Dubai has a reputation as a city of superlatives. Huge malls, towering skyscrapers, kilometres of sandy beaches and year-round sunshine have defined it as a top destination on the world scale. But it’s not all about burning around the desert in a Lamborghini or knocking back cocktails by the pool. On a stopover during a recent trip to Australia, I found out that Dubai is so much more than blowing a month’s salary in a weekend.
With it’s bustling creek that fed the rapid growth in the last forty years to the epic display of development that is the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, there’s two sides to the coin here. There’s western influences everywhere, but this intersects with Arabian hospitality and tradition, and the result is a friendly desert city definitely worth dropping in on.
Things to See and Do
Attractions and landmarks are what Dubai does best. Water parks, museums, shopping malls, everyone is catered for here. To soak up Dubai and get a clear-cut picture of it in 48 hours, there’s a few sights and experiences you can’t miss.
Burj Khalifa
At 828 metres high, the Burj Khalifa holds the title of the highest structure in the world. With some of the fastest lifts in the world and an observation deck is on the 124th floor, you get to bask in something truly special. The experience they’ve created here really makes you feel like you’re for a short time, part of something significant. Like you’re let into briefly, the pinnacle of human achievement (a big call, I know).
Shortly after you leave the airport and hit the Sheikh Zayed Road, you see the Burj Khalifa. It’s visible for miles around and strikes an imposing mark on the skyline. The “At The Top” observation deck is accessible from the food court of the Dubai Mall, and costs AED 100 to book a time to go up. Alternatively, you can pay AED 400 and go up straight away.
View from the observation deck of the Burj KhalifaDubai Fountain
With shows on every half hour after dusk, the Dubai Fountain is the largest in the world (surpassing the Bellagio in Las Vegas). See at night and get a place right in front of the Souk Al Bahar or the Dubai Mall.
Here’s a video of the show I watched at night. It’s really hard to grasp how many water jets there are and how high the water shoots up (or how hot it was standing there!)
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuqIomRZXQc
There’s many different shows with changing water patterns on throughout the afternoon and night, set to a variety of Arabic and Western music types. A good reason to check it out more than once during your stay.
The Dubai Mall
Opened in 2008, The Dubai Mall is the largest in the world. Featuring a three storey waterfall, aquarium, ice rink and over 1200 shops, it’s one of the premier shopping and entertainment destinations in Dubai.
Pretty much every shop you can think of has an outlet here. H&M, Topman, Bloomingdales, the list goes on. You’ll definitely tire yourself out trying to cover every square metre of this joint, and it’s a good snapshot of the shopping culture in Dubai.
Dubai Museum
The Dubai Museum is nowhere near the glitz and glamour of the city. It’s in the gritty, hot and dusty part, in the Bur Dubai area. When you first walk in you see all the old fishing vessels that were once used in Dubai’s primary production heyday, and there’s small viewing galleries in each wall of the fort that present the tribal history of the area.
Walk down the spiral staircases further into the complex and you start to learn more about Dubai in recent times. How the city developed from a small fishing and pearling village to an oil rich metropolis that’s since become a magnet for tourism. This is the only historical museum experience you’ll get/be exposed to in Dubai.
Around the Dubai Creek
The gritty, authentic Dubai. There’s no 5 star hotels or H&M stores here. On either side of the Dubai Creek you’ll encounter densely developed residential areas and markets, people frantically going about their day, the intense(!) heat and dusty streets.
Abra (a small water taxi) have been plying the Dubai Creek for centuries. They’re the traditional way of getting from from one side to the other and are in themselves an experience, being so small and cramming in ~15 people. Don’t let the Docks Assistant talk you into the 100 AED, hour long tourist cruise. Just get a single crossing from one side to the other for the uber cheap price of 1 AED. Jump on board, try not to fall in the water (they is no railing and you sit about 5cm from the river), pay the driver and enjoy the ride.
