Ok, I'm cheating here a little bit, because we actually went to Dubai for business not for pleasure. My company invited both Alex and I to attend an offsite in Dubai this April, so we did a very short trip for 4-5 days only.
We arrived in Dubai on a Saturday morning, and checked in to the Sofitel in the Palm (thank you my dear company!) Before the offsite started, we had 1.5 days to go around the city.
Even though it was still in April, the weather was already really hot, and instead of walking, we opted to take the cab everywhere we went.
Our first stop was to the largest mall in the world. Well, initially I was not that interested in going to the mall, but it turned out to be a really pleasant experience (partially because it was too hot outside we didn't any options to go outside). The mall was like a mini city in itself. It has a full scale dinosaur skeleton, an aquarium, an ice rink, and a crazy indoor amazement park! Very close to the mall, you can also find Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world.
After the heat died out a little bit, we adventured outside of the mall to go to the old Dubai. We took a boat and spent 1.5 hours floating on the river and look at the city from the water. On the river, everything seems to move much slower, and all of a sudden, there is a nostalgia feeling about Dubai. We watched people walking in and out of the mosques or the bazaars near the river bank, and it seemed time hadn't passed for hundreds of years. With the call to prayer, Alex slowly fell into the sleep.
We made an initial attempt to go on top of Burj Khalifa in our first visit to the mall but all the regular tickets were sold out. We returned a few days later with my colleagues and paid $100 each for the express ticket and finally made on top of the building (if you are thinking about going, book in advance!). To be honest I was slightly disappointed by the view. First of all, even though the building itself is over 800 meters tall, we were only allowed to go to the observatory desk at 450 meters. Secondly, Dubai is quite dusty, so looking from the top, you cannot see that far very clearly. I tried very hard to look for the Palm, but was not successful. Well, I guess now we can proudly announce that we have been to the tallest building in the world (on wait, in 2 years a new building from Shanghai will claim the title!)
Alex left shortly after the weekend, and I stayed for a few more days. And thanks to my company, I visited a few more interesting spots. We had dinner in a desert resort which is pretty awesome. We saw lots of wild animals (I was really surprised that they could survive in the desert). And the final day of the trip we had dinner near the Dubai mall, overseeing the world's largest music fountain. Apparently they spent $200M+ building the fountain and it can shoot up to 150 meters.
All in all, we had a unforgettable experience in Dubai. I don't think we will return in the short term, but who knows. :)
We arrived in Dubai on a Saturday morning, and checked in to the Sofitel in the Palm (thank you my dear company!) Before the offsite started, we had 1.5 days to go around the city.
Even though it was still in April, the weather was already really hot, and instead of walking, we opted to take the cab everywhere we went.
Our first stop was to the largest mall in the world. Well, initially I was not that interested in going to the mall, but it turned out to be a really pleasant experience (partially because it was too hot outside we didn't any options to go outside). The mall was like a mini city in itself. It has a full scale dinosaur skeleton, an aquarium, an ice rink, and a crazy indoor amazement park! Very close to the mall, you can also find Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world.After the heat died out a little bit, we adventured outside of the mall to go to the old Dubai. We took a boat and spent 1.5 hours floating on the river and look at the city from the water. On the river, everything seems to move much slower, and all of a sudden, there is a nostalgia feeling about Dubai. We watched people walking in and out of the mosques or the bazaars near the river bank, and it seemed time hadn't passed for hundreds of years. With the call to prayer, Alex slowly fell into the sleep.
Alex left shortly after the weekend, and I stayed for a few more days. And thanks to my company, I visited a few more interesting spots. We had dinner in a desert resort which is pretty awesome. We saw lots of wild animals (I was really surprised that they could survive in the desert). And the final day of the trip we had dinner near the Dubai mall, overseeing the world's largest music fountain. Apparently they spent $200M+ building the fountain and it can shoot up to 150 meters.
All in all, we had a unforgettable experience in Dubai. I don't think we will return in the short term, but who knows. :)
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