Enchanting Dubai

Dubai is one of those countries, which has proven that they can mark their presence on the world map, even if they have no or limited natural resources. This country has proven nothing is impossible for human beings. Everything here is extravagant. If you are visiting from a developing country, you will be shocked with almost everything. From the point one lands at Dubai airport until you board your return flight, you will be amazed and dazzled by everything you see and experience in Dubai. It is truly a global country in every sense.

After lot of sepculations on whether we should go to Dubai in April or not, we decided to go for a to Dubai. Our trip to Dubai was planned for a week. Nov-Feb is considered the best time to visit this country. However it is still OK until mid-May as everything is air-conditioned. Because of the school holidays, we had no option but to plan ours in April. It was a good time. Did not find it as hot as we thought it would be. We had booked a service apartment at Winchester Deluxe Apartment – BUR Dubai and also a cab at our disposal for our entire stay.

There are a lot of Indians and Pakistanis than the local emirates. There are hardly any old people. We later got to know that non-emirates are not allowed to get citizenship in Dubai. So people from other countries can come here, work, earn money and return back to their home land. Government has provided lot of facilities to the local emirates, so that they can thrive. For our trip to Abu-Dhabi, we had an Emirati who had come as a driver (actually he was the owner of the tour agency and since the driver had not turned up, he had come). A very rich man and seemed to have lot of contacts around. He gave us a lot of insights into Dubai and Emirati’s life. At the end of the journey, got to know he had studied his high school from Islamiya High School Belgaum. That was a great connection. Now how he came to Dubai and became an Emirate is something to ponder upon.

As the plane was landing we got a bird’s eye view of Dubai. From top, we could see the golden sand of the desert, blue waters and as the plane further descended, we saw the skyscrapers and huge network of roadlines/highways. Then we experienced the airport, which is pretty huge and well maintained. The taxis here are all huge top class vehicles either Mercedes, Toyota or Land Rovers. As our cab moved on to the highway, we saw many more high brand cars – Ferrari’s , Lamborghini’s, Audi’s, Bugatti's and list is endless. Until we reached our service apartment, we were speechless – all of us were just checking the view outside. We had seen other first world countries, but this was different.

Dubai

Tips for Dubai

• Best time Nov-Feb. However it is ok until mid-May
• If traveling with small kids, book a service apartment
• Book the Desert Safari in advance
• If visiting Burj-Khalifa, then book the tickets online in advance
• For Dolphin show, book the tickets online in advance
• Burj-Al-Arab can be visited only if you dine/stay with them. Check-out the website, make reservations in advance. They have a formal dress-code for some restaurants.
• You may get cheaper rates, if you book with tours directly in Duabi. However this is risky if you don’t know anyone in Dubai
• Veg. Food will not be a problem
• If visiting mosques, you will need to wear fully cover hands and legs (especially women) and also cover the head with a scarf.

Sat - 13th April

It was lunch time by the time we reached our service apartment. We had our lunch, relaxed and went to visit Dubai Museum. It is always a good idea to start the holiday with a visit to museum (especially if it is another country or a place which is completely new to you) as this would give an idea on the history and development of a place. Dubai museum is comparatively small and can be covered in an 1 – 1 ½ hour. The museum is like a small fort and is well maintained.

After this, we walked to Grand Mosque - we could not go inside though. At the backside of this mosque there is a temple. We felt as if we were in India. There are more Indians in Dubai than the local Emirates.

The Creek is right behind this mosque. It is here the Dhow-Cruise start in the late evening. Lot of colorfully lit and decorated boats are available on the creek for cruise. These are typically dinner cruises, with good music and local cultural activities on-board. It is recommended to book the table in advance. The cruise starts around 7:30 PM and ends by 9PM. We could see the lit city from the cruise. The music and local Arabic Tandoori dance on-board was mind boggling. In this dance form a man keeps rotating continuously doing some actions. The attire of the dancer is also very colorful and full of light bulbs. It looks very beautiful in the night. The food is a buffet and not that great. But the whole atmosphere is good and the food does not matter in the end. We had a great evening. The cruise also can get noisy, if the fellow tourists are not sensitive. If possible try booking a table based on preferred location. We missed doing this and had some noisy tourists around, which initially bothered us.

Arabic Tandoori Dance on Dhow Cruise

Sun – 14^th April

Sunday we drove to Al Ain. This is about 150Kms and can be reached in 2 hours from Dubai. The roads were amazing and within no time we were in Al Ain. One interesting point we noticed was that all buildings were in the color of different shades of sand. Nothing much to see or do in Al Ain. We visited the highest point – Jebel Hafeet Mountain in Al Ain. The famous car race in the Bollywood movie "Race" was shot here. The view from here is magnificent. We could see the vastness of desert from here. From here we went to Sheikh Zayed Palace Museum. The museum looks like a fort. The house of Sheikh Zayed is converted to museum. We explored the museum. This is first time we experienced the real heat of Dubai. Museum requires walking through the gardens and lanes which are not under cooler and the afternoon heat is really hot. From here we went to see the Oasis. This was beautiful. Hundreds of date palms. We could see how the water canals were built to water the palms.

