunning at night and day.
The hotel also provided a lovely birthday treat to go with our champagne on my (Miko) birthday.
What to do in Dubia
We were glad we hired a car as places we wanted to see were spread out.
Reading many articles before we came, we were surprised it was a lot more lax with ‘dress code’ than stated. You could be in any western country. Hearing stories, like ‘security will stop you coming into the mall, if you don’t dress decently, we found far off the mark, as there were a lot of people scantily dressed. This rang true for us even in the historical neighborhood and no one batted an eyelid. We even spotted people holding hands. I was amused by this, as I remember MSM news a few years earlier talking about a couple being arrested for doing such a thing. Or, maybe it was the kiss that threw them in a cell.
The Marina area
The free bikes from the hotel was a great option to explore. The Dubai Marina area. A multitude of tall, shiny, buildings, up to 100 floors in height, surrounded the calm waters of the marina. They provided hotels and residences for visitors and longer term expats.
People strolled, scooted, ran, cycled and even zip lined amongst the shops, cafes, restaurants and malls. Many expensive yachts, of different sizes, moored up in this sheltered harbour. During the day, the restaurant boats would sit idle. At night, they dazzled as they slowly sailed along.
The Palm Jumeirah is a man mad made area on the sea side of the Marina. It’s a collection of hotels, residences, and play areas for the wealthy. Viewed from above, one can see the the palm design. Our yacht (read below) cruised along it’s waterways on my (Miko) birthday.
Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall
The tourists flock here through the humongous Dubai shopping mall / cinema to the top attraction, which is a view of the sleek Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. 829.8 metres tall with 154 (+ 9 maintenance) floors. It is magnificent if tall, man made structures are your thing. The Saudi’s are in the process of topping it with the Burj Jeddah aiming for a 1km tower that’s in construction now.
Take a short and scenic stroll over the footbridge that arches across Burj Lake at the base of Burj Khalifa.
Check out one of the roof top restaurants, such as Ce La Vi bar, for one of the best vantage points from which to enjoy a meal while watching evening shows of The Dubai Fountain.
Fahidi historical neighbourhood
Dubai Gold Souk/ spice souk
A must see when in Dubai is in the historical area. Parking is right outside it is around market. Even though we were only a half hour, you get charged by the hour 25 AED or £5.
The spice souk is full of colour, with the strong odour filling the senses.
The store owners are extremely pushy, so don’t expect a pleasant browse. One after the other, countless times, it was “let me explain about the spices” if you even glanced at the colourful displays.
The gold souk is a little less pushy, as the window displays dazzle and shows off their array of bling.
They even have a utensil souk for all your
Dubai Mall
A huge shopping mall with all the well known brands that you see the world over.
It is also a gateway to get to the Burj Khalifa tower and gardens.
Dubai frame
The Dubai frame is a picture frame construction near downtown. The idea is to frame the views around the city. Entrance into it is 50 AED.
Kite beach
Kite beach is a popular beach in Dubai and gets it’s name from the many kites blowing in the strong winds. It was a shame to hear that the resident cats who locals and tourists adored recently got ‘removed’ by pest control. A very sad end and to say most people are angry is an understatement.
Desert safari, Dubai
In our opinion you cannot go to Dubai and not experience the Desert at least once. Even for us, who despise tours, we just had to go. We opted for a shorter private tour, with Excursion Point, which meant we weren’t stuck 8 hours with a tour group.
Morning drive
Our driver, Shehzad, picked us up at our hotel at 7.30. Transported by relative luxury, in a private, leather seated, Nissan Patrol SUV, the 8 soon became 4 lanes. Indeed, the oasis of Dubai marina was a distant haze. A real harsh landscape spread out for miles as the desert took over. It would take about an hour to get to the main area for the fun to begin.
While the landscape was of a rocky, sandy, and undulating nature, hardy trees and bushes braved it out with tough desert grass. That is until you come across some anomalies such as a grand sports stadium in the middle of nowhere, decorated with lush trees and gardens. Then back to the desert. Slowly the duned sand took over
Once we passed through a small outcrop called Lehbab, basically, a collection of shops and a mosque, we were surprised to see an area with more vegetation than expected. However, this soon gave way to a barrenness that could be viewed for miles. Then there was a plethora of dune buggy rental locations and camp bases/retreats.
