When you travel often, you discover some places where you feel comfortable and relaxed. Dubai is one of those places for me. I was blown away when I first traveled here in 2019. Covid robbed us of a second visit, but we had some time in our schedule so we carved out a seven day visit. We selected an Airbnb, serviced apartment, adjacent to the Dubai mall with a view of the Burg Khalifa as our home for the week. At $200 a night, it was on the high end for us, but the views promised to be spectacular…and they were.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) provides an interesting contrast of the old Muslim world situated in a high tech glowing cities. The government maintains high control and fines are steep. Running a red-light will cost you $1,000 and they impound your car. Speed limits are enforced with speed cameras…every kilometer (½ kilometer in Abu Dhabi). However, the streets are clean, there is no crime and you never see police. Its a very sterile environment, but not a bad break in the middle of a long trip.
We had three primary things we wanted to do on our visit, see Expo World, ride the world’s largest Ferris Wheel (Ain Dubai), and ride the world’s fastest roller coaster (Formula Rossa) at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. Of course Dubai is a tourist Mecca (pardon the pun) and there was lots more to do and see.
We flew into Dubai on Emirates Airline. The Dubai Airport is massive, clean and modern. Immigration was a breeze, no VISA required and they even gave us a free 10GB SIM for our phone. Yes, they want tourists to visit and feel welcome. The city is ultramodern and very conservative. Alcohol is available to purchase but only in two State controlled store chains. And we did utilize these stores to purchase a few bottles to enjoy our balcony.
The first night, we opted to stay at a Hilton Garden Inn near the airport before checking into our Airbnb apartment located at the Sulk Al Bahar at the Dubai Mall, home of the Burj Khalifa. Last time we in Dubai, we went up the “Burj” so we hadn’t planned on revisiting it…there are so many other things to do in the area. (If it is your first time in Dubai put it on your “must do” list.) Our apartment was only a five minute walk to the Dubai Mall, which is massive. The mall, houses an ice skating rink, an aquarium, an art museum and 100s of shopping and entertainment venues. All of Dubai centers around the Mall with its fountains and the Burj. This is “Downtown Dubai”. I will mention that taxi’s are very cheap, so its easy to get around the City without any problems.
The apartment was perfect. It was on the seventh floor with great views of the pool and skyline. It had a washing machine and two bathrooms to allow us to spread out and just enjoy our time.
Dubai Expo City
We had planned to attend the world expo in Dubai back in 2021, but Covid interfered with those plans. I wanted to go out and see what was left of the Expo site. We took the Metro to the Expo City since it was quite far from the Downtown area. The Metro turned out to be an interesting adventur. It is attached to the Dubai Mall, but was about a mile from apartment. The entire distance was inside and had moving walkways. However, the sheer number of immigrant workers which use the metro made it almost unusable. The police implement crowd control measures daily, during rush hour times, to channel thousands of these workers around the City.
Side note: We talked with our taxi cab drivers and tour guide about what it was like to be an immigrant worker in Dubai. There are relatively a small amour of the population who are actually citizens of the UAE. The majority of the others come from Pakistan or India. They are provided lodging and food and a small salary. Most send the money home to their family and go back and visit a couple of times a year. They work seven days a week and can earn bonuses if they exceed quota levels. The workers we met appeared happy with the arrangement, and felt it was better than their situation in their home countries.
At Expo City, there were a few pavilions that housed permanent expositions, but much of the site was being torn down and a new city being constructed around it. The site is near Dubai’s second airport, which is targeted to become the largest airport in the world.
The exhibits were not very impressive. Two of the halls required guided tours and no one was around the site except a few local tourists and some stray cats. It was also overpriced. Overall, We were very unimpressed…I even renamed it “EPNOT” in reference to the EPCOT Disney Theme Park in Florida.
Ein Dubai
After we left Expo City (we weren’t there very long) we headed over to the Dubai Eye. At 250 meters, this is the largest Ferris Wheel in the world. It was built for the Expo but it had only operated for a few months and had been shut down since…until now. Earlier this year, it had been placed back in operation and we were anxious to take a loop. The cars on the ride are massive and can hold upwards of 70 people. So at full capacity, over 1,000 people could be on the ride simultaneously.
We opted for upgraded tickets which included a soda and sandwich (lunch) which was only about $40 each, I paid almost as much for the Orlando Eye, so I thought it was a good deal.
The Ein provided a fantastic view of the beach area and of the ocean. This made up for our earlier disappointment with Expo City.
Formula Rossa
The next day we headed to Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, for a ride on the Formula Rossa. I was going to rent a car for the day, but I felt that was going to be too much of a hassle. So, we opted to take a taxi both ways. Overall it cost us $85 to get there and on $55 to return,,,not too bad for an hour drive. Ferrari world is one of 4 amusement parks on Yas Island and is actually attached to Yas mall. The park is small and there were only a few people there when we arrived.
The entire amusement park is inside. The rides load inside, then head out into the desert. The Formula Rossa was in operation and we waited for the front car. Goggles are required to protect your eyes. Beng launched at 149 mph is spectacular! The ride doesn’t have any flips or big hills, but it is an adrenaline rush for sure. There is only one car which seats around 24 people. After each ride, water is sprayed on the wheel axles to cool them. After the ride, we toured the park. There wasn’t much to do there. (FYI, I made a mistake by not buying the tickets online…that cost me about $30.)
Desert Tour
We still had a few more days in Dubai, so we thought we would spend an evening in the desert. Viator had a tour for $33 a person which included pick up, playing in the sand dunes, a show, dinner and return transportation. Pretty reasonable and we knew other who had done it. So why not?
We were picked up at 3:00, with a couple from Argentina and a couple from Turkey for our hour drive out to our first stop in the red sand desert.
One of the couples had paid to ride four wheelers in the desert, so we could either wait 30-45 minutes for them or rent our own. We looked at the sand covered with 4 wheelers, dune buggies and numerous other random vehicles being driven by clueless tourists and opted to just watch. Before long, the crowds began to thin and the other couples returned and we headed off for dune bashing.
Dune bashing required that the guide drop the pressure in his tires to 15 psi. We stopped at a shop and a maintenance guy quickly adjusted the pressure and off we went. After about 30 minutes of sliding, spinning and fistailing we parked on top of a dune for dune sliding and pictures. Which was good since no one was feeling very health at this point. As the sun was setting we headed back to another shop, to blow all the sand out of the car and reinflate the tires.
Next stop, was desert camp for dinner, a show and camel ride. This was in the white sand desert, another 30 minute drive. We were late, so the guide raced down the sand roads. This kept everyone fairly airborne as we bounced down the rough sand road. We were the last to arrive and the show began a few minutes after we were seated. We had the basic seats but were offered an upgrade for about $12 more. Since we only had about an hour until the night was over, we opted not to upgrade.
The show and traditional dinner wasn’t bad. We left along with hundreds of other cars around 8:30 and got back around 9:30. All on all, not a bad night of entertainment for the price. I wouldn’t do it again. But it was an interesting night.
We spent one more day exploring the mall and watching the fountain and light shows. Dubai really is a special city and a place you should put on your list for a visit. This is one of the best cities I have ever visited. Beautiful, shiny, clean and safe….it truly is an oasis in the desert!
