‘After every hundred feet, the world changes’ just this phrase is enough to tempt me into going around to different places and live a life of a traveller. Have you seen the movie Yeh jawaani hai deewani? This guy (Ranbir Kapoor) has this checklist of the places he has been to and the places he is yet to explore. That is what I wish to do. Travel, explore, meet new people, learn new culture, have crazy ass fun and discover the mysterious world of nature. The endless adventure and the thrill of seeing something new and extraordinary drives me insane. This itch is always there when it comes to traveling. So, with some advise of one of my friend (Thank you Mr. Pratik Gandhi), I want to share my first foreign trip experience with you all.It was in the month of July 2012 when my father decided that we go to Dubai for our summer holidays. Since it was my first time abroad, I was so excited. I literally din’t eat for a week before we were to depart. We planned a full fledged one week trip with the help of an agent and got all ready to rock and roll.
We had our reservations at a hotel called Rose Reyhaan by Rotana which was in the heart of Dubai. Just a station away was the happening Dubai mall (7-10 mins drive). Since we arrived early, we decided to go to the mall. We took the metro from there (Just 2 minutes walk away) and then walked till the mall.
Caution – If you are not in a habit of walking long distances, then do not take the metro. We walked for almost 25 mins to reach the mall. We did some window shopping, had our dinner at the food court and came back by a CAB. lol
It was the city day tour for us the next day. The mini bus took us to the Jumeirah mosque, one of the most visited place in Dubai. What followed was the mesmerizing view of the beach and the very famous and one of the most expensive Burj-al-Arab. The hot summer day with a gush of cool breeze and beach on the side took my breath away.
The day did not end there. We were taken to the most exclusive Dhow cruise, which was set on the Dubai Marina, a canal city in the Venetian tradition carved along a two mile stretch of Persian Gulf shoreline. The cruise has one of the most magnificent view of the skyline of Dubai. The sultry Arabian wind with a stunning view of the stars takes you to another planet. Next was the excellent dinner we were served on board and with that we got all excited to look forward to the next day.
This was the day to have some thrilling fun. It was the adventure time people!
Some 45 minutes drive later we reached our destination, to Atlantis water park. It is an outdoor water park with multiple water slides and two artificial surfing machine. A few head spinning vertical drops, dramatic crash drive on inflatables and high and steep water rides and you are prepared to travel to get your kicks up. One-two-three and the floor would disappear. That was how exhilarating it was. The day ended before we know it. We said our goodbyes and headed back home.
The next day was dedicated to the dunes of Dubai.
The desert safari of Dubai is the bigger version of our Rajasthan. The sandy wind and roller coster ride on the mounts of sand is something you wouldn’t want to miss. Its a 20-30 minute car drive through the desert along Al Awair road. Then follows the crazy part. They took us to a tent amidst the desert area where they invited us with some kick ass activities like Camel ride, their authentic henna painting, Sheesha (Mind you, they have really good sheesha there, if you are a hukka fan, then thats it for you), Arabic coffee (Coffee lovers, don’t leave out on this), traditional costumes and so much more. The best part was the belly dancing. The exotic jaw dropping dance by some artists was just glorious. With the grace and poise that the pretty ladies performed made us lost count of time. Arabic music and chilly weather in evening was the icing on the cake. With this mind blowing memories, we headed back to our hotel.
After all the crazy experiences it was time for some shopping. We grabbed a cab and were on our to way to Meena bazaar. The mini India of Dubai. You feel at home when you are here, the souvenir shops, the smell of spices and the feel of India takes you back to India. Since I am not into shopping so much, I bought few perfumes and got all ready for our new venture, The Ski Dubai – Coldest place in Dubai. It is inside the Emirates mall. Again, this mall is unique in itself. For all those who love shopping, should visit this mall.
Once we reached, we got all suit up to go inside the Ski box. The entire place was covered in snow (temp – minus 4 degrees), with beautiful ice structures and not to forget Penquins on the side. We said our hellos to some, played with them. and then we moved on to something more fun. The place has some really amazing mountain based setting which gives you a feel of a hill station. The various snowboarding slopes and slides on the snow makes you feel like a bird. The giant ball run, jumping a 10 feet ramp, the relaxing Gondola ride was pure bliss. The chills we got were not from the cold but with craziness that we experienced.
We spend some more time exploring and learned a little more about the place called The United Arab Emirates. It was interesting to know about the traditions and their way of living and we tried on various cuisine. By the way Lebanese food is delicious. If you haven’t tried it yet, you are missing out.
So with that, my memory box was filled with some awesome, mind boggling and fun experiences. As they say ‘Traveling tends to magnify all human emotions’, it surely did for me.
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