It's been nearly 50 days that I've blogged. And in this time, I've been to one of the world's fascinating cities - Dubai. It was an interesting journey from one desert city to another, Phoenix to Dubai. While the former is famous for its sunshine, valleys and growth the latter is known for gold and many 'largest-in-the-world' structures.
I loved the city overall and the climate there came as a surprise. Both Phoenix and Dubai are known for their notorious summers and I was lucky to be there during the last weeks of winter. I was busy during the day at the conference but skipped out in the evenings. I managed to visit Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Madinat Jumeriah, Burj-al-Arab, Burj Khalifa and old city - Deira. Those malls are not the regular run-of-the-mill malls we come across. Dubai Mall is supposedly the largest mall in the world and Mall of Emirates' claim to fame is its indoor ski slope. I have not been to Ski Dubai but have been to the mall. Trust me, it was awesome! Of all, I loved Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world. I was lucky to get tickets to go atop the building. I went to the 124th floor (that's where the observation deck is) and was still looking up at a 36 odd floors. Awesome view. And the ride in the elevator lasted mere 45 seconds. Another cool thing was the view of they city and in particular the huge musical water fountains at the base of the building. The water fountains looked like tiny white circles. Check out the pictures.
I've also been to Deira, the old city of Dubai. It was reminiscent of patha basthi - old city of Hyderabad, India. This area had tons of gold shops and I managed to purchase a couple of items on my own :). On the same day, I managed to take the Jumeirah shuttle to Madinat Jumeriah and got to see Burj-al-Arab. Burj-al-Arab is dubbed to be the world's only 7-star hotel and it stands on a man-made island. It is worth all its hype. I fondly remember the tennis match that Agassi and Federer played on the hotel's helipad, 200m above ground. I felt a bit bad leaving when I was leaving Dubai. I felt I still had a lot to explore and above that, I had to forgo a 'desert experience' event at the conference as I had some 'gold' promises to keep :).
But I think I will visit the city again. And this time, I will aim on spending my time more leisurely. Some of the 'to-do' items include, visiting Burj-al-Arab during the day, visiting the Wild Wadi Park, Ski Dubai and Burj Khalifa again. I did notice many of the sky scrappers were vacant - a reflection of today's economy in general and Dubai's in specific. I was lucky to have stayed at Jumeriah Emirates Hotel. The towers comprise of two equilateral triangles and are a tourist destination themselves. I would rate this hotel real high. Wonderful experience. Overall, it was a great trip - one that helped me recharge myself.
