What comes to your mind when you think of Dubai? Ultramodern architecture, desert, shopping and lifestyle. All of this was there in my mind when we were planning for Dubai and therefore I was not too fascinated in visiting the place as I am a nature lover. But trust me when I say I was wrong and I would love to visit Dubai for sure again.
We planned to take the flights for Dubai 6 month in advance and that's how we got the flight at the cheapest. Though the flight experience was not too great but these things you can compromise on when you are budget traveling.
Dubai has a very easy visa process for the Indian citizens where you can apply online few days before your trip. You are required to submit your passport scanned copies, travel return tickets, and passport size photograph all through online interface and you receive your e-visa in less than 3 days. The cost of visa to Dubai is around 6k.
We boarded the flight from Lucknow and it was a 3 hours flight from Lucknow to Dubai. We reached Dubai at around 5pm in the evening. Dubai airport is a fantastic one and you easily get the taxis to go to any part of the city. We reached our hotel in less than half an hour in Deira. I had researched about places where we can stay and Deira was one of the best option with lot many Indian restaurants around. We booked Ramada by Wyndham which was very near to the shopping place and a mall.
After reaching at the hotel we roamed around the hotel area to explore the place.
If I have to shout out one word for this place, it is "Eclectic". The place has a nice environment with shops and restaurants all around the beachfront. The most fascinating part is it's vibrant feel which makes you fall in love with the place.
You can have a look at the Dubai skyscrapers and chill at the beach at the La Mer. This is a must visit place for anyone visiting Dubai.
Desert Safari tour package is a unique combination of thrill of dune bashing, quad biking, camel ride and the very famous belly dance, fire show followed by the Barbeque dinner.
We searched for alot many options for desert Safari packages and booked one through Head out app. You get amazing deals and credit points so do check various options before making a final booking.
We had a pick up scheduled from Central point. It took almost an hour to reach the desert Safari venue. From there we experienced the most thrilling ride through dune bashing. After 20 minutes of dune bashing we were dropped to the centre of the desert where we had all the other arrangements. Before entering the tented place to enjoy the shows, you can enjoy the camel ride, quad biking. Quad biking comes at an extra cost and do try negotiating with the people there.
We then enjoyed the dance performances including belly dance, fire shows with barbeque dinner served afterwards. We didn't like the dinner much and there was a huge queue to get the dinner. But overall the other activities and experience made our day.
This is one of world class service hotel with beautiful architecture to have a look at when you visit Dubai. The hotel is in the shape of an arch located over Dubai 's most famous Palm Jumeirah island. It was the first resort to be built on the island and has few other attractions like a high end mall, aquarium and an adventure water park. We roamed around the mall and experienced the unique architecture and vibe of the hotel. We spent some time here having our photographs.
Burj Al Arab is again one of the most luxurious hotels in Dubai, it is one of the tallest hotels in the world. The hotel is constructed in the shape of ship sailing on the Jumeirah beach. One fact about the hotel is that 39% of the hotel space is non occupiable due to the shape of the hotel.
We didn't visit the hotel but admired it's structure from the beach, the beach is open to all public and has good food joints to spend your day here.
We had some time at our disposal so we decided to visit this place which is also a well known mall. We roamed around the place for shopping and having lunch. The place has an excellent skiing place with all the adventurous activities inside.
This was the last and the most amazing part of the day. We had booked the tickets for the cruise beforehand and were required to board the ship at around 8:30pm. The ship was beautifully decorated and we could get amazing photographs here. The cruise sails through the Creek side of the Old Dubai.
We were served dinner after the ship sailed at around 9:30pm. It had both vegetarian and non- vegetarian options. After the dinner we were entertained through various performances like magic show, dance shows, etc.
Gold Souk is a traditional market in Dubai which is famous for jewellery traders. My mom wanted to visit the place as we had heard that gold in Dubai is cheaper. The place is a very crowded one with lot many gold shops than you can imagine, but only if you are buying gold in lots of quantity then it is cheaper.
Another fascinating area around Gold souk is perfume souk which is famous for all kinds of Itar and branded perfumes at cheap prices. And trust me it's really cheap as we got 3k worth CK perfume at 1.5k and lot many brands at half the price.
We also visited few of the chocolate stores to shop the freshly made chocolates of Dubai which we bought in kgs.
The overall experience at Gold Souk was good and recommended for all shoppers.
This was an indoor auditorium with dolphin and seal shows. We booked the tickets online and experienced the activities performed by the seals and adorable dolphins in water.
You even get to have photographs with seals and dolphins at additional price.
This is one of the most captivating experiences in Dubai with so many marine organisms floating besides you in a tank. The aquarium is located at the base level of the largest mall- Dubai Mall. We had booked combined tickets for Aquarium and Burj Khalifa which saved us alot of money.
There are lot many sharks and Ray's live in this tank and you can even get inside the tank and experience these at an additional cost.
The last stop of the day as well as the trip was the best saved for the last. The world's tallest and most creatively made structure- Burj Khalifa. You can experience the breathtaking view of Dubai from the observatory area of Burj. Visitors are allowed only at 124 and 125th floors of Burj and the best part of the place apart from its structure is the elevator, which covers 1 floor in less than a second.
Since, we booked the slot for night we could get a very beautiful view of the entire city lit on Christmas eve.
Dubai was a very amazing experience and a must visit to all.