Dubai the land of dreams (Other locations...)

Member Name: STARCHILD1

Product:	Other locations...
Date:	12/02/07 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great weather, nice people, lots of shopping, fantastic beaches,great food

Disadvantages: none except it gets very hot mid afternoon.

When the time came to decide where to go for this years hols Dubai won hands down. I had never been to Dubai but I had always wanted to, especially as the majority of my relatives were already planning their second and third trips there.

I started off by doing some research, I had heard that it gets very hot there sometimes with temperatures recahing to 50 degrees and above. So it was the right choice to go there in the month that we did, January. But you will need to take sunscreen along with you no matter when you choose to go.

We booked by Emirates airlines, there were no stopovers, we reached to Dubai International Airport in around 7 hours.

As soon as we got off the plane the slight exhaustion from being on the plane vanished as the airport was great ,none like I had seen before. There was marble flooring, huge palm trees that were sky high situated all around the airport, you got a real feel of the arabian way of life, tons of shopping stores and the airport was incredibly clean. The weather was just as I had expected, we had arrived at 2pm and the temperature was 25 degrees.

Once we left the airport though we cancelled the plan to take a rest at the hotel and instead went off for sightseeing and more importantly to do some SHOPPING!

There are two parts to Dubai, the old part, Deira Dubai and the new part which connsists of new shopping centres, places to live etc. In between both part is the river and you can commute from one side to the other by abras (water boats) a ride on one of these is something like 20p. Even if you are prone to seasickness a ride on one of these will leave you feeling tranquil and peaceful.

We set off to the world famous Gold Souk, situated in Deira Dubai, where you will find nothing but GOLD, there are lines of only jewellery shops where you will be spoilt for choice and as Dubai is a tax free port the gold is pretty cheap so it won't break the bank! There are many souks (markets) there ranging from spice souks to clothing souks. It will help to do a bit of haggling to bring the price of things down and get a bargain. You will find souks in the old part.

After a spot of shopping if you get peckish you can be sure to find a place to eat nearby, Dubai has a whole range of foods to cater for everyones needs whether you feel like some Chinese or just a Kabab. For the western traveller feeling a bit homesick they even have Mcdonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut.

For the night life, beaches and fantastic bulidings you will have to go the new part of Dubai, here you will find the Burj Al Arab hotel which is a masterpiece in itself, the first man made island, built in the sea and sitting on it is a huge hotel in the shape of a billowing sail. There is year round late night shopping open to around 2 or 3 am . For the avid shopper there is a shopping festival held annualy where you can shop till you drop for 30 days.

You can experience some thrill and excitement by going on a desert safari, a four by four racing around in the sand, or something to keep the kids and grown ups alike entertained Wild Wady waterpark. If you are a early riser then you might even catch the daily camel racing events.

A downside may be that in the month of Ramadan you are not permitted to eat or drink in public and in some cases people have been fined for breaking this rule. A solution to this would be to not travel to Dubai in Ramadan.

Whatever your choice there is something for everyone in this city.
It is a very clean city, the beaches are kept spotless and people of Dubai are very proud of this. The people are very friendly and always happy to help.

Dubai is like a blank canvass and wherever you look in the horizon you see construction work taking place reminding you of bigger and better things that this city will have to offer in the future.

Summary: Dubai is a place that you must visit, it is one of a kind