View from Jebel Hafeet Mountain in Al Ain

Sheikh Zayed Palace Museum

Walk through the Oasis

We were back in Dubai by 6PM. There are a lot of good restaurants by the Creek. We had our dinner enjoying the cool breeze by the Creek

Mon – 15^th April

We had booked the tickets for the Dolphin Show for 11AM. It is recommended to book the tickets online. There are some discounts running for different show timings. The Dolphin show was amazing. Kids had great fun. After the show, we wanted to take the Cable Car ride. Unfortunately the cable car was not operational because of some technical problems. We spent the afternoon in the Children City. Shrishti took a pony ride in the park. Dolphin show, cable car ride and Children City are all in the same campus.

Desert Safari was planned for the evening. This is must when visiting Dubai. It is nothing less than an adventure ride in any theme park. It was super. There are sand dunes everywhere. We boarded a Huge Land Rovers and in no time we were surfing the golden sand dunes. During the Safari, the vehicle is accelerated highly to achieve high speeds in the sand. This makes the ride very thrilling. We were screaming all through. Our vehicle was parked halfway in the dunes so that the engine can cool. We explored the dunes and took pictures. It was a mesmerizing experience to see the sun set on the sand dunes and the dunes change their colors. Once the engine was cooled, we started the safari again.

Kids enjoying the sand dunes - Desert Safari

There is an interesting point of this safari. The desert safari area is in Sharjah. Since Sharjah is a conservative state, alcohol is not permitted here. Hence all tours complete the safari and then take the tourist to a border of Dubai where a beautiful place/restaurant (open air) is set up in the middle of the desert for the evening. This place has camel rides, Heena painting and other local arts. We had a fabulous dinner under the stars, enjoying the belly dance and Arabic Tandoori dance. Desert Safari followed by dinner was an unforgettable experience.

Tue – 16^th April

Jumeria Mosque has a guided tour starting at 9:45 AM (only one in the morning), which gives insight into the history of Islam and Dubai. It is recommended to book the tour in advance. We had booked our tour in advance and were at the mosque by 9:30 AM. The tour seemed to be famous – there was a big queue of tourists. The tour was informative and meant for tourists coming from western countries. We got lot of information – some seemed made up, some were genuine. The tour lasted for 2 hours.

After the tour, we just crossed the road and went to Jumeria Beach. A beautiful beach in Dubai. From here we could get a glimpse of Burj – Al- Arab and other famous buildings of Dubai. We had our reservations for lunch at Burj-Al-Arab’s signature restaurant “Al Mahara”. We spent some time at the beach, but could not do much as we were dressed in formals for the lunch and the mid-afternoon sun was very very hot.

View from Jumeria Beach

From here we went straight to Burj-Al-Arab. There is lot of security here. Visitor are allowed only if they have a reservation. They have dress codes for certain restaurants. Burj-Al-Arab is really beautiful and world class. The design and it’s location has added more glamour and beauty to it. Dubai really knows how to attract tourists and provide luxury – of course at a huge price. The interiors are lavishly done. Nothing seems cheap. While we were waiting at the lobby, we could see the cars of the top brands. Al-Mahara is Burj-Al-Arab’s signature restaurant for sea-food. They do have vegetarian dishes, but very few. We had no choice but to order the veg. dishes that were available. The restaurant is beautifully done. The restaurant is in the basement and has a huge aquarium which is actually the ocean below Burj-Al-Arab. The tables are layed around this circular aquarium. It is superb! We enjoyed the whole experience. 

Lunch @ Al Mahara - Burj-Al-Arab

After having a relaxed lunch, we went to Souk Madinat. This souk is next to Burj-Al-Arab. Souk’s are basically like local market – with series of shops selling different items. Dubai being the shopping capital, the whole definition of souk has been modernized. The souk’s theme provides a rustic view, however the shops setup sell all modern stuff. One can spend hours just window shopping in these souks. At one of the points in the souk, we also get a good view of Burj-Al-Arab.

In the late evening, we went to the Shindagha Hertiage and diving villages area which is close to the creek.

Wed – 17^th April

In the morning we visited the Mall of Emirates. This mall is famous for Ski-Dubai.

