Unwinding of Mind: Dubai, a prodigious land

Every year Diwali holidays kindle the wanderlust in many of us Indians. Stationed in Mumbai, Dubai seemed to be the obvious choice for an exciting family holiday.

On arrival, Dubai airport astounded me with its vastness. In the taxi stand I encountered a separate group of taxis driven exclusively by ladies. In a Muslim country with burka clad women around; this was a real surprise.

We opted for a two bedroom apartment in Chelsea Tower; a luxury hotel apartment. Booking was made primarily keeping in mind the central location of the establishment and it’s proximity to Metro train station.

Chelsea Tower is situated in Sheikh Zayed Road very near to Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa. Our apartment was on 17^th floor with the view of Burj Khjalifa; world’s tallest building. There are numerous restaurants with variety of specialties around the hotel. By the time we arrived, it was almost midnight; the vivacious surrounding still tempted us to dine in a nearby Pizza Hut joint.

Sheikh Zayed Road

Burj Khalifa from hotel room

Unique building from hotel room

Next morning I opened my eyes with the view of monstrous buildings all over. It felt like a Giant land of illusion straight from the childhood fairytale books.

Our first day started with a city tour booked with a local travel agent, first destination being Dubai Museum.

Dubai Museum

Al Fahidi fort (built in 1880) has been converted to Dubai Museum keeping the structure unchanged. There are different sections with samples of traditional boats, musical instruments, and weaponry. A portion of the fort is modeled to desert life of Bedouins. Another segment is dedicated to the marine life of the locals in early years. This segment is beautifully illuminated with blue to create an illusion of under water.

Museum gate

Al Fahidi Fort

Boat collection

Desert bird

Marine life

Jumeirah Public Beach

Jemeirah beach is segregated in three parts, one for local Muslims, one for local ladies and another for public. The public beach is next to the Burj Al Arab hotel and free to the tourists. My first impression about the sea at the beach was of a gigantic swimming pool; so clear, calm and not to mention unbelievably clean. The deep blue water and shining silvery sand makes the beach compelling and picturesque.

Jumeirah beach

Burj Al Arab Hotel

Jumeirah Mosque

Souk Madinat Jumeirah

This is a place to visit not for shopping but to get the essence of Arabian souk (market). The shops in this mall sell high end ethnic products ranging carpets, brass wares, crystals, garments and so on. The aesthetic decor of the place enhances the ambience meant for catering to the distinguished clients. Photography is prohibited here.

Dubai Mall

Dubai mall is the largest shopping mall in the world. We visited the place twice and spent around 12 hours, only to realize the futility of any attempt to see the whole place. We took care to witness the amazing musical fountain run in the evening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The ice skating rink is also a great fun, especially for children. The different brands of shop, eatery joints, most elaborate food court with numerous counters make one feel dizzy. I could experience the feeling of Cassim (Alibaba’s elder brother) while confined within the cave of bandits full of gold and gems with a very limited means to take them away. He ended up in forgetting the password to freedom; similarly I almost missed my flight on the day of return.

Aquarium

Musical fountain

Ice skating Rink

Water fall

Burj Khalifa

It is situated next to the Dubai mall and connected by Metro train. Tourists can buy ticket to go to the top of the building and get a bird’s eye view of the gigantic city.

Challenging the sky

From second day on wards we preferred to take day trip tickets for metro as all the famous tourist spots are well connected with the metro. It comes much cheaper than any other mode of transport.

Marina Beach

Marina Breach is much same as the Jumeirah Beach, except the color of sand being golden. Lot of on going construction work has distorted the beauty to some extent.

The beach

The bay surrounded by hotels

Twist in a tower

Mall of Emirates

Mall of Emirates is internally connected to the Metro station. This is the second largest mall in Dubai. Carrefour Super market is a favorite to the locals here. The famous Ski Dubai snow park (bedded with 3000 sq mtrs of snow) is located inside this mall.

In the evening of the day before Diwali, we went to meet a few friends at Autodrome (Motor city). The greenery inside the con dominium was puzzling in a desert city which was made possible by recycling of waste water.

