Dubai is an emirate and metropolis in the United Arab Emirates, known for its luxury shopping and iconic skyscrapers.
I was in Dubai for 2 one-day stopovers en-route to Zambia and back home. This was my first visit to a Middle East city and naturally I was anticipating a exciting time in this vibrant city.
Upon exiting the airport, I took a ladies taxi to city center. Dubai’s ladies taxi are driven by female drivers for lady passengers who may be uncomfortable taking those driven by male drivers. The ladies and family taxis have separate queues. The ushers tend to point ladies, especially lone travellers, to these taxis. They are quite easy to identify. Most of the ladies taxis are in beige and pink and the drivers dressed in the same colours.
Along the way from the airport, I was greeted by the tall buildings and skyscrapers. It shouldn’t come as a surprise as Dubai has the third most number of skyscrapers in the world, after Hong Kong and New York. Based on statistics from skyscrapers.com, there are 156 buildings of 150m+, 65 buildings of 200m+ and 18 buildings of 300m+. Among these, the tallest is Burj Khalifa, which is also the tallest in the world at 828m.
I was grateful to Rove Downtown Dubai for letting me check in super early at 7am. With that, I had a chance to drop off my luggage in the room and freshen up before heading out. It’s worth to consider staying at this hotel as it offers good value for money. Looking at the rating in major hotel booking websites, I can see that many share the same view.
Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall is a must-visit in Dubai. That’s exactly the first thing I did. It helped that Rove Downtown Dubai is within walking distance. So I had an early morning walk to Burj Khalifa to start off the day. At this early hour, there was already a light crowd there taking photos of the towering building from all angles.
Dubai Mall, which is adjoining Burj Khalifa, is the largest mall in the world by total area. They do things by the superlative here. Tallest building, largest mall, biggest natural flower garden (Dubai Miracle Garden), world’s only 7-star hotel (Burj Al Arab), and the list goes on.
Next up, Jumeirah Mosque, which is the only mosque in Dubai open to non-Muslims. I spent my morning at the mosque on a tour conducted by Sheik Mohamed Centre for Cultural Understanding (SMCCU). The tour is conducted only once a day and allows visitors to enter the main prayer hall. The guide also conducts brief introduction on Islam with a short question-and-answer session towards the end of the tour. Read about my visit to Jumeirah Mosque in A Morning in Jumeirah Mosque, Dubai.
By the time the guided tour ended, the sun out there was blazing hot. The bus stops here are fitting with air-conditioners. However, I didn’t step into one for fear of missing the bus.
Traveling around the city on metro is very convenient. There are designated cabins for Gold Class travelers (higher-priced tickets) and for women and children. Guys, do note that you may be fined AED100 if you travel in the Women & Children Cabin’.
I bought a 1 day pass with Nol card at AED 22 for unlimited number of trips during a single day (AED 2 for red ticket and AED 20 for 1-day pass). The red paper-based ticket can be used for travel on Dubai’s metro, buses, water buses and tram as well as pay for RTA’s paid parking. Besides convenience, it is value-for-money especially if you will be traveling around the city.
After a joy ride on the metro, I stopped for a brief visit to Mall of the Emirates, This is another big scale mall recognised by Forbes as one of the top five shopping mall in Dubai.
My time in Dubai happened to be within the Ramadan month. During this holy month, Muslims fast during the daylight hours. In Dubai, most food outlets stay closed during these hours and open in early evening for iftar, or meal after breaking fast. There are some food outlets in touristy areas, such as the Atlantis, that stay open behind for dining behind a screen. But those are the exceptions rather than the norm, as I wasn’t able to find any in Dubai Mall.
Food can be bought at some outlets behind screens or in supermarkets. Out of politeness for our host, it’ll be good to refrain from eating or drinking in public. Since my hotel is within walking distance from Burj Khalifa metro station, I bought food back to my room for consumption.
Being unaccustomed to the hot sun and stifling heat at a temperature of 38-41 degC, I spent the afternoon holed up in the hotel. Lots of sunscreen and a hat were necessities. Looking at the number of people in the hotel’s pool in mid afternoon, I am sure I was not the only one who needed a respite from the heat.
Emerging in the late afternoon, I walked again back to Burj Khalifa hoping to watch the Dubai Fountain show at 6pm. There was already a crowd waiting but to our disappointment, the show did not start. Not sure what was the reason, so some stayed on hoping to catch it at a later time, but I left after a 20 minutes wait.
That sums up the activities on my first stopover in Dubai.
Do have a read about my second stopover in Dubai during which I took a ride in an abra across the Dubai Creek and also visited Atlantis the Palm.