Getting the hump in Dubai
We arrived at the first activity, the camel ride, and we started to get excited.
Luckily it was only a 5 minute ride for the camel!
Next we were asked if we’d like to hold a bird of prey, most likely a falcon. The bird off course was absolutely beautiful, but it looked unhappy, not surprisingly with clipped wings. It’s always saddening to see animals like this.
Dune bashing
We moved on to our 4×4 dune bashing experience. Driving on the sand looks easy but it’s not. First step is to let air out of those tyres.
It was a fun, exhilarating, and bumpy ride with Shehzad taking good control of the car. It’s easy to get into difficulty as showcased by his eager colleague infront. Indeed, he got a little over excited and slid down a dune and almost toppled. Once he slithered to a halt, the vehicle looked like it may get beached. However, he managed to grind his way out.
Half way through, we stopped atop a sand dune for a bit of surfing. It was time to desert proof ourselves!
Surfs up in Dubai
The final part of the tour was the sand boarding.
Great craic even if I (Knox) did wipe out at the bottom of the run. It was a fun adventure and a definite tick off the to do list.
It was comical, as the guides wrapped us in head gear before we hit the ‘sand slope’.
At the end of the fun, we had a more gentle ride back to the start, where we got air blasted to get the sand off. It gets everywhere. Additionally, the cars needed a good blast around the engine and air filters, as well as inside, and the tyres reinflated.
Hire a yacht
A birthday spent in Champagne style 🥂.
We had a recommendation from our friends for Elite Pearl Charter.
We weren’t disappointed. Felix and the rest of the crew really looked after us. It was also interesting to hear about Felix’s life he left behind in the Philippines. Most employees in Dubai are either from the Philippines, India, Asia, or UK/Europe. It would be rare to find anyone from Dubai working in the service industry.
The yacht was was 44 foot, sleek with room for a bed, kitchen and living area.
We spent all our time outside admiring the wonderful views.
With help from Felix, we were able to get to know some iconic spots as he popped the champagne 🍾
The yacht for us was definitely one of the top highlights to donin Dubia and it made us think when we could get one of our own to go sailing around the world lol.
Miracle garden
It’s a pretty enough garden for a dander. However prices are too expensive, AED 100 just for a garden, when you can walk in free gardens/ parks in most countries around the world.
Al Shindagha open air Museum
Al Shindagha Museum tells the proud story of the nation’s past and reverent traditions.
The neighbourhood has over 162 historic houses, and is divided into 22 pavilions spread across 80 houses. Each pavilion offers a comprehensive look at Dubai’s history and growth from a tiny fishing village to the cosmopolitan hub it is now.
Where to eat / drink in Dubai
The majority of eateries are in hotels.
Origins restaurant
The main restaurant of Vida hotel, the menu offers good vegetarian and vegan options. So delicious, we ate here twice.
They also surprised Miko with a lovely red velvet cake on her birthday 🎂.
Bada Bing
Pizza joint serving good home made sourdough pizza for eating in and takeaway. Reasonable price for Dubai.
McGettigan’s Irish pub –
Decorated with a few shamrocks and a touch of green. Lacking in the Irish charm. Thought the Donegal lads could do a bit better. Piped music was dire. Missed the live music as not on that night (Tuesday).
Chris, the manager from Scotland, was good craic, though, as was the bar man who served us.
Nell Gwynne’s English pub.
Bit more life here. Descent beer and wine, bit of live music on the Wednesday and chats with a few other patrons. Shows live sports too. Floor workers, such as Zyra, were good and attended us well.
The main issue with this bar, and the draw for some, was the allowance of smoking in the bar. Very difficult for non smokers. Maybe they should separate an area for the smokers to mitigate the issue for non smokers.
Waitrose supermarket – Dubai Marina Mall.
Good stop to pick up breakfast supplies. Good selection of fresh, organic, fruit and veg.
Flavours of India
We were hoping to try this restaurant for a birthday night. After an enquiry on social media, we were left with a curt ‘N0’ when we asked if they served alcohol with a meal.
It seemed most places, didn’t serve alcohol,only in a handful of hotel bars. The laws are becoming more relaxed with stand alone licences now being issued.
Was it Dubia worth it?
It’s got a pretentious vibe. People love sharing off their wealth. The LA of the UAE. If you love shopping and bowsing large malls, staying in luxurious hotels, and boating, this will be the place for you.
