Dubai – Desert experience (Day 4)
On our fourth and final day in Dubai, we went to breakfast and a swim before finishing off the packing, vacating our room at 12 and storing our luggage at reception to be collected later in the day.
We went to the mall for a further look round and realised we had only seen about 25% of the place, it went on for quite a bit and had another larger food hall where we ate pizza for lunch. We then purchased metro tickets (which only cost £14.53 for all 6 tickets) to go all the way to the airport later that night. Mid-afternoon Mum and Dad had sorted out a trip to the desert for our last activity in Dubai.
Danni (our guide) picked us up from the hotel in a luxury 4×4, which we all loved – except Mum was a little nervous seeing the roll cage inside the vehicle. We made our way into the desert which took about an hour. Our first stop was a meeting point where for additional monies you could have a go on quad bikes – generously we were allowed to each have a go around a small track for 30 minutes. We all started off slowly but each lap got faster and faster – Alexander managed to be pulled from the tyres on a couple of occasions after missing the corners and Adam’s machine broke so he ended up on a super fast bike which the man kept telling him to slow down on!
From here we each went on a camel ride. We were told to lean back when we sat on it…..we then saw why as the camel rose high into the air, it felt funny, and although the ride was about 120 seconds and it was a great experience we weren’t too sure how much the camel enjoyed it. We did each pat our camel by way of comfort and then headed back to our vehicle.
During this time our guide had been letting down our vehicles tyres and we in convoy with another 3 vehicles entered the desert……mums very nervous noises of laughter kept our mind off things as we went up, down and sideways over the sand dunes. At times I think we all asked “are we there yet…….” Except for Bethany who had a quick nap.
When we did stop it was time to try sand boarding and that was a lot of fun (see photos and video). Adam in his first attempt made it all the way down, whilst Matthew fell, and then Adam fell on his later attempts too. Dad, Bethany, Alexander, and Matthew choose the down sit on the snowboard method and successfully managed the dune.
From here we stopped for a drink whilst the car’s tyres were re-inflated and we air-hosed sand from our bodies and shoes best we could then onto our desert BBQ.
A strange sight to see but after a 30 minute ride we changed vehicles and after 10 mins of a lot gentile dunes arrived at our tented compound for our food and show. The show was a mix of acts all of whom we enjoyed especially the 10-foot panda (see photos) and the fire act and also the spinning dancers and the belly dancers – all made for a lovely couple of hours and the food wasn’t bad either with a nice choice. Although somehow Dad managed to miss the fact that there was meat to be had after he had put rice and salad on his plate!
Mum did comment that she felt the acts had been thrown together and felt it was a little disjointed and “health and safety would never allow us to be this close to the fire dancers in the UK”. Also, Dad felt like every 10 minutes there was someone trying to get him to upgrade or purchase something extra at the event……….but all in all Danni our guide was excellent and value for money wise it was a great way to experience the desert on our final day.
Here’s our video of the Dubai desert safari: Dubai desert
After this, we had about a 45 minute journey back to our hotel to collect our cases and for a couple of t-shirt changes before we started our journey from the hotel with 5 large suitcases and 7 carry on bags/suitcases all of which had 4 wheels.
Journey time from the hotel front doors (as it was 10:30pm and mall doors were closed) took us about 8 minutes to get into the air conditioned Metro entrance – Mum and Dad who had the heavier cases were very sweaty by the time we made it into the entrance, luckily we had got our tickets in advance earlier in the day as when we entered the Metro the ticket lady basically said the last departure is in 2 minutes; queue mass panic into the lift and getting to the platform with 20 seconds to spare. Dad had looked the previous days and thought it said the Metro ran until 1am, but later found that was the tram; the metro only ran until midnight so we literally were on the final train which at this point was very quiet.
At the transition station, we departed and found the lift, we were again told to hurry up into the next lift and up to the platform for the final train of the night. Now again Dad was in carriage two as Mum and we went in carriage one and we are glad we did as stop by stop the Metro train got busier and busier……right up until the Mall when we thought more space was going to be created but it turned out that everyone who got off was just replaced with people getting on.
Alexander was entertaining the locals with questions and fist pumps and they were all lovely as Dad clung onto 2 large suitcases on wheels and Alexander and his carry on bags, he was unaware as he couldn’t see that we almost lost Bethany.
A passenger was talking to mum and telling her we needed to get off to change trains to get to the airport, although mum remembered that Dad had said we didn’t but Bethany hadn’t got the message so at the station this lady had told them to get off at Bethany did with suitcase, after a couple of seconds Bethany was back onboard and no worse for the experience.
