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| Heritage Museum Dubai |
28 October 2016
I was feeling very excited and was in extremely high spirits when our flight touched down on the runway of Dubai Airport on the night of 28th October. So, finally I had made it to Dubai- the city of amazing architecture, home to planets's tallest building and so many other mind boggling things. While the plane was landing, I had seen that apart from the glitter of artificial lights, the land was actually very barren- an all sand landscape dotted by bushes.
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| Can you spot Burj Khalifa? |
The climate was somewhat humid, but when I entered the AC bus sent by our hotel to pick us up,, I felt significantly better. The Arabian Park hotel where we had booked was very luxurious with lawn and swimming pool, but the view from our balcony made me realize that it was actually on desert sands.
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| The seaside at Atlantis Palm |
There was a 24/7 hotel shuttle to the Al Jadaf Metro station and that is how we would commute for the next couple of days- hop on to hotel shuttle, board the metro and then go off . The very next day, we mostly wandered about in the local bazaars ( called souks) and streets to get a real feel of the city. We had lunch at a cafe by the side if the creek and visited Dubai Museum to get a peek into the city's striking transformation - from a small fishing village to one of the most magnificent cities in the world. In the evening we went to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. The lift to the observation deck on 124 th floor took just 1 minute! The view from the top was WOW! What a sight!
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| Blue Souk, Sharjah |
On Sunday that is, 30th October, we visited the Ibn Batuta Mall. The next two days were spent in sightseeing of Dubai in Big Bus- we toured the entire city by sitting on upper deck of the Bus, we also went to Sharjah and Ras Ul Khor sanctuary. Sunset in the desert was also marvelous and I got to ride a camel.
On Wednesday, we headed to Masafi. Masafi with its Hajar Mountains and wadis ( dry river beds on which seasonal streams flow during rains) was quite a contrast from Dubai
We stayed at the palatial house of Ali Khamis Uncle- he is veryvery rich but also very active and not lazy at all. Everyday he himself drives down from Dubai to Masafi where he has lots of businesses. Oh! Yes. I also visited the Masafi factory and had a great time with Judith Auntie and other engineer uncles. It was Maa's work visit, but I think I asked more questions.
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| At Masafi. I think it looks very similar to Afganistan. |
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| Masafi- Red house on Hill is Ali Khamis uncle's guest house |
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| With Ali Khamis Uncle- very very rich but also very active man leading a hectic life. |
After Masafi, it was back to Dubai at Vasu Uncles' house. Vasu Uncle has two C's against his name, CEO of a company and also a very good cook. He made yummy fluffy idlis and really tasty lunch. He also took me to taste jumping ice cream.
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| At home with Vasu Uncle |
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| Vasu Uncle and his magic icecream served in jumping manner |
Abu Dhabi was the last stop on our trip from where we took the flight back to Delhi. End of trip.
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| Abu Dhabi, Great mosque |
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Airport
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