In the afternoon, we went to Dubai Mall. This mall is really huge and has shops of all international brands. We saw many world class cars here. There a lot of entrainment centers in the mall – aquarium, ice skating rink, kidzania, theme park etc. One can easily spend a day doing just window shopping. Right opposite to this mall is Souk-Al-Bahar and Burj-Khalifa – the tallest building in Dubai. The bridge which connects Dubai Mall and Souk-Al-Bahar, gives a good view of Burj-Khalifa. In the evening, at Dubai Mall there is a spectacular show of musical fountains. This is definitely worth seeing. It is good to book the tickets for Burj-Khalifa around sunset time. This will allow one to get the view of Dubai in day light, when Dubai is lit with thousands of lights after sunset and also the view of musical fountain. The view from top is fantastic. We could see the man-made beaches, the multi-lane highways, skyscrapers – it left us wondering how a landscape of a country change in a decade.

View from Bhurj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa in the evening

Musical Fountains at Dubai Mall

Thur – 18^th April

It was time to visit Abu-Dabhi, the richest state of UAE and the state which has the highest % of world’s petroleum. Abu-Dabhi can be covered as a day trip from Dubai. Must see places here are

Grand Mosque (Sheik Zayed Mosque)  - No words can describe this marble marvel. It is superb! A huge mosque, which can be seen from far. The white marble shines amazingly in the hot sun. Lots of money was spent in building this mosque. The inside of the mosque is carpeted wall-to-wall and is air-conditioned. The interesting fact of the white marble is – it does not get heated even in the heat of desert. We could walk without burning our feet (barefoot) from the main gate to the entrance of the mosque. We could feel the heat only if we stepped on a colored piece of the marble.

View from Highway - Sheikh Zayed Mosque

Interiors of the mosque

Emirates Palace – This is beautiful palace hotel built in red stone. Many Bollywood movies have been shot here. The palace is open to visitors. The entrance to the palace is very picturesque. There are beautiful fountains all around. Once we entered, the extravaganza was experienced everywhere. Nothing seems cheap or low-end. At the end of the hall there are huge carpets hung on the 2 walls. These are beautiful. .

Emirates Palace - Abu Dabhi

Ferrari world – We visited the Ferrari world more to get an experience. However we did not go to the theme park. Apparently the park has the longest and fastest roller coaster.  

In the evening we walked around the old city to experience the different markets – Gold, Spices, Perfumes etc. There is a walking trail which cover these areas. It is called the Heritage Walk is best done in the evening.  

After the Heritage walk, we had a refreshing dinner in an Arabian restaurant called Bastakiya Nights. This place is by the Creek and is open air. The ambiance reminds one of the Arabian nights. The food was excellent too.

Bastaquia Nights - Restaurant by the Creek 

Fri – 19^th April

We spent the day hopping from one mall to the other. We started at Time Square mall, experience the Chillout Lounge. This lounge provides an experience of below -5 degrees where it is freezing. All the necessary gears like jackets, shoes, gloves, warm cap etc. are provided. We drank hot-chocolate and left in 15 min. We could not sit longer as it is very cold.

Chillout Lounge @ Time Square Mall

From here we went yo Ibn – Batuta mall. We took the metro to this mall. This is little away from the city. The mall has 4 themes - Indian, Chinese, Persia and Egypt and is beautifully done. We spent couple of hours exploring this mall. From here we boarded the metro to a junction where we could take the mono-rail to Palm Atlantis. The ride on mono-rail is the best way to experience and view the Palm Atlantis. At Palm Atlantis we went to the Lost Chambers of Atlantis, explored the Palm Atlantis, did some window shopping. Sometime wonder who shops in such expensive places.

View of Palm Atlantis from Monorail ride

This was our last day at Dubai and we had captured lots of beautiful memories of this amazing city which has set an example to the world that “Nothing is Impossible”. The pace at which this city is growing and attracting tourists, it is going to add many more attractions and definitely going to get more tourists and wonders.

Wonder La

Wonder La - Only theme park close to Bangalore. One of those places where every child wants to go. I am not a fan of any rides, just hate the very thought of sitting on those scary rides, but enjoy spending the day in theme parks. The whole atmosphere is very lively and colorful. Visiting such places really brings back the child in every person.

This was one place which has been in the waiting list for some years now. I was postponing it because I wanted my younger daughter Shrishti to complete 8 years so that she can go on many of the rides. Atlast the time had come. We planned for a day trip to Wonder La with another family friend - Meera and Venki. It is best to visit theme parks with a big group and ofcourse nothing can beat if the each person has a company.

We (2 families - 8 members) started after breakfast and drove to Wonder La in 2 cars. Wonder La is about 1-2 hours drive from Bangalore. The park is very well organized. They also have a resort. Though the queue for the tickets was long, it was fast moving. In no time we got our entry tickets and we were walking in. All of us were excited. The kids has been desperately waiting to visit Wonder La.