Now a couple of stops further and the Metro was almost empty and by the time we got to the terminal 3 metro stop only about 20 people were left. As we made our way down the escalator into the terminal they locked and turned the lights off at the metro station. Dad says this is called just in time efficiency, which is quite impressive as, as a family, we are always late!
As a note Dune Bashing and sand boarding was not the best choice of activity on our last day as we were all covered in sand and the next day Dad still had sand falling from his hair randomly whilst on the plane as we couldn’t shower on our return to the hotel as we had obviously vacated our room.
Dubai we have had a great whistlestop time, we could have done with longer as there is so much to explore and do, we will be back! Next stop Australia.
Dubai – Burj Khalifa (Day 3)
Day 3 in Dubai started again with a nice breakfast and a nice dip in the pool before we set off (at Adam’s requested) to the Burj Khalifa. Adam has been talking about this for the past few weeks wanting to go to the tallest building in the world whilst we were in Dubai (it has 163 floors), as well as seeing the world’s best 7 star hotel the Burj Al Arab (he got pictures of that yesterday). So off we went; back through the hotel, through the Mall, and onto the Metro. We got off at the Dubai Mall stop and back into the mall.
Whilst looking to locate lower ground we passed through the designer fashion part of the Mall. Seeing is believing and a panoramic photo is in the photos. It was such a nice setup and slightly wasted on Dad who wears Amazon basic black t-shirts, blue jeans, and some form of Adidas trainers – but we all looked in wonder at the beautiful surroundings and the amazingly laid out shops selling the super brands and fashions on offer.
Having located the entrance to the Burj Khalifa and met by a lovely man who changed his accent when he realised we were English to his native East London tongue, as we had pre-booked tickets it was about 3 mins before we started the tour.
It started with the vision and purpose of the building and then using photos and amazing graphics (again in the photos) went through how the building was constructed over a period of 10 years!
From here we queued for only 4 minutes before a lift appeared and we were ushered inside, the lift climbs from lower ground 0 to 124 floors in 60 seconds (about 2 floors every second) the lift has no movement (we have been in many lifts were if you rock side to side the lift moves and spends more time out of action – (Grandpa P in Southampton – you know what we are saying!). The only signal you get is a slight popping in your ears like being on a plane which with a quick swallow disappears.
When you step out onto the 124th floor, the views are stunning, and we all agree you are a bit fearful of the height, to begin with but as you go outside onto the platform this soon disappears and you are able to take in the stunning views and the endless miles around you can see.
You can explore this level and also walk up to floor 125 and there are plenty of photo opportunities, please see our photos which include the Frame from a distance, and the old Queen Elizabeth II ship (Mum remembers seeing this leave from Southampton in 2010), it is now a 5 star hotel and “the world” which is a series of islands made to look like a map of the world, to name but a few.
Dad was impressed at the builders who were working on a building just across from us with the workman casually working at great height on one of the balconies. Speaking of great heights; it takes 40 employees 3 months to manually clean the windows on the Burj Khalifa who abseil down the building!
The cost of the Burj Khalifa was £76 for all 6 of us which lasted about 120 minutes and was such an amazing way to take in the city. A 10/10 experience.
Once we came down from the building and whilst on the ground floor of the mall we had spotted the water fountains from 125 floors up and by chance we found a sign to go outside and find them. Again walking outside was a bit of a shock to the system and after 2 minutes Bethany was asking to go back inside as she was too hot, but once outside we got some lovely photos as we waited to see if the water fountain display would start on the hour, which it did. What a show! It was with the music, it lasted about 5 minutes but was well worth the wait. We videoed it for you: Dubai water fountain display. There are a few eating places around the edge you could eat at whilst watching the display, maybe next time if we badger dad enough.
Adam also found a way of taking a panoramic shot vertically to take a full size picture of the Burj Khalifa, which when shown to mum, used to take a lovely picture of us children. Sometimes we need to show the parents what to do technology wise as they get older…….
After this, we went back to the shopping mall attached to the hotel for a little bit of retail therapy and some Chinese food in the busy food court before a little relaxation in the rooms before bed.
Dubai – The Metro and Dubai Mall (Day 2)
The second day of our trip started off a little later than planned after a lay-in! We all slept well in 2 different rooms, given the choices of hotels offering 6 people per room versus cost (and Dad’s tightness) anything other than 2 rooms was a no-go. But to be honest the Premier Inn was brilliant (£347.92 for 3 nights x2 rooms including breakfast!). Like in the UK only adults pay for breakfast and the children eat free. Breakfast was very good and there were lots of choices, due to local beliefs I think it’s the first time we have had chicken sausages and beef bacon……not bad.
