Learning about Dubai!

Day 2 started off with Jeff and Jen joining us! Jeff is stationed for the Marines in Jetta, Saudi Arabia and Jen is working for the state department there as well. They flew out to spend the week exploring Dubai and Abu Dhabi and joined my family for our explorations. I haven’t seen either of them since their wedding three years ago so it was great to be able to spend time with them.

We again had a driver for the day to just drive us around the city so we could take it all in. We began our morning at the Gold Souk where there is basically store after store after store selling gold. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much gold in one place before. Some of the designs were super crazy and I couldn’t even imagine wearing some of the heavy pieces that the stores were selling. Needless to say it was very interesting to see all of the stores.

Truly the City of Gold

Just something that I'd wear to work on any given day...

 When you first walk into the museum there is a courtyard area that has some bronze canons, small wooden fishing boats, and an example of a traditional hut (barasti) that is made of mud and palm fronds. There were also various exhibits displaying the handcrafted weapons that were used by the Bedouins. What was great about the museum was that there were videos depicting Dubai’s development with various dioramas showing shopkeepers and craftsmen at work in a mock souk. Another interesting exhibit showcased Dubai’s role in the pearl-diving industry and videos showed how men would make 50 dives a day.

Entrance to the Dubai Museum

Map of Arabia in 1570

After the Dubai Museum we had a great lunch before heading out to see some of the other sites in the city. First up was the Za’abeel Palace which his home to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai who is also the Vice President of the UAE. Very surprised that there wasn’t a lot more security in the area but it was a beautiful compound. 

In fron of the Za'abeel Palace

Jeff & Jen! 

Afterwards we drove by the Burj Al Arab which has been called the world’s only 7 star hotel and stands on an artificial island from Jumeirah beach. The shape of the structure is designed to mimic the sail of a ship. Although it looks massive the hotel only houses about 202 bedroom suites (I’m guessing that these are no ordinary suites). The Burj is located close to the Palm Islands so we drove up the “trunk” of the palm all the way up to the Palm Atlantis Resort. 

totally stole the pic from google but wanted to give you an idea of what the hotel looked like

The Palm Islands are artificial islands that were constructed from sand dredged from the bottom of the Persian Gulf. The Islands were mainly created as a tourist attraction and the construction of the Islands has definitely caused a significant impact on the surrounding environment including changes to the area wildlife, coastal erosion etc… Still a site to behold and it was a cool experience to drive around the Palm. 

Across the street from the Atlantis Resort

We had tickets to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa which is situated next to the Dubai mall so that was our next destination. The entire experience visiting the Burj Khalifa was amazing! It holds a number of different records including the tallest building in the world at 2,716.5 feet and 160+ stories. It apparently is also the tallest free-standing structure, highest # of stories, highest occupied floor, and highest outdoor observation deck, elevator with the longest travel distance and the tallest service elevator in the world. The Burj Khalifa is home to 900+ residences, 37 floors of offices, the Armani Hotel and Armani Residences, a 4 story fitness/recreation park, and The Park which includes 3000 parking spaces. The set-up of the visit was great. From the time that you get your ticket stamped until you step into the elevator that takes you to the top you learn about the entire history of the Burj and see how the entire structure was formed from top to bottom.

Looking at where we were going to end up

View of the city from the observation deck on the 124th floor! 

I believe these are the World Islands (man made islands that look like the map of the world)

Looking at the Burj Al Arab from the Burj Khalifa

Guinness Book of World Records Plaque

After the Burj we explored the Dubai Mall which is one of the world’s largest shopping malls. (Seeing a trend here?) There are around 1,200 shops within the mall and it occupies over 13 million square feet which is equivalent in size to more than 50 football fields. The mall is also home to the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, the Dubai Ice Rink, and SEGA Republic, an indoor theme park. As you can probably tell, we are very far behind when it comes to having cool shopping malls.

Outside the Dubai mall is the Dubai Fountain (the world’s largest choreographed fountain system). The fountain was designed by the same company responsible for the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas. We got to see one of the fountain performances in the evening which was spectacular. I’m sure watching one at night would be even more amazing with all of the lights that get added into the show.

Such a massive mall

I see aquariums in malls all the time. NBD.

View of the Burj from the Dubai Fountain 

The fountain was pretty much the end to our day and we headed back to Sharjah which took us over an hour due to the rush hour traffic. Jeff and Jen had a two hour drive back to Abu Dhabi so they had to head out as soon as we got back but it was great to see them and spend the day exploring with them.

Till next time!

~Aish