Our flight was on time, but otherwise, not a great advertisement for Emirates (we think Qantas have been providing them with expertise on offering minimum service to save cost), seriously though the service was pretty ordinary. Carole had food spilt over her by one hostie in a hurry, and it was a real challenge to even get a glass of water after the meal was quickly served.
A couple of screaming infants didn't add to the enjoyment of the trip.
Nevertheless we arrived with a few hours sleep tucked away, arriving at 5.40 am and eventually getting our baggage on hour later.
Dubai airport is huge, reminding me a little of the new Kuala Lumpur Airport in design, a cavernous building with not much happening. There were very few people around when we came through, and most of the passengers on our flight were transferring to other flights and moving on.
Immigration was very efficient, and once through customs, we quickly found our transport to our hotel and things were back on track.
We are staying at the Hyatt Regency in Deira, close to the old town, and it is a big hotel a little out of the way. The staff are very helpful, and because we are leaving very early tomorrow they suggest we use our complementary breakfast today, which seems like a good idea.
Hyatt Regency Deira
Dubai is one big construction site on steroids. Whilst there isn't much around the hotel at the moment, every spare bit of land seems to have a development plan either under way, or will be soon. At the moment car parking for the nearby Metro Station, and bus parking for tours of the old town, seems to occupy a good bit of space.
Armed with very little information, we headed out to explore Dubai on our own. We were told we could buy a one day transport pass from a Metro Station, we had a map that the hop on - hop off buses use, and a map of the Metro network (which is pretty impressive).
First we thought we should cover the Souks in the old town, about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. The most impressive is the Gold Souk, which we are told is a must see.
The Gold Souk was not very busy, but it was early (around 10am)
Some of the offerings are very elaborate
The streets around the Souk are very reminiscent of just about any old part of most South East Asian cities, but here the importance of trade is everywhere.
A delivery of lamb for the local butcher
The Station at Burj Khalifa / Dubai mall
One hazard we were not ready for though, was the separate carriages for women and children, and the fact that by the time they announce the doors are closing in English, they are already half closed. This resulted in us being separated at one station, as the doors closed before Carole could get aboard. Fortunately, our destination was clear, and I just waited for her to arrive on the next train, 5 minutes later.
The first train ride was to Dubai Mall (which must be the World's biggest shopping mall). Whilst it is apready enormous , it is being expanded in every possible direction.
A glimpse of some of the construction to extend the mall
The best feature of the mall is that it is airconditioned. By late morning the outside temperature is heading into the 40's and whilst the humidity is low, it is still uncomfortably hot. The air is also full of dust, making visibility significantly reduced. I am not sure whether this is the result of dust blowing in off the desert, or the huge amount of construction that is going on.
The mall is spectacular. Shops everywhere, a large ice skating rink and a waterfall with interesting sculpture included.
Entrance to the mall after a long walk from the Metro Station
Ice Skating Rink
Waterfall inside the mall
Next to the mall is the Burj Khalifa, the World's tallest building, and the Dubai fountain fills in much of the area between the two buildings.
Burj Khalifa
Dubai Fountain (unfortunately having a rest when we were there)
Continuing our plan to see as much of Dubai as you can in one day, we were back on the Metro heading for Jumeirah, the impressive man made development in the ocean in the shape of a palm.
On the way we stopped at the Dubai Marina for lunch, another massive property development along the waterfront. There is quite a variety of architecture in the buildings constructed there.
After lunch we continued by rail to palm Jumeirah, where we caught a monorail out to the main tourist attraction of the development, Atlantis, a massive water park, aquarium complex etc located at the top of the palm development.
The main building of Atlantis
Part of the theme park
Like much of the rest of Dubai, Jumeirah is still a massive construction site in many places, constantly growing.
By now it is well after 3pm and we decide to head back to our hotel, which will probably take us at least an hour. On the way back on the train we noticed that a building under construction had caught fire and was causing a bit of consternation with the locals.
We got back to the hotel at around 5pm, and had an early night, as it is a 5 am start tomorrow.
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