As part of our early 1 year anniversary trip, Nouman and I also stopped over at Dubai. Since we were short on vacation days, we decided to do a one day stopover in Dubai.
I last visited Dubai 3 years ago - on a work trip that lasted 3 days. Although I did alot of exploring while I was there, I did not enjoy travelling alone. Hence, I jumped at the opportunity to experience Dubai with someone this time.
Since we were only in Dubai for 1 day, we had no time to waste. We checked into our hotel and arranged for a private tour (via the hotel) to start within 30 minutes. Although tiring, Nouman and I had a great time. We even got to ride the Metro and met a lovely British expat who had been in Dubai for 40+ years!
The Kings Palace
Oh em gee. If there is wealth anywhere in the world, it is in the Middle East. Besides the fact that the King has numerous ginormous palaces and homes, he also has an abundance of animals around. While the common folk cannot go inside the Palace (obviously), the driveway is open to everyone. The driveway is full of exotic animals, such as peacocks! Nouman and I went peacock crazy and couldn’t stop admiring them. One of them even spread out its feathers because of all the attention it was receiving.
Check out my colours – I fit right in with the peacocks!
Dubai Museum
The Dubai Museum is built around an old (and real) structure from 1787, the Al Fahidi Fort. Inside the Fort, diorama’s, antiques and artifacts from Dubai’s history are displayed.
Inside the museum: The small boat was made from a single tree trunk! The pictures in the bottom row replicate traditional homes and sleeping arrangements.
Oh look, I am helping the (fake) people with their daily chores! The picture on the bottom right is a real, preserved skeleton
Jumeirah Beach and Burj Al Arab
How can anyone go to Dubai and not see Jumeirah beach or Burj Al Arab, right? Nouman had wanted us to have lunch at Jumeirah but due to time restrictions, I told him we should save that for another time.
Burj Al Arab, Wild Wadi Waterpark (bottom left) and a fully air conditioned bus stop (bottom right)!
Atlantis, The Palm
I have been to the Atlantis hotel in Dubai before so I wasn’t blown away. It’s a pretty resort with alot of activities to do – a water park, an aquarium with more types of fish than I could ever know and a Dolphin Bay!
Dubai Mall
Of all the malls in Dubai, Iike Dubai Mall the best. There is a little something for everyone – shopping at various price points, a huge variety of food (ofcourse) and lots of fun activities (ice skating, anyone?).
Left to right from the top row down: Outside the mall, a chrome Rolls Royce, posing with a Hershey Kiss (funny thing about this picture: an older aunty kept showing her husband what I was doing because she loved the idea. As soon as we started walking away, she started posing but then stopped when she realized we could still see her. Too cute!), the aquarium, Dubai Mall Fountain, standing outside the mall – next to the fountains and towards the old Souk (which I love).
Burj Khalifa
Nouman loves architecture so he was in heaven when we were in Dubai. He could not stop taking pictures – most of which turned out amazing!
Burj Khalifa around sunset
With the dancing fountain
Through the bridge
It was definitely a fun and adventurous day but we were exhausted by the end. We did everything in around 10 hours; by the end neither one of us could take any more pictures and we were about to crash! We were glad to go back to our hotel to shower and get a one hour nap before heading to the airport for our flight home.
Want more travel diaries? Read about our trip to Kuwait, Lahore and the food we ate there. Still to come – Umrah and Maldives!
