go.bo.travel

The first thing I think of about Dubai is MONEY. There is an outstanding amounts of dough that runs through this place and you can visibly see it from the massive amounts of construction going on throughout the city. It’s home to many world records including the world’s tallest building and currently in the process of building the world’s largest picture frame. Let’s just say Dubai likes to go above and beyond.

There are very few actual locals of UAE in Dubai, the rest are mostly expats from all over the world so you will see people from all walks of life here and with all different cultures. We stayed for a total of 4 nights which was a decent amount of time but honestly didn’t have nearly enough time to see all the sites. There really is something for everyone here and because everything is so extravagant it’s pretty hard to see it all in just a few days.

Location: Burjiman

Our location was not centrally located near the modern high rises but was a great spot overall if you wanted to be near Old Town Dubai as well. There is a large shopping center in the area and the two main metro lines run through the Burjiman metro station. I was pretty impressed with public transportation throughout the city. No matter where you stay they have metro stations or bus stops nearby so honestly location of where to stay merely depends on your accommodation budget.

Accommodation: Moon Valley Hotel Apartments

Considering the affordable price of our accommodation, I was overall very pleased. Despite the weird smell of the place, our room was huge and clean. It’s definitely nowhere near the quality and prestige of Dubai’s more modern hotels but for keeping a low budget it worked quite well for us. The location was perfect with a huge shopping center and grocery store across the street, in addition to many restaurant options to go out to eat. Also just across the street is the Burjiman metro station which connects two of their main metro lines.

In terms of amenities, you normally have to pay for wifi but the gentleman at the front desk was kind enough to waive that fee for us for the entire duration of our stay. They have buffet breakfast available but for 25AED, we never tried it. Overall a great spot for keeping a lower budget!

• Cost for 4 nights: 12000AED total

Activities

Desert Safari Tour & Dinner BBQ

This was definitely one of the highlights and a main tour in Dubai considering how many others were on our tour. We only had 2 others in our car for the dune bashing compared to a full car in some of the others so maybe we got lucky. This was a nice tour overall and something different to do if you are looking to see some of the desert and get in touch with the Arab culture. The desert dunes were nothing too impressive but what was impressive was our driver’s skills on the dunes. I have been 4 wheel driving on sand dunes before but this guy was an expert so we were taking turns and going down slopes I would never be able to do. There were plenty of opportunities to take photos as they stopped a few times, especially just in time for the sunset.

After dune bashing we went to a campsite where they had a big layout of tables with cushions to sit on for the dinner buffet. There were also various stations for shisha, henna, camel riding, sandboarding, and more. They had traditional dancers which was the highlight of the evening. Very strange to see a belly dancer in the mix considering the Muslim culture but entertaining regardless.

We booked through Viator and was overall pretty pleased minus the driver being very, late, and when you book they don’t give you a good timeline on when you will be picked up. Also note that there isn’t much time to do camel riding and sandboarding because you only have about 10-15 minutes before the dinner buffet to get that in while trying to fight for a spot from people on all of the other tours. I wish I knew this since this was a selling point for me but I have done both of those activities before so it wasn’t the end of the world. The food and entertainment were great and you could also buy alcohol there as well.

• Total Cost: $60USD each

Abu Dhabi Day Tour

The tour started out with a very early pick-up from our tour guide since we were the first to be picked up. NOTE that you will have to pick up the rest of the group so the time it takes to actually get to Abu Dhabi will be longer than expected. Throughout the drive there the tour guide gave some great insight into the history and culture of UAE. Abu Dhabi is actually the capitol of UAE and is shockingly more affluent than Dubai, which is definitely apparent once you actually go through the city, it’s STUNNING!

The main highlight of the tour was, of course, the Sheik Zayed Al Kabeer Mosque. The entire tour was worth it to see a mosque so beautiful. The details of the mosque are extremely impressive and is something I have never seen before. I highly recommend to check it out! Do NOTE that women have to be full covered from head to toe and cannot have anything sheer or even with the color white. Men only have to have their shoulders and knees covered.

After the mosque we went to many other parts of the city including a historic museum of the sheiks and Heritage Town. Throughout the drive we were able to see some government buildings and where the sheiks live. The city is absolutely stunning, everything is new and very clean! Lunch wasn’t provided but we were able to go to the main mall to grab something which was a beautiful area in itself. After lunch we went to see Ferrari World, which is basically an amusement park for car lovers. We didn’t go inside but got to check it out in the front of the theme park. Overall it was pretty long day, we were exhausted by the end but so worth it to see Abu Dhabi!

