DISCOVER ALL THAT'S POSSIBLE

DUBAI

October 7 - 13, 2013

On October 7, 2013, I flew with cebupacificair.com ‘s maiden flight bound to Dubai. It’s an awesome experience to be on this flight and being part of their history. Prior to my departure, as a Filipino passport holder, I need sponsor to apply for my UAE Visit Visa and detail on how I got my visit visa was posted here. How to get UAE Visit Visa for Philippine Passport Holder

BRIEF INFORMATION

In Middle East, Dubai is the center of tourism and business. It is the second largest among the seven emirates of United Arab Emirates (UAE). Abu Dhabi is the largest and the capital city of UAE, the other five emirates in the federation are Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khainmah and Fujairah. Dubai and Abu Dhabi were the two emirates I visited during my entire of stay.

Dubai - A unique blend of contemporary city and timeless desert, east and west, old and new, an interesting destination with a multi-ethnic lifestyle, combines the comfort and convenience of the western world with distinctive charm of Arabia.

Currency:  UAE Dirham. 1 US dollar = 3.70 approx. AED

Clothing:  Clothes revealing one’s body are considered offensive, hence they should be avoided once outdoors.

Photography: It is generally welcome, but people should refrain from taking photos at beaches, private areas, government offices, shopping malls unless permitted. Taking pictures of unknown person especially women is considered offensive.

Public Transportation: buses, taxi, water taxi and metro. There are two metro lines in Dubai which are currently operating. The red and the green line, the red line has two stations connected to the Airport, Terminal 1 and 3 stations.

 

Dubai Metro Station

Dubai Air-conditioned Bus Station

EXCURSIONS AND ATTRACTIONS

Dubai offers lots of fabulous attractions that everyone can enjoy. Among these attractions, I just picked only four.

1.       Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing

If you have only 1 or 2 days of stay in Dubai, I will recommend you to avail this Big Bus Tour for you to experience the whole city. You can see the whole city for only AED 220 (24 hour ticket for Adult) or AED 295 (48 hour ticket), child ticket is discounted. You can buy tickets from any Big bus stop, from your hotel, or at their website, Big Bus Tour

One ticket covers two exciting routes, the red and the blue route. Take note the all buses are red. If you will notice the sign “Blue Bus” flashes in front of the bus, it means this bus covers the blue route.

 One ticket also covers a free entry to Dubai Museum, Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum’s House, Daily Arabian Dhow Cruise (which I availed), walking tour, ticket for the RTA Water Bus and various discount coupons.

Summer in Dubai starts in April and lasts until October, with the temperature regularly crosses at 40°C. This was the reason why I availed the Big Bus tour. I almost not alighted for the entire tour due to the extreme warm and humidity temperature of the city.

 Always keep your ticket. If you lose it, you lose your ride.

2.       Enter the world’s tallest building, At the Top, Burj Khalifa

The highlight of my visit in Dubai is to enter at the world’s tallest tower. I made a reservation through their website and paid for AED 130.00 to be on the 124^th level at the Top, Burj Khalifa. Upon payment, they sent the confirmation code of my reservation through email, which I used to collect my ticket from the machine.

My journey begins at the lower ground level of Dubai Mall. I was entertained (not only me but of course all the visitors) by multi-media presentation of the interesting history of Dubai, the amazing thing of Burj Khalifa, and the high-speed elevator which probably the fastest in the world.

At the Top, Burj Khalifa is open daily from 8:30 in the morning till midnight, be sure you get there 45 minutes before closing.

3.       Desert Safari and BBQ Dinner

One of the experiences you can’t miss in Dubai is the Desert Safari. They have 3 options to offer for this tour, but I availed the most popular one, the Night Desert Safari. They picked me up at my hotel at around 3:30 pm and dropped off after the tour at around 9:30 pm.

 The tour includes the following:

- Drive through the desert along Al Awir Road - Dune Bashing.

- 20-30 minutes Dune Driving

- Sun Set Photography

- Camel Rides

- Belly Dancing

- Bar

- Henna Painting

- Hubbllee Bubblee (shisha)

- Arabic Coffee (gahwa) and Fresh Dates

- Traditional costumes

- Unlimited soft drinks, tea coffee and mineral water

- Buffet Dinner and B.B.Q. (vegetarian food also available on request)

This is a shared tour, so there is no minimum people required, even 1 person can do this, so I did.  I forgot how much the tour cost, but don’t worry it is cheap.

4.       And last, Arabian Creek Dhow Cruise

I availed this free of charge for one hour. It’s included in the Big Bus ticket. The Dhow departs daily sharp every hour from 10:30 in the morning to 5:30 in the afternoon at Stop No. 5 (Creek Walk) of Big Bus Red route.

After the above activities, I spent the rest of my days in Dubai with my cousins and friends. I stayed the whole day inside the room and we went out when the sun was almost set.

 I would like to thank them for the treat. Araka fel marrah al muqbilah.

Thank God I traveled safe.

I am not a good writer. I am not a professional photographer. I am just a traveler. - @pinoytrekker

SCENIC DUBAI