A quick dip in the pool, because we will be honest it was just too hot just to sit on the edge and look at the pool, anyways a fun hour before we showered in our rooms and headed onto Dubai’s famous metro.
Dad was a bit apprehensive but after a quick walk through our hotel’s exit into the IBN Battuta shopping mall and only 2 mins in the heat, we were inside the Metro. Getting a ticket was easy using the ticket machine and a 1-way journey from us to the Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall (14 stops) with 1 change at an intersection only cost £11 for us all and took about 30 minutes. We started off thinking we had a private compartment but as we got closer and closer the train started to fill up. It was strange to see that it was fully automated given our experience on the underground and also that the first carriage was only for women and children so even when Dad was in carriage 2 and crowded he could see us and Mum in the spacious first carriage. (Masks are still to be worn inside any establishment and transport and as the plane can only be taken off for eating and drinking, also you cannot eat or drink or chew on the Metro).
We arrived at the stop for the Dubai Mall, where Mum and Dad had been before on their honeymoon many years ago, and joined a huge mass of people making their way up the walkways (a good 20-minute walk even with using the travellator to get to the beginning of the Mall) passing a rather nice view of the Burj Khalifa (see photo).
On arriving at the Mall we generally just looked about at the various shops that our parents wouldn’t let us go into, but we all did make some small purchases including a lego set of Dubia – see photos, a LOL doll, and a lego car set.
The highlight was looking at the waterfall inside the mall which Mum and Dad took a photo of us looking at and also we stopped for a small tub of ice cream each – see photo for Dad’s face shortly after he had paid.
After this we made the reverse journey, as an observation on a Sunday evening at 7 pm, there were still a lot of people making their way into the mall as we were on the way to the Metro, in fact so many people we had to walk 10 minutes round trip to get to platform 2.
When we departed the Metro and went back through the mall attached to the hotel we stopped in the food court which again was very busy and went for the local cuisine of Pizza Hut. After this, we made our way to our room and Adam and Alexander built their new lego sets.
Here’s our video of the metro and mall: The little Rockers in Dubai mall
Dubai, or not Dubai that’s the question! (Day 1)
We boarded the train in Lincoln at 730am the morning after the Little Rockers broke up for the school holiday, Dad’s 5-year final large holiday adventure was go……the flight was good (although 24 hours before departure our flight was changed to Gatwick from Stansted so a quick rebook of our train tickets for £88 and we were on our way).
On arriving at the busy airport, some 4 hours before our flight was due to depart, both Mum and Dad were convinced this was the earliest we had ever been to an airport before going on holiday. Luckily we were able to check our bags in straight away, as Mum must’ve counted the 8 cases (and us) at least 20 times during the morning!
The plane was delayed by about 40 minutes but that was nothing really and the time sped by……..thanks Ipads and mobile phones and Gatwick’s Wetherspoon’s.
The Emirates plane was huge with 4 very large engines, two floors, and “fancy” according to Alexander and he even asked someone on the plane if this was a Tui aeroplane (that’s all he’s ever known). The flight was really good: food, drink, movies (there was a huge choice!), even the toilets were good (according to Alexander). We were even given drinks and meals which was a great surprise as our normal package holidays never include meals.
Alexander also said this is “the best flight ever” and referred to economy as second class which made us all smile including the people he was sitting next to. Bethany loved the children’s pack she received and here’s her video review: Emirates children’s activity pack
When we arrived at Dubia we didn’t rush and made it through the airport at a leisurely pace (our pace), that slowly that only our cases were still going around the carousel when we got into the collection area. It’s worth noting that masks are still to be worn on the plane and also in the airport, and in Dubia any time you are inside…..Dad says it brings back memories from 2020 and 2021 but rules are rules and it didn’t cause us any problems as didn’t have to wear them as we are under 12 which was handy.
On leaving the airport Dad’s favourite quote was “Jesus this is hot” and “I’m melting”. Alexander was a bit confused as we walked from cold to hot then cold to hot again as we went between buildings to our taxi. He asked “why do they have the heating so hot?!” not realising the cold was the inside air-con and the “heating” was outside”. Hence, within 60 seconds of us waiting for the taxi we all took our hoodies off and were destined never to be seen again for some time.
Private taxi (pre-booked £50 for 45-minute journey) to our amazing luxurious hotel…..one of Premier Inn’s Dubia hotels and we were all in bed by 3 am local time….. let’s see what tomorrow brings.
The Little Rockers