When I landed in Dubai, the city of sand and money and tall buildings (or so I thought), I really had no expectation or plan for the days to come. In my pre-consumed mind, Dubai was a jungle of posh concrete. My rigid heart and soul are ever so preoccupied with green grass and rolling hills, that it has little room for anything else. But oh my! I had to salute the architects who turned this barren desert into an architectural wonderland! The new Dubai area is full of tall buildings forming exquisite shapes that can give you a cranked neck if you are marvelling at them for far too long. All the buildings – hotels, offices, museums, apartments look to be competing against each other on shape & height!
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| And just after I checked in.. :) |
So, as I was getting transferred from the airport to my hotel (JW Marriott Marquis- which happens to be my favourite shaped building in that lot! It has this crown-like contour which I loved), I was gaping at these twisty, curvy, pointy structures standing tall and proud and shiny (thanks to all their glass facades). The tallest (and hence, ridiculously famous) building, Burj Khalifa made its presence felt right away - looking like a giant syringe with a needle at the top, trying to burst the cloud up in the sky! Pardon my queer eye but it makes me chuckle to think of it that way! Another building that makes itself impossible to ignore is the Future Museum – looking like an egg-shaped donut (just in my odd eye. A proper way to say this would be – torus shape), it has a sleek metallic finish with Arabic calligraphy on its entire body, which enhances the beauty even further. I quite admired this one.
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| Future Museum - this click doesn't do justice to the artchitecture |
I made the mandatory visit to Burj Khalifa in the evening and the whole area was all lit up. There was a vibrant vibe going all the way from Dubai Mall to the Burj. It’s all well connected by Metro – so much so, you don’t even have to step out on the road to walk from the Mall to the Burj!
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| Burj Khalifa |
Everything is so interconnected, and this similar theme goes around in many parts of the city. We experienced the same in Nakheel as well (on our way to the famous Palm!) where you could get off the monorail and walk straight inside the mall and then straight to the hotel! It’s like the outside world doesn’t exist! :D In the mad hunt of checking out more hotel structures, we ubered around the city in search of Burj Al Arab, only to have lost our way and then we ended up in Jumeirah Beach. If nothing else, it indeed gifted us with a good-hearted laugh. But as a top tip, you can safely skip this beach and rather visit JBR.
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| Dubai Mall |
Sadly, I lack the finesse to appreciate all the fine modern architecture. So, I quickly got used to the overwhelming and towering parts of the city and rather got drawn towards the Dubai Water Canal that meandered right by my hotel. The canal meets the Jumeirah beach at one end and takes a horseshoe bend all the way to join the Dubai creek which again meets the Persian Gulf water a bit further up along the coast. There is a nice path laid out for walking, running, cycling all along this canal. This part was my personal favourite. I couldn’t finish the whole walk, but I would do that if I were ever in Dubai again. (Alert: Itineraries do mention Dubai creek but not about this walk. So, this might not be the most touristy thing people do!)
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| Dubai Water Canal |
My next favourite is the Al Seef area in old Dubai. It's full of old shops by the Creek, and has a vibe of a whole different era altogether. In the evening, the lanes half lit with dull yellow lamps, brick walled shops selling attar and other handicrafts, the Creek full of bright lights, the boats ready to give you a water tour – everything comes together to give you a glimpse into the old yet charming days of Dubai. And man, it was a relief not to crank your necks up to look at tall structures all around!
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| Al Seef |
After being to Al Seef, I really had the craving to visit Gold Souk but didn’t get time after all. Perks of not planning things out! However, some of my ‘friends with purpose’ did visit the Souk and the famous Meena Bazaar and had a haul! Dubai is indeed a crazy place for shoppers! I was amazed by the extent of details people have planned out for their shopping loot from Dubai! Their bags and they themselves weighed a few good kilos extra when they returned. And what did I buy? Well, Dates! Big Arabian dates stuffed with dry fruits, lemons, apricots, chocolates and what not! I did get accused of having a tummy in place of a brain but c’est la vie. I do not regret it. I live for food – which reminds me, do try out their amazing Kebabs and Lebanese spread and some camel milk chocolates too! (I didn’t like them though but do try for yourself; many loved those!)
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| Falafal, Fatoush & Mixed Meat Grill, with to-die-for fluffly Bread! |
So next time if I am in Dubai, I will surely go for the canal walk, visit the Gold Souk and maybe go for a Safari to meet some amazing belly dancers and try their Bedouin food! Unfortunately, this trip was more about work (as if!) and less about exploration, but I am now glad to have visited this unique city. Every new place offers a new perspective and this one is definitely very different from every other place I have visited so far.
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| Look at that pointy needle in the distance - Burj Khalifa! :) |
FYI…Emirates flights give out a very detailed itinerary of all things you can do. So, rest assured, you won’t miss anything unless you play dumb like me. But I must say, there is a certain charm in not knowing anything about a place and discovering it in your own naïve way! So maybe, do not plan and be lost in some old Arab lane! But hey, that’s just me and my quirk, Al Habibi! Masalamah till the next one!
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| Masalamah, Al Habibi! |
