Dubai, I had blurred of image of the city in my mind when I saw it in the Nat Geo documentaries, but the image came in focus when my sister and jijaji (brother-in-law) moved to Dubai last year (and that is why the trip was not fully self-sponsored).
As Dubai is already a good travel destination, at 3 hours distance from Mumbai (2.5 hours while coming back) and because of the main reason given above, I decided to have a trip to Dubai. Approximately 2 months earlier of travel date, I got my leaves approved (raising eyebrows of my Managers), booked my tickets, got my travel visa, forex and then there was long wait for the date. Thanks to new Google Calendar, the travel date was added to my Calendar with reminders!
Finally the day arrived, I boarded the plane in the evening from Mumbai. I reached there at 8:50 PM local time (10:20 PM IST). Unlike last time I had done some homework (with the help of my sister and jijaji, of course) before landing in Dubai, so I took Taxi from airport to my sister’s home. As it was night, the roads, buildings everything was looking great. I reached home, had dinner and was waiting for the next day. My sister had already suggested me few good places to visit in Dubai.
Day 1 – Desert Safari
I was not feeling well! I had gone through different temperatures on earlier day like cold (Pune), hot (Mumbai) and colder (Airport) so I had right to not feel well. I was not sure if I should go for the safari, because I do not wanted to make myself feel worse. My sister gave me one tablet and I made up mind and decided to go for the Safari.
Desert Safari, as the name suggests, it is a safari in Desert! The organizers pick you up from few pre-defined spots in Dubai. They take you to a desert in Al Awir (almost 40 kms from Dubai).
Once reached the desert, the actual safari starts. They take you through the desert with many ups and downs. It feels like the gear box might break and the jeep will lose the control. After those ups and downs you are taken to free area surrounded by fort like walls. Outside the area, you can do Camel riding, ride a Quad Bike, take selfies in sand (many people were doing this), enjoy the sunset or just sit calmly in sand. As the natural light goes down, the actual show starts inside the fort like area. You are first offered some refreshment, then there some action happens on a center stage like Magic Show, UAE’s cultural show, belly dance, etc. Finally you are offered dinner with both Veg. and Non Veg. options. As the night approaches, you start your journey back to Dubai.
This is how my first day ended.
Day 2 – Emirates Mall, Dubai Mall and At the Top (Burj Khalifa)
Mall is one the places which I prefer to pass time rather than shopping. But Dubai has these big Malls where there are many things you can do other than shopping. There is ski-dubai in Emirates Mall where you can have snowy feeling in hot place like Dubai. You have Aquarium in largest mall of the world, the Dubai Mall. There are actually many maps placed inside the Mall to find out where you are.
My next destination was the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa. By the time I reached Burj Khalifa booth in Dubai Mall the tickets were already sold out. But I had booked the ticket to go ‘At the Top (124th floor)’ 3 weeks earlier J. You have to stay strict to the timings given on your tickets as there are many people who come to visit the Burj Khalifa. Around 10 mins before time given on your ticket, you start your journey to the top. While you are in queue you can read or watch the history of Burj Khalifa. You reach the 124th floor via a lift in just a minute with no jerks. The view from the top is hard to describe, you should visit yourself!
Clicked from Burj Khalifa floor 124. 
Clicked from Burj Khalifa floor 124.
You can also enjoy Musical Fountain or boating in the lake in front of Burj Khalifa once you are back on the ground from the Top.
Day 3 – Palm Jumeirah
Since the day I had watched documentary for Palm Jumeirah, I wanted to visit this place once in my lifetime. For those who don’t know visit the Wikipedia link above. It is a man-made island having shape of a Palm tree. Monorail connects the two ends of this island. There are currently only 2 stations running (Palm Gateway and Atlantis Hotel) with 2 other stations planned.
This time, my sister was accompanying me. We took taxi to Palm Gateway station as other than road currently there is no other connectivity. The Palm Gateway station will be connected to a Metro station in near future.
One of the thing you can do once you reach other end of island i.e. Atlantis Hotel Station, you can roam around the seashore. If you have lots of money, then I think there are many options available there. I preferred to go with first option.
This day ended early for me to have some family time.
Day 4 – Dubai Museum
I actually had nothing planned for this day. With some information I got from my sister, I reached Old Dubai area. While just roaming around I found Dubai Museum.
Just to pass some time I purchased ticket and went inside. For first 10 minutes it was looking like a common museum with old things put together in a place. But when I went inside Gallery area, it was something different. They have tried to create environment like old Dubai. It feels like you are actually roaming around Dubai in 1960s. There is also a small documentary that describes journey of Dubai from 1930s to 2000s.
Day 5 – Family and Friends Time
As a tourist, I did nothing on this day. I had good time with my sister, jijaji and his friends.
Day 6 – Miracle Garden and Global Village
As it was my second last day in Dubai, I wanted to cover as much as possible. I was going to visit 2 different places on same day.
As there was no Metro connectivity, I took Taxi to Miracle Garden. The Miracle Garden is really a Miracle as you will see this garden is made up of mainly flowers in area which is surrounded by desert. There are many small structures in the garden which are covered with flowers. There was also a Food Court area where I found our desi ‘cutting chai’. I visited this in afternoon but I guess evening would be the best time.
Captured at Miracle Garden, Dubai. 
Captured at Miracle Garden, Dubai.
I reached my next destination, Global Village by another Taxi. Global Village is a fun-fair where you can find big stalls put up by people around the world, many rides, food court (again with food from different corners of the world) and many cultural shows. The stalls have things that mainly include clothes, food, kitchen-ware, etc.
2-3 hours before the day end, I took bus from Global Village to a Metro Station which connected me further to home.
Day 7 – Bye Bye Dubai
As I had flight back at 11:30 AM Local Time (1 PM IST), I left home in the morning as it took me 1 hour to reach airport.
In Dubai, travelling by Taxi is easier to reach places but not pocket friendly, especially if you are taking INR to AED converted currency with you. The best option to reach places for me was Metro. Metro network in Dubai does not cover many places yet but one prominent thing is the Metros are unmanned. You can actually get driver’s view from Metro. Travelling in Metro had fascinated me earlier and this time as well.
Overall it was a great experience. While I enjoyed roaming in Dubai, I had great family time as well. Dubai seemed a neatly planned city to me. People were mostly following traffic rules, speaking politely to other people and I guess this is one of the reason why Dubai is great Tourist Destination. If you are planning to visit Dubai, I guess November to February is best time as weather is good in this time period.
You can view images I clicked at Dubai at this location.
That’s an incredible photo of Dubai from At The Top!