Desert Safari

Desert safari is one of most famous attractions of Dubai which is scheduled for afternoon in order to capture the sunset midst the desert. We were picked up from hotel by a safari driver of the local travel agent to be taken to the desert of Sharjah bordering Dubai. We wisely skipped lunch as advised by our friends to avoid any discomfort during the safari. Our Driver was a young Arab with fluent Hindi, good sense of humor and craze for Hindi films. Our co passenger was a sweet girl from Nigeria. Once we headed for the desert, the color of the landscape changed from golden to brown; unique color of the sand in Sharjah being the reason. We were halted at the gateway near a small market in order to flatten the tiers. Our journey started through the dunes; it was exciting as well as horrifying as our safety was depended solely on the skill of the driver. The panic of our co passenger seated in front contrasted with the carefree approach of the young Arab (his name was Manan) created quite a hilarious atmosphere, though none of us was in a position to laugh. We were taken to a point in the middle of the desert for photography. The beauty of the landscape was simply mesmerizing. I decided to enjoy the surrounding leaving others to take photographs. The girl was too sick by now to enjoy the beauty; I took some photographs in her camera on her behalf. We introduced ourselves in the process and came to know her name to be Ada. In the next phase of our journey I volunteered to sit in front, since, Ada was too panicky. My complements on Manan’s driving made him too enthusiastic, our safari turned out to be a roller coaster ride as a consequence. On the way back we were taken to a make shift desert village for refreshments. The local food, henna painting and belly dancing made the evening unforgettable.

While dropping us at hotel, Manan took a detour to Bur Dudai which is home for most of the Indians. Being Diwali night, beautifully illuminated houses and extravagant fireworks made us feel at home thousands of miles away from home.

The village

Captivating performance

Belly dancing

Sheikh Saeed al Maktoum house

It was the residence of the former ruler of Dubai, built in 1896. Now it is open for tourists and houses a photo gallery and coin collection of British period. The structure of the house is suitable for desert with low ceiling and low height doors with minimum windows. Thick walls and shadowy indoor were meant for dealing with the extreme heat when air conditioning was unheard of. The wonderful view of the creek from the first floor verandah needs a special mention.

Next to this house there is Sheikh Obaid bin Thani house (built in 1916) now in use for the Arabian Calligraphy exhibition.

The entrance

Court yard

Indian coins used till 1963

View form Verandah

Al Ras Souk

This is the famous market of Gold. The numerous jewelry shops in both sides of the streets, not to mention the malls housing all famous Jewelry brands may embarrass king Midas as well. The thin lanes and old buildings may remind of a very clean version of the Chandni Chawk of Delhi. This market is also famous for Arabian perfumes and dry fruits. For those who love to bargain, this market is an ideal place to shop from. We had our lunch in a small but busy local restaurant here. The experience was amazing with the heavenly taste of simple dal, roti and biriyani at a throw away price.

A Heritage house

Busy road

True to its name

A small collection

Ibn Battuta Mall

This Mall is dedicated to the famous Arab explorer Ibn Batuta and houses six separate segments depicting the countries visited by him viz; Parsia, Egypt, Tunisia, Andalusia, China and India. The grandeur of the decors and detailing of the finesse makes the mall an experience of life time.

Persia Court

An interesting model

Model of Earliest attempt to fly

Egypt Court

India Court

China Court

Atlantis

Atlantis, the Palm is a hotel resort at Palm Jumeirah. The resort is modeled after the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort in Nassau, Bahamas. There is a water park, Dolphin bay and an aquarium named ‘Lost chamber’ within the resort which can be enjoyed paying separately without staying in the hotel. There are number of international brand restaurants and retail outlets as well. The marine drive, the fairytale like hotel building, the unbelievable collection in the aquarium surpasses common-man’s imagination. Dubai visit is incomplete without a visit to this place.

Entrance

The building

Hotel lobby

The beach

Colorful specimen

Big brother

Too long

Sea horse

Dhow Cruise

In the evening, the creek is a very pleasant site to spend time. Specially decorated floating restaurants arranging dinner along with shows of dance, magic etc., can be an added attraction. But my suggestion would be to avoid any pre booking through travel agents. It is better to choose the restaurants according to individual taste instead.