Musical Fountain in the evening

We planned to finish all the dry rides before lunch and do the water rides in the afternoon. Wonder La can get very crowded on weekends and holidays. It is best to start early and finish all the best rides so that we don't spend more time in the queue. Though I am not a big fan of rides, but one gets motivated to do them when in a group. Some of the rides, i would not have done if it was not for the group :)

We had lunch and then got ready for the water rides. Water rides for fun and we played till our heart content. It was late evening and it was closing time for the park. On our way back, we had dinner at "Kamat Lokruchi" and drove back home.

Acres Wild - Coonor

Acres Wild - Coonor (http://www.acres-wild.com/) is a good option to have a relaxed break with family and friends. This farm is owned by Mansoor Khan (uncle of Aamir Khan and the famous director/producer of QSQT, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar etc). This farm has a small family run cheese factory with cottages for experiencing farm stay. At Acres wild farm there is a main house where Mansoor and his family lives. The whole farm is at multiple levels. Level 1 has a cottage (Cheddar Cottage) which can house 2 families (2 bedroom, kitchen and hall), level 2 has the main house of Mansoor and the dining area for guests, level 3 has one cottage with a single room (Colby cottage) , another cottage Haloumi Cottage which can host 2 families, has 2 bedrooms, hall and kitchen. Haloumi has the best views. All cottages are secluded and provide complete privacy. This I found as major difference between a Farm stay and a Home Stay. The lunch is not included in the package. One can choose to go out and eat or cook in the farm. All the basic utensils and some tea powder, sugar, salt is provided in the kitchen. They also provide fresh milk from their farm.

Haloumi Cottage

The whole experience is very unique. This is not a place if you want to pack your day with lot of activities. The stay itself is for relaxing and having your personal time. The place is little far from Ooty, however if you are completely bored, then you can choose to do some sight seeing. The food is basic homely food and should not expect exotic dishes. The home made cheese at the farm's cheese factory, served at breakfast is yummy - sad they don't sell that cheese :(

The acres wild site is very well organized. One can see the availability of cottages for each date on the website itself. One needs to plan in advance. The cottages seem to booked perpetually. The number mentioned on the website is Mansoor's direct number. I was a little surprised. I did not expect Mansoor to answer when I called for booking. Unfortunately we could not meet him during our visit as he was travelling. We meet his wife Tina. They have been living here for a while now and completely enjoy it in Coonoor contrast to the hectic life of Mumbai. We spent some time chatting with Tina and she patiently answered all our questions.

Milking Activity

Since we had already done Ooty, we wanted to check out the calmer twin Coonoor and Acer's Wild Farm came as the best option. We booked both the rooms of Haloumi cottage as we were 2 families  - and this was perfect. Atleast 2N/3D is required to experience this place. We had booked the place for 2N/3D. Since the farm does not serve lunch (unless booked in advance), we stopped for lunch at Ooty and reached the farm around 4PM. The farm is around 5-6Kms from the Coonoor town and has super location. Once we reached here it felt like we were some where very far far away.

Acres Wild Cheese - Served at Breakfast

This place is for relaxing and one should not expect many activities. They do have some activities, but nothing major. Kids had fun milking and feeding the cows in the evening, in the morning we saw the cheese making process. The cheese factory is home run - small scale. It was good experience to see and understand the process of Cheese making.

Trekking at Farm

Most of our mornings were spent in Trekking through the Farms tea gardens, reading books, playing games (board games, cards, badminton - please carry your own). Have a good break fast at the farm. The Acres Wild Cheese served with breakfast was very yummy - it just melts in the mouth. Afternoon was left to explore around the farm. Evenings were magical. We asked for camp fire, which was put up in front for our cottage. Since the cottages are spread across distances, you don't have to worry about disturbing others. We played music, danced, played games at camp fire. The moon lit sky with twinkling stars, music in the background and all the laughs and chatter was real fun. Icing on this was the barbecue and wine.  The best part was the Bose Bluetooth enabled music box which Deepa had got. It was perfect and made the experience more exciting. We also got some fresh vegetables from the local market and made grilled vegetables over the campfire.

Campfire

One view from Haloumi Cottage

One day we stepped out of the farm and went to see some local view points. The drive through the acres of tea gardens was beautiful. We also went to a couple of view points. One does not need to step out as the farm itself provides very good view points especially from Haloumi Cottage. If you carry some basic cooking needs like noodles, pastas, bread - one can easily spend few days with complete relaxation.

After spending two relaxed and fun filled days, we headed back to Bangalore. On our way back, we saw a huge herd of elephants crossing the road in Bandipur forest. We also saw many deers, monkeys and couple of peacocks.