It is in Dubai that our year around the world comes to an end.
Why Dubai ?
If we stop in Dubai it is because our flight from Vietnam has a layover here, and Matt has an aunt and uncle who live here. So we thought it was the perfect excuse to stay a few of days in this very uncommon city.
When we hear Dubai we immediately think about : the desert, the highest building in the world, excessiveness, immoderation, The Palm (you know this man made island that looks like a palm tree), architectural craziness, indoor ski slope, and so much more.
We will tell you all about our few days here. These were surprising and interesting at the same time. And we can confirm that Dubai is like nothing we have ever seen before.
Visiting Dubai during the Ramadan
To start, we have to tell you that we arrive in the middle of the Ramadan. It is the first time we find ourselves in a Muslim country during the Ramadan. And surprise, there are rules to respect that we didn’t expect.
Indeed, we arrive at 4 am at the airport, and instead of directly going to Philippe and Nicole’s place and wake them up super early, we decide to grab a free magazine at the airport to loose some time before getting into a cab. In the magazine, an entire section on how to behave during the Ramadan in Dubai. That is how we realize that we arrive in the middle of the Ramadan, and learn the few rules attached to this period in the city.
First rule, and not an easy one to follow, is that non-Muslims should not drink or eat in public places before sun down. Which can become hard, especially when it’s 115 degrees outside. But thankfully, most restaurants are still opened, they are just hidden from public eye thanks to screens or curtains.
So it is a very special atmosphere that prevails around the city, where we only see non-Muslims in these streets that are so empty that it looks like the city is still asleep. Before loudly waking up right after sunset. Indeed, loud cannon shots announce the end of fast and the beginning of Iftar. At that moment the restaurants start serving huge meals, and all the people break there fast with water and dates
Some of the other rules :
No listening to music in public, unless it is religious music. Consequence of this rule, many nightclubs and bars are closed. And those that choose to stay open don’t play any music.
By respect to Muslims, a conservative dress code should be followed for the women, where the shoulder, chest and legs need to be covered (once again, when the outside temperature is 115 degrees, it’s not easy).
That shows a little bit the context in which we arrive. All we need to do is adapt and follow the rules 🙂 . (To be fair, these are the rules we read in the magazine at the airport, in the city we noticed that the rules seem to be rather fluid).
First day of rest
As we mentioned earlier, our flight from Ho Chi Minh arrives at 4:30 am. After waiting a little bit in the airport, we take a cab to Philippe and Nicole’s place, who live a little bit outside the center of Dubai, in a complex with several houses. Basically when you live in Dubai, either you live in a huge sky-rise, or in one of these gated communities.
So it is very early that we meet up with Nicole (Philippe is traveling for work today) who is already awake and ready to go for a run! It is awesome to be able to reunite here, and share a little bit of their day to day during several days. They have been living in Dubai for 11 years.
For our first day in Dubai we will do absolutely nothing.
We take a nap, and try to catch up on some sleep. In the afternoon we go to the community’s swimming pool.
In the evening Philippe is back from Saudi Arabia and we catch up around a huge BBQ dinner.
Guided tour of Dubai
The next day is Friday, meaning it’s the weekend here (in Muslim countries the weekend is Friday and Saturday, instead of Saturday and Sunday in Christian countries). So Philippe decides to take us for a ride around Dubai.
Dubai Marina
He takes us to Dubai Marina first, a district where many expats live, and a lot of tourists like to stay. Here new buildings pop out of the ground at an insane rate, inside : apartments, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and more. There is also a nice 4 miles long esplanade along the ocean.
The Palm
We walk around Dubai Marina for a little while, before getting back in the car and drive to The Palm. This man made island is an insane construction where are built luxurious hotels and villas, like the Atlantis, a majestic 5 star hotel located at the top of the palm tree.
As we drive around The Plam, we see from afar another luxurious hotel, the Burj Al Arab, that proclaims itself as a 7 star hotel, and considered as one of the most luxurious hotel in the world (the cheapest room goes for over $1,000 per night).
Mall of the Emirates
We finish our visit at the Mall of the Emirates, one of the biggest mall in Duabi, with 2.4 million sq ft of total retail space.
Even more impressive than the retail space, is that here you can also find an indoor ski slope. It is the weirdest thing ever to see people freezing their asses, with winter coats, when people are in shorts and tee-shirt everywhere because it is 115 degrees outside. This is definitely something you can only see in Dubai !
Dubai by night
For the evening we go the four of us for diner at the Dubai Mall, at the foot of the highest tower in the world, the Burj Khalifa. Where everyday at night there is a magnificent light, sound and water show.
We walk through Dubai Mall, which was the biggest shopping mall in the world when it was built (3.77 million sq ft), but since then dropped to number 5 (don’t worry, there is a project in Dubai to build a mall 2.5 times bigger than Dubai Mall, which will become the biggest shopping mall in the world). Thankfully we are with Philippe and Nicole, otherwise we would get lost in here.
We then sit down in a Lebanese restaurant, with a view on the fountains and the Burj Khalifa. The difference between the day, and night after Iftar is pretty amazing. People are out and about, when just this afternoon the malls were empty.
We will spend a great evening and have a delicious dinner.
Day in Abu Dhabi
The next day, Philippe takes us to Abu Dhabi, an hour drive from Dubai, to visit the famous Grand Mosque, as well as the Louvre museum.
Sheikh Zayed Mosque
We arrive at the Mosque, and Maider is wearing a tee-shirt, her forearms aren’t covered, so she needs to put on a burka for the visit.
Now that we are properly dressed (Matt and Philippe are wearing a short and a tee-shirt 🙂 ) we can start our visit of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, considered as the biggest Mosque of the UAE, and 9th largest in the world.
