Dubai (U.A.E.)

March 2017

The first time we were in Dubai to get on our Suez Canal cruise in 2013, we stayed at a hotel near the airport. We used cabs(not too expensive) to get around, visited old souks, went across Dubai Creek on an Abra(a wooden water taxi that costs 1 AED), walked around the creek side textile market, visited the old historic neighborhood, and ate at a reasonably priced restaurant right on the Creek.

But all Pat remembers is the breakfast the next morning which happened to be on a Friday. That is a prayer time in Dubai. All the public transportation was shut down till 1 P.M., and most shops were closed. We took a cab to one of the biggest malls in the world, Dubai Mall, and went straight to the food court area. There was a huge collection of interesting looking food counters all around, but nothing was open. A security guard told us there was a place open for breakfast. We rushed to get there, and what else! A McDonald’s!

We got to see some really sleek, tall buildings, and I got my treat: a box of dates at Bateel’s — The best dates ever in my book.

We were on the same cruise in 2017, and we decided to play a bit more local this time and stayed at an Airbnb apartment near Downtown Dubai. We ate at a Pakistani restaurant Ravi’s, a humble place serving great food. We tried to use the buses and the Metro more this time. Only 15% of the population(3 million) are UAE nationals, and the rest are from all over the world with India(51%) and Pakistan(16%) leading the way.

I loved various sweet shops that displayed the multi-ethnic composition of the population.

We visited a historic Al Shidagha neighborhood on the shores of Dubai Creek by the modern Shidagha Bridge linking the historic districts of Al Shindagha and Al Ras. This area was getting a major makeover when we were there.

We visited the Dubai Museum(almost free) and found it quite interesting and informative. We enjoyed an excellent Indian lunch at a restaurant called Mumtaz Mahal in a hotel near the Dubai Museum. The musician who played the sitar said he was a student of Ravi Shankar, the teacher of a Beatle George Harrison.

Madinat Jumeirah Resort Hotel & Market was a bit out of the way to get there by public transport, and the price tags were not meant for the customers who would get there not by a Mercedes or a Bentley. We enjoyed having a cocktail at the hotel bar, though. Not cheap, but we saved money on transportation, right?

 

[Update: March 2020]

We were back in Dubai once again for a cruise trip. We called this trip, “a Cruise to Nowhere.” Due to Covid-19, it didn’t quite work out as we planned.

Trip route: LAX -> Vilnius -> Dubai -> Abu Dhabi -> Khor Fakkan, U.A.E. -> Muscat, Oman -> “Almost India” -> Khasab, Oman -> Dubai -> LAX

Continuation after Khasab:

Early the next morning, the captain came on the PA again and announced that the port of Abu Dhabi was now closed to cruise ships and we would return to Dubai a day early, giving us two full days in Dubai.  For those who wanted to visit Abu Dhabi again, the ship offered bus transportation, but we didn’t see the point.

The first thing I noticed upon exiting the ship was the number of cruise ships.  I counted nine.  Dubai, I guess, was the only port in the vicinity that was accepting cruise ships.

The first thing we did was take a cab to the offices of Emirates Airline.  Our original flight to India was in two days on Emirates.  Since India had cancelled all visas to Koreans, there was no way we could take that flight and we hoped Emirates would be accommodating.  They weren’t.

We next went to the Dubai Frame, the largest building in the world in the shape of a picture frame.

If you look carefully at the underside of the top of the frame, you will see vertigo inducing glass panels that you can walk upon.  Not exactly my cup of tea.

It’s relatively easy to get around Dubai by taxi.  Cabs are plentiful, all are metered, and all the drivers speak English.  It’s a rare trip that costs more than $10.

We took a cab to the Dubai Mall, the largest shopping mall in the world.  With all the news about coronavirus, the mall was eerily empty.

We had lunch outside at a dumpling restaurant.  This restaurant is part of a chain headquartered in Taiwan.  We’ve eaten at their restaurants in Taipei, Beijing, Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong, and, now, Dubai. This was the first time there was no waiting line to get into the restaurant. 

After lunch we went to Alserkal Avenue where the warehouses and office space had been converted to art galleries, studios, and coffee shops.

One of the galleries featured restored classic automobiles.

We tried to stay on the ship on the second day in Dubai, but we got bored, and took a port shuttle to another shopping center, this one with an Italian theme. In Dubai standard, this was a tiny mall. 

The markets in the UAE have separate rooms for pork products.