UAE- 7 days 7 nights itinerary- 21-28 December, 2015
An instantaneous arrival from departure explains why Dubai is a top overseas destination for indians, specially Mumbaikars. My flight landed at 10 am and Dubai duty-free shopping pulled me like a big magnet, and there- after the big green flag signalling shopping never turned red. The first impression of Dubai downtown which I received from the window seat of a comfortable cab was not sublime, it appeared to me that if New York, Sydney, Hong Kong are concrete jungles of Amazon scale, Dubai is like a orchard with a few trees (very pretty though) here and there. The cab zipped away in haste through a very smooth network of roads, which looked wee complicated and I was glad that we did not rent a self- drive car for this trip. At this point I must mention that cabs are easily available everywhere in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and no complains with the service too. Through an under-sea tunnel( the day wont be far when Dubai will have transparent tunnels!!!) we reached Atlantins, The Palm.
There were tens of people outside the hotel and scores of people inside the swanky lobby, the Imperial club room guests have to go one level down to the Imperial Club Lounge for check-in. This lounge serves sweet and savory food items along with beverages from 7 am - 11 pm, these are complementary for the guests staying at Imperial club rooms. The menu is innovative and the items in the buffet keep changing to be in synch with the time of the day. While we waited for our room key to be handed, we indulged in some delicious deserts, nuts, bread, salads etc, and kids were overjoyed to sip cold chocolate with plops of white cream.
Before leaving the lounge, we got our entry-bands to the water park, a quick change of clothes and we were ready to catch a buggy to the water park at 1pm. Aquaventure is divided into two sororal parts namely Tower of Poseidon and Tower of Neptune; the latter is smaller but no less in pursuit of fun. The Rapids connect the two parks, its a very long lagoon with many exit points, it is advisable to have your child in the same tube as you to avoid confusion. Tower of Neptune has a ride where you slide through a glass tube passing through a very large aquarium full of Rays and Sharks which the kids loved. All in all the park has something for all ages including scores of deck chairs around water bodies, it is well equipped with manpower but most of them are like statues in uniforms as they are not very communicative and helpful. In rides that you need tubes look for the ones which have a child seat if your child is under ten. There is a beach all along the Atlantis hotel running horizontally from the hotel building to the Dolphin Bay. Since it was last week of December there were few heads on the beach and fewer in the water. After 4 hours of wet fun, we left the park at 5pm to head back to the room.
If you are in a holiday you get hungry every two hours, if you are in Dubai you get hungry every hour. A unscheduled stop at the Imperial Club Lounge was heavenly for the senses but mighty sinful for the clothes, wines sparkled in glasses and cocktails oozed out of rocks and the desert enticed you from the top of the table. An hour and half later, our very overtimed-heavy selves made way towards Tower- A for The Lost Chambers. We joined a marine expert dressed in khaki shorts, safari hat and a vest for a guided tour. One doesn't need special psychic power to cogitate that he has been bitten by repetition syndrome. Lost Chambers is partly aquarium, partly museum and a half-hearted attempt at creating a legendary Atlantean Civilization that sunk in the sea where the hotel stands today. The cicerone was enthusiastic about answering questions related to marine life but rushed the people to the next dark chamber when you questioned him about the codes inscripted on the walls or the communication device displayed. After an hour and half we stepped out into a very contrasting world, I shudder to think how a model of today's world would look if it is created thousands of years later .
The palm view rooms have an exotic view which is unique to the hotel, but I had to be happy with the ocean facing room as it was available for an early check-in. The blue sea looked enticing and so we set out to spend our morning at the beach. Only, there was one question mark for this perfect plan; how cold is the water?
We performed the check-out procedure and requested them to hold our luggage. Once again we took entry straps for the Aquaventure water park and headed there to spend couple of hours more.
Dolphin Bay
One needs to pre-book to swim with dolphins, they have different programmes to swim with dolphins and seals. It is not only very expensive but kids below 12 years need a participating adult too. Though I cannot complain that Atlantis is singularly devoted to sucking money out of tourists but this attraction comes very close to it. You are allowed to go to the enclosed viewing gallery only if you are participating. We could see the dolphins at the far end of the lagoon and there was some time for the next program to start so we decided to leave the place.
We checked into JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, its twin towers dominate Dubai's skyline and provides spectacular views from higher floors. From the 55th floor, I saw a million stars blinking from the Earth beneath. The hotel is more chirpy outside than inside, there is always a hustle-bustle of people entering and exiting as it has popular restaurants and night clubs; it was chic but the hospitality lacked warmth. Oh please! do not consider me as Colombus too quick to make a conclusion, the candor behind the observation was derived at the end of 5 nights stay, just found a early place in the blog.
Dubai Mall
A place of all places-this is my favourite place in Dubai, I have seldom seen a place so singularly devoted to seduce you with a compilation of such eminent earthly possessions. It is massive, even if it had ten times more escalators and walkalators you could not zip through the whole mall in a day. It opens at 10 and closes at 12pm and has a commendable foot-fall.The mall is flooded with eateries that range from fine-dining to cafes to bistros to gourmet stores, there is also ice-skating rink, kidzania (miniature city for kids) Dubai Aquarium, Underwater Zoo and this and that. The boys (12 and 8) spend their morning in Kinokuniya book store and my husband and I went around a bit.