• Cost: $55USD each

Brunch – La Vue

Brunch is a very common and popular event to do Thursday – Saturday but more popular on Fridays. It’s all you can eat and drink (including alcohol) for a few hours with a great variety of cuisines. The one we went to was pretty good but it’s hard to rate when you don’t have anything else in Dubai to compare it to, but from what our friends said it was pretty good, just not as many people because we went on Saturday (which NOTE is their Sunday for them as the work week is Sunday – Thursday)

• Cost: 190AED

Dubai Marina and Jumeriah Beach (JBR)

This is the main hot spot where all the expats hang out and live. It’s a very impressive concrete jungle that kind of pops up out of nowhere. The marina is quite big and you can walk the entire way around or rent bikes. There are tons of shops and restaurants throughout the marina. There is also a great beach area, JBR, which is a beautiful boardwalk filled with expensive, high end stores, lounges and vendors along the beach. Here is where you can see all the very expensive cars with people who just have way too much money. I probably so more Lamborghini’s in 5 minutes pass by than in my entire lifetime! A really out of the ordinary situation for me for sure!

Dubai Mall

This mall is quite impressive, one of the larger malls I have been to, up there with the malls in Manila. There is something for everyone there and you can easily spend most of your day there. The main highlights were the aquarium, the fountain show, and of course seeing the Burj Kalifa. The fountain show plays every half hour starting at 6pm. The Burj is probably one of the most insane buildings I have ever seen in my life. The view from the fountains is pretty spectacular and impressive. We decided not to go to the top because we heard mixed reviews, but honestly the most insane is seeing this building from the base.

Old Heritage Town and the Gold Market

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the modern part of Dubai. It takes over most of the city and it’s hard to miss. There are new, very impressive high rises all over the city and you forget that it is all so new. I am glad we discovered there is an old part of the city where you can see what it was like before the modernization. I really liked Old Town, it was a cute, quaint market place filled with boutique cafes and art studios. A great place to stroll around, grab a coffee, and escape the hustle and bustle.

The gold market was exactly what you would think, just a massive street filled with gold jewelry stores. To be honest it was nothing super crazy or impressive. I think what took away the experience were all the men who won’t leave you alone trying to get you to buy their watches and purses. An experience for sure but I wouldn’t stay long.

Dubai Museum

The museum was pretty average, I probably would go without it but it was cool to learn about the history of Dubai and how it has evolved over the years. What took away from it were too many tourists so I highly advise to go early to avoid the crowd.

• Cost: 3AED

Nightlife

To be honest we were so jet lagged most of our time in Dubai and were doing so many activities we didn’t make it out to check out the nightlife which I heard is great fun, at least for the ladies!

Ladies night is extremely popular throughout Dubai and occurs various nights of the week, just check who has promotions online. The one we went to after our brunch gave 3 free drink tokens to the girls. Bizzare in this type of culture but hey, I’m not complaining!

Things We Missed

I normally don’t write about the things I missed on my trips but because Dubai has so many things to do I think it’s worth it in case you want to check these out for your trip!

• Mall of Emirates: I really wanted to check out the indoor ski slope. I think it’s a bit pricey but what a cool experience to be able to do it in the desert! I also hear they have penguins…
• Atlantis: The waterpark seems really impressive and would be really cool to see what it’s like on the man-made Palm Tree island!

Culture

There are definitely a few things that are note worthy before coming to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in regards to the culture. It is primarily a Muslim country which should be respected but because there are so many expats a lot of their culture I feel becomes blurred with western cultures:

• The metro has separate areas for women and children. I personally didn’t want to separate from my boyfriend so I stood in the men’s area. I got looks of course but nothing that made me feel too uncomfortable. I saw some other women there as well so it’s really your preference
• You cannot buy alcohol at any store. Yeah, no stores sell alcohol, at all! Even those that live there have to have a special license to buy so most go to the border to stock up on “the goods” and smuggle it in. You can, of course, buy alcohol at restaurants and bars.
• For the ladies, dress however you feel most comfortable. Because there are so many different and diverse cultures in Dubai you will see so many variations of dress for women. Because Saudia Arabia is so close you will see many women in full burkas, while some where just the head dress, and then other women in very westernized dress like jeans and tank top. In some areas women are in workout sports bras and shorts. At the beach people are wearing full bikinis while there are a group of women across the street in full burkas. It’s a bit strange and you may feel you are unsure of what to wear. I definitely struggled to figure out the “right” way to dress each morning but at the end of the day just wear what you feel comfortable wearing. No one will give you grief for it and I definitely felt accepted, with maybe a few looks every now and again but happens when you are a tourist in a Muslim country.