The Mosque is beautiful, and the architecture magnificent.
The white marble is dazzling, and we are stunned by the beauty of the Mosque during our visit.
Louvre museum
During the afternoon we visit the Louvre museum. Opened in 2017, the museum is gorgeous. The architecture is fascinating and the permanent collection super interesting.
The Last Exit
On our way back to Dubai, we stop at The Last Exit. Here plenty of food trucks right by the highway, which is the last stop before arriving in Dubai.
The whole thing has a nice vintage/Roue 66 vibe. Unfortunately because we are during the Ramadan, all the food trucks are closed…
Old Dubai
After an excellent day visiting Abu Dhabi, we spend our next day visiting the old Dubai and the famous Burj Khalifa tower.
Indeed, before becoming what it is today, Dubai was a fishing town founded during the 18th century, and the economy at the time came mainly from pearl fishing.
Dubai Museum
We start with the Dubai museum, located in the historical center of the city, to learn a little bit more about its history. The museum’s collections are inside the Al Fahidi fort, the oldest building of the city. We can see many artifacts from different periods explaining how Dubai grew through time.
The museum is really well done, and we learn heaps about the city. The visit would have been perfect if it weren’t for the huge groups of Chinese and Indian tourists who are more interested in taking selfies everywhere than learning about the history and culture of Dubai. After a year we are becoming experts in avoiding to get hit by selfie sticks in crowded places !
Historical district Bur Dubai
After the museum, we wander around the narrow streets of Bur Dubai. The temperature outside is already super hot so we will barely see anybody out.
Only a few local are around going about their lives.
These streets are very typical.
Fabric souk
We then walk along Dubai Creek, until we reach the fabric souk, where the salesmen are VERY insisting…
Short Abra ride
We then hop on an Abra, small traditional wooden boat that can transport up to 15 people, to get to the other side of the canal, to Deira.
Spice souk
In Deira, we visited the spice souk, where the smells and colors were incredible.
Gold souk
Then the gold souk, where here again the salesmen are very very insistent.
We didn’t buy anything but it was fun to walk around these districts.
We then take the metro to Dubai Mall, next to Burj Khalifa.
Discovering the highest building in the world Burj Khalifa
Highest building of the world, and also a symbol of the city, we couldn’t leave without visiting it. 2,716 ft high, we climbed up to the 124th and 125th floors, where the observatory deck is located (there are 163 floors in total).
We have already been at the top of the Willis Tower in Chicago, but this is a whole other level.
The observatory offers a 360 view on the entire city.
From here, all the other sky-rises seem tiny.
Indeed, the Burj Khalifa is twice as tall as many buildings in Dubai.
The building houses corporate offices, apartments, a hotel and restaurants on top of the 2 observatory decks.
Dubai aquarium
After visiting the Burj Khalifa, we finish our day by going to the aquarium. Maider loves aquariums so we couldn’t miss out on this one.
This aquarium is especially known for its tunnel, where we can walk underneath the sharks, rays and other huge fishes.
The tunnel is pretty impressive indeed, but there is so much more than this in the aquarium. Here you can see over 30,000 aquatic creatures, and 150 different species.
We really enjoyed this visit !
During our stay the temperatures continue to rise. From 95 degrees on average when we arrived, the temperature is now around 115. Thankfully the climate is really dry, which makes it a lot easier than the same temperatures with high humidity levels.
Morning at the beach
The next morning we decide to go to the JBR beach at Dubai Marina, before leaving for a desert safari in the afternoon.
It is 9:30 am, and it is already very hot outside, we clearly spend most of our time in the water, which is also pretty hot.
Safari in the desert
At 2 pm a 4×4 comes to pick us up at the Marina, with 4 other people. And takes us to the desert for an afternoon in the dunes, and an evening in a camp in the middle of the desert.
In the desert, the temperatures are even higher, and we will have to drink tons of water.
We start the trip with an hour of dune bashing in the Lehbab desert, well known for the red color of its dunes.
We get shaken in all directions in the 4×4 and it is pretty fun. The Italian women seated in front doesn’t appreciate the ride at all, she is super scared and will start crying and screaming at her husband during the ride… We have to say it made us laugh a little.
A 30 minute stop to try sand boarding and take a few pictures.
The desert is beautiful !!
We arrive at the camp late afternoon where a short camel ride awaits us.
It is Matt’s first time on a camel.
A nice experience even though the saddle isn’t comfortable at all. The ride lasted less than 5 minutes but Matt couldn’t wait to get off !
We arrive among the first cars at camp, which leaves us plenty of time to take advantage of the multiple activities there.
We try on the local outfits.
Before tasting some of the local specialties : Qahwa (Arabian coffee), Gaymats (sort of donut hole) and dates of course.
Maider will get a Henna tattoo on the hand.
And finally we sit down to smoke a Shisha.
Very nice and relaxing moment in the desert.
The colors just before sunset are really nice. And we take a moment to admire the view at the top of a dune far from the crowd.
Then we are treated to a delicious buffet and a beautiful Tanoura show.
After dinner, we go back to the Shisha lounge for a little while.
Before ending the night on a super impressive fire show.
We spent an incredible and unforgettable time during this desert safari !
For our last day in Dubai we decide to do nothing.
The day will be dedicated to spending time at the pool and working on the blog.
Our stay in Dubai was really nice. It was great to spend some time with Philippe and Nicole and at the same time visit this incredible city.
This is it, our trip around the world if officially over.
As we are writing this article, we are back in France and honestly we still don’t realize that we just lived an incredible adventure. We will take some time to catch up with our friends and family before coming back for one last article on our blog for a recap of the incredible year we just spent.
See you soon !