Weeks in advance, tickets were bought for this attraction, please do so too if you are planning a visit. The popular slots can get sold out even a month in advance. We took the 4.30 pm slot- advantageous for high visibility plus a panoramic sunset and also a magic-like experience to see the city get illuminated in minutes. You have to be there half an hour before to collect your tickets, there is a slow moving queue and you are not allowed to carry any food to the top. Along with the tickets we had booked audio devices for all of us, there was not too much in it, one can avoid it or just get one for the whole family to share. There are two observatory decks one at 125th level- 456 meters which costs 200 AED for an adult, the other one is at 148th level- 555 meters which costs a pound of your flesh (in units 500 AED for an adult) Well technically the viewers at 125th level cannot claim to have been to the highest outdoor observatory in the world; having lost to competition at home. Of course, we did not want to shell out an obnoxious amount to view concrete from 99 meters above and the company of drinks and sweets was not our priority and who knows by the time you come out of the elevator statistics has changed; some place in Korea has a viewing gallery at 600 meters above the ground. The experience gave a falcon's eye view of the city below and some insight into the architecture and people behind the Burj. It was time well spent but the end product did not match the anticipation and excitement days before.
The fountains are located just outside the Dubai Mall at the artificial Burj Lake, much spoken of as the highest fountain in the world. The fountains begin at 6pm and operate every half hour, they last about 3-4 minutes with loud music playing in the background. The sides of the lake become very crowded, the best way to experience the fountain is from the outside seating of restaurants like CPK and Carlucio's located at the basement of Dubai Mall.
Ferrari World, Yas Island
An hour's drive from Mariott, brought us to Yas Island- we checked into Park Inn by Radisson, left the overnighter at the reception and rushed for a rush at the Ferrari World.(Shuttle bus service available) Ferrari World is an indoor theme park and it does live upto its name; all the rides, shows, displays are based on the Italian marvel. The park has something for all ages be it the fastest roller coaster in the world or go-karting for little kids. The park is just the right size to be covered in a day, very professionally run and lots of friendly employees prioritising on riders' safety. It may feel in the beginning that you have enough time to finish all the attractions but towards the evening you may realise queues have become longer and there is yet lots to be done. There are nice restaurants for your gastronomic needs, few shows are well placed in the day and all in all a nice place for a very Italian family time
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Dubai Mall
The kids had wheels on their feet at the mention of Dubai Mall and so did I. Kids went into Kinokuniya Bookshop, we shopped a bit and returned back to the hotel after lunch.
Desert Safari is critical to Dubai Tourism as water is to life. This explains why humongous number of service providers cover this attraction and promise the same experience on paper. How do you pick the Queen Bee? It was a hair-tearing experience but results were fabulous. We found, Arabian Nights, Arabian Adventures and Lama are better than others. We were picked from the hotel by the Arabian Nights driver at 3.30 pm, an hour's drive towards Oman brought us to a stop, tyres were deflated and our minds inflated with fear as the driver talked about cars doing somersault during sand bashing and claimed it was his second day at work. After feasting into our reactions nastily for a few minutes his smiles revealed an old trick. A very chatty driver, dashed into the sand like a hedgehog into a bush, we held on the handles and enjoyed the adrenaline rush. He parked at the sunset point, the cameras and us had a feisty time and the weather could not have been more perfect.
The camp was full of people seated across the tables around the small stage. A veg starter and a non-veg starter was served; hard drinks could be bought. The air inside danced to the tunes of Arabic music and smelled of Arabic Coffee and Sheesha. There was Aladdin type of magic inside the camp. The boys loved the outside, sandboarding and quad biking were super fun to them.
Meena Bazar is consumed by small unassuming shops mostly selling watches, perfumes, handbags, cosmetics, garments,jewellery and Bollywood-style Indian clothing. It is a warehouse of illegal fake handbags and the minute we got down from the cab a person tried to befriend us and whimsically convinced us to check-out some bags in a shop at higher floor of a small dark building. They promised to not force us to buy but at the shop, the slashed prices to less than half and got into a terrible pestering mode. It was not a great experience and Meena Bazar was dull and boring. In no time me moved to the next stop.
Al Bastakiya is a rich man's neighbourhood from late nineteenth century, It is very contrasting to today's rich man who likes to live in the sky, there was a time when they were more grounded. Some of the houses has been restored and now converted into restaurants and art galleries. Restored wind-towers, courtyard with lamps, old architecture but modern food assuringly is great for an appetite.
The Museum
The historic Al Fahaidi Fort is the site for The Dubai Museum. The museum consists of a wealth of displays and exhibits that takes you back in time, the fort stands as evidence for the danger Emirates faced from foreign attacks. Like a maze you will pass from one section to the other namely, military section, history section, bustling souks, a peak into social, cultural and religious lives of people, desert- facts, Bedouin life and a Marine section and something that I may have missed. Definitely worth a visit, toilet was very crowded but clean.
Dubai Mall can never fail in uplifting anyone's spirits; our limbs ached in tiredness but at the mention of Dubai Mall the kids changed colours like Chameleons. Yes we spent the last few hours in Dubai Mall before calling it a night or should I say calling it back home.
A must-have for all prompt and potential tourists to Dubai, lots of offers on tourist attractions, dining, nightspots, hotel stays, sports and leisure activities. One can either buy the book online and get it delivered to the hotel( which I did) or buy the mobile-app. I had opted for the book because it comes with advertisements along with coupons. For example the 2014 Dubai Entertainer had a page advertising Ferrari World along with two coupons ( Buy one ticket get one free) Though there are separate Entertainers for Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the 2015 Dubai Entertainer has coupons for Ferrari World so it is advisable to buy the Dubai Entertainer if you are the planning types and do not mind doing extra homework.
Dubai Metro
It makes sense only for a single traveller, for a family of three or four or more it is a complete No No!
Dhow Cruise
It sounds good in words and pictures but at the time of crossing the creek I was glad to have skipped this one.