After two very busy and full on days in Dubai, I'm ready to retreat to the quiet life of being with my dogs all day. While I really don't think I have seen all that Dubai has had to offer, I'm pretty sure I'll be returning to this city at some point in the future, and when I do there will be a million new things to see and visit.
Monday morning I headed out on the Dubai metro to the Dubai Marina. This was when I discovered that the metro here has a designated carriage for women and children. There is literally a line across the train, of which the majority of women are on one side and all the men are on the other side. There was an awkward moment when a man and a woman (obviously tourists) got on the carriage, they soon realised their mistake and quickly got off and chose another carriage (after a lot of staring and a few 'tsks'). (Dubai also has female only taxis, which are driven by females ands serve women only).
The Dubai Marina has this really cool, twisted building (the Infinity tower) among other futuristic structures. There wasn't much to do there except walk around, so I explored for a little bit before hoping on another train. I wanted to get to the Burj Al Arab, but the metro line doesn't run that close to it, so I spent quite a bit of time walking around Dubai lost and trying to figure out where to go. I ended up just giving up and deciding to head to the Dubai Mall where I would be able to connect to Wifi and decide what to do for the rest of the day. In the end I bought a ticket to go up the Burj Kalifa - the tallest building in the world.
The Infinity tower
I had bought a ticket for 5:30pm hoping to be able to see Dubai at sunset, but I hadn't taken into consideration the lines to get up there. After buying my ticket I had to wait in line for 30 minutes before I could get screened to go up, walk another 5 minutes into the Burj Kahlifa, and then wait in line again to take the elevator up. The elevator only took about 1minute to climb 124 storeys, but the sun was definitely set by the time I got up there. (The elevator ride was also very, very smooth - I wouldn't even be able to tell we were going up 124 storeys if my ears didn't keep popping).
The views were certainly still great, and while I'm sure it may have been better during the day, it was still incredible to watch Dubai at night. I stayed up there for about an hour - the ticket had been about $70aud so I had to get my money's worth - before I lined up for another 30minutes to get the elevator down. I was a it concerned about making my way out of the city back to my accomodation after dark, but despite it being 8pm at night, the metro was still busy and bustling, and there were still lots of people around as I walked from the train station to my accomodation.
Tuesday was spent doing the City Sightseeing Tour, a hop on hop off bus ride that takes you around Dubai. Dubai isn't particularly pedestrian friendly (or just not friendly to this particular pedestrian) and so it seemed easier to take a bus around to all the tourists sights. I had done this tour in both Joburg and Cape Town where the tickets were around $20aud - in Dubai it cost $90aud. It was a struggle to find the first stop on the bus (I took a wrong turn and ended up completely lost), but once I got on the bus I stayed on and used most of the routes, going through old and new Dubai. It was an easy day sailing through the city, and I got to see the Burj Al Arab up close, the gold souks, the Dubai Creek and lots of fancy hotels and buildings. I stayed on the bus as the sun set over Dubai and got to watch all the buildings light up at night. A light show is put on the Burj Kahlifa and the Burj Al Arab every night and it is quite a sight to see.
The Burj Al Arab - 7 star hotel in the shape of boat, paying homage to Dubai's marine history.
I also got out to Atlantis the Palm, the man made islands which house extremely luxurious homes and apartments. It's crazy to think its all been made by humans with reclaimed land.
I kept doing tours until about 10pm, when the night tour finished, and headed back to my accomodation. Despite walking around at night by myself, I never felt unsafe, which is a nice change from walking around South Africa.
This morning I headed to Abu Dhabi. I was happy to leave my backpackers, it was okay because I was only there to sleep at night and the wifi was good, but I didn't really love it. I caught a bus to Abu Dhabi for about $15aud, and of course this being Dubai, there were several TV screens on the bus with live footage of the bus's view ahead! I'm at my hotel now though, and tomorrow morning I have a flight at 9am to Melbourne - Thursday morning I arrive!
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