Another installment of Travel Thursday – if this is the first post you’re reading, this is a #TBT series where I post about my previous travel experiences that I had written about in my previous blog. This time it’s about my trip to Dubai in August 2014.
When we were flying to India we flew on Emirates so we had a layover in Dubai on our way there and on the way back. On the way there we spent about 3 hours in the airport (and I managed to lose my camera *sob*), but out our way back we decided to spend 3 nights in Dubai so we can see the city since neither my friend nor I had been there before.
We landed in Dubai on a Thursday night after flying in from Mumbai – when leaving the airport, the first thing that hits you is the heat, it is totally indescribable, we were quickly ushered into an air-conditioned (thank heavens) taxi and whizzed to our hotel. The first night we took it easy because we were so tired from the long journey.
The next day, we hit the Dubai Mall which is the biggest shopping mall in the world. Crazy does not even begin to describe the mall, it is major huge and has every shop and designer you can think of. We were lucky enough to use the entrance that led to area with the shops we wanted anyway like H&M, Forever 21, Aldo, Sephora etc. so luckily we did not have to walk around the whole mall. We had lunch at our favourite place The Cheesecake Factory which is an American restaurant we ate at and loved 3 years ago in San Francisco – true to American style, the portions are humongous but the food is so yummy – we didn’t even mind waiting nearly 1 hour for a table – yep, it was that full in the middle of the day.
Later that evening we went on a tour of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world – we went up to the observation deck on the 124th floor (the tallest observation deck in the world) and the elevator ride to the deck takes 60 seconds (the fastest elevator in the world) – there is a trend coming though, so many things in Dubai are tallest this, biggest that, first this – honestly this got very old to me after a while, the OTT-ness of everything was not appealing to me at all.
On Saturday we went on a desert safari where we got to do a dune buggy ride on the sand dunes, we went dune bashing in a Land-Cruise and had supper out in the desert. It was soooo hot and windy, so imagine being out in the desert with the heat and the wind blowing sand everywhere – withing a minute of being outside the car I was covered with a layer of sand all over my body *yuk* – and I had lipstick on, my lips were covered with a thick layer of sand.
I really am not sure how to feel about Dubai, sure it was great seeing it for the first time – I don’t think it has much appeal to me that I would visit again – there is nothing that I thought hhhmmmm I didn’t get to check that out so I am keen on going again. Honestly it’s just a whole lot of fancy buildings, hotels and the mall – but that’s just how I felt. I am trying not to sounds too negative about it, I do feel everyone should visit there, even if it’s just the one time.
Some pictures from the trip, these were all from my phone.
Dinner in the desert after our dune bashing session
Information about the Burj Khalifa
The City
Land Cruisers out in the desert
The sand goes on and on and on and on
*sigh* it was heaven shopping at Sephora
The Burj Khalifa
My hubby just got back from the middle east and ALLLLLLL he could talk about was the heat and the sand. LOL.
KLP @ http://www.savingourstrands.com
I would love to go to Dubai one day, just to check it out. It looks like a different world from SA. Thanks for sharing
*Sigh* Oh how I’d love to see Dubai… Looks like you had fun though
…minus the sand coating you like fried chicken. Lol
Hahaahhah! That’s an awesome description sisto- I was really like a fried chicken
I would want to be there too some day. sounds lovely from the article you have shared.
http://www.kayiniafrika.com
Those DUNES!!!! My goodness… I love Dubai from having seen the majestic beauty of the place, however, I also wonder if its a place Id like to visit…! Hmmm! You looking freshly swagged up in that 4-wheeler you driving there!
Great posts! I love these posts from you, as you also know i love travelling, so I look forward to them! more More more!!!
🙂
Thank you Katleho! I will put up more travel posts this month, keep your eyes peeled 🙂
Just go there once and experience it, I think you’ll either looove it or not. I think it’s that type of place, but it must be experienced!
I feel the same way about Dubai! It was really nice for the first two days and then after that, there is not much else to see and there is very little culture to see & experience as well…
Oh yeah. There’s a definite lack of culture
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