Last updated on 26 March, 2019 at 04:15 pm
Dubai, the megacity of all superlatives in the middle of the desert; the city where you can ski on snow and skate on ice while it’s more than 40 degrees outside; the city where hotels have so many stars that we can’t count them anymore.
We had to go for a ride, especially after a month spent in comfort more than limited in Central Asia. And if we’re going, let’s do it full flashpacker mode!
But what's a flashpacker?
This is a term I heard for the fist time recently. It refers to a traveler traveling with a backpack while adopting a life and travel style more luxurious than traditional backpackers. It’s a very subjective distinction, as there is as much travel styles as there are backpackers.
For us, it defines quite well our stay in Dubai, especially if we compare it to the rest of our trip.
Our arrival in Dubai
We arrived at Dubai airport from Tashkent in Uzbekistan with Uzbekistan Airways.
At the exit of the airport, we headed for taxis. A guy in a uniform shows us a free taxi: a big black luxury car, a Lexus. The driver reassures us by showing his official badge and telling us that we will pay the same tax as with other taxis, 25 AED. So we get in his taxi and give him the address of our hotel.
If the departure tax was indeed the same, the kilometric rate was higher, and not only a little! In addition, staying in a hotel that has recently opened, the driver takes us twice to the wrong hotel. Following the protests of Celine, he stopped the meter at 80 AED (21 CHF or 19 €) … we weren’t used to paying these prices anymore.
Our hotel in Dubai
The decision criterion for choosing our hotel was the swimming pool. We wanted to enjoy the pool and have a nice view of the city.
Our choice fell on the Canal Central Hotel, a five-star hotel that recently opened in the Canal district. The pool and some rooms have a view on the canal and on the Burj Khalifa. The other rooms, like ours, have view on the canal only.
Most of the loungers around the pool are located directly in shallow water and are surrounded by a roof and curtains.
This is where we spent most of our days (sun)bathing.
Dubai Mall
We also spent a day at the Dubai Mall, a gigantic and luxurious Western-style shopping center in front of the Burj Khalifa.
Once there, we begin to discover the mall.
We quickly feel lost in the gigantism of the center. We start to walk and fall on a virtual reality theme park, where we can play sports (football, tennis, etc), rob a bank, fly in space and so much more. I could have stayed there a whole week a day!
We continue our walk and arrive over an... ICE RINK !!
In the middle of the desert,
In a mall,
An ice rink, with real ice.
Several floors of shops and restaurants have direct views on this rink. I haven’t tested but the quality of the ice remains to be confirmed, I dare to express some doubts when you see the color and the state of the ice.
Macho minute: After eating a good steak with a view of the rink (in every corner of the center as well as in many food courts, it is possible to eat and drink just about anything you want) and now reviewed the activities for us gentlemen, we can focus on the activities for these ladies, I’m of course talking about shopping.
Unfortunately our backpacks are already full...
We bought (almost) nothing and only prospected for a future trip, with empty suitcases this time!
The choice of shops in the center is gigantic! Covering all the price range, you can find your the place suited to your budget. It’s as possible to buy tops at H&M as Louis Vuitton bags (yep, Celine resisted this time).
The day goes so fast.
As in any good shopping mall, there aren’t any or very few outside facing windows, so we don’t see the time flying. When we leave the center, it’s already dark for quite a long time. We come by chance across the fountain light show with a magnificent view of the illuminated Burj Khalifa, this ending our day at the Mall.
Here, not only do they do things in big but they do them well and completely! There is even an app listing all the shops, cafes and restaurants in the center as well as their location, allowing you to optimize your path across the center.
Be careful: At the end of the day, we were you will be exhausted because of the kilometers traveled throughout the day!
And so much more
Obviously, we haven’t finished enjoying all that Dubai has to offer. I think we didn’t even do the minimum (I’m talking about going to see the Palmeraie, Burj Al Arab, the Mall of the Emirates ski run, take a walk in the desert, and so on).
But we needed these few days of rest to recharge after a full month in Central Asia.
What's next for us?
We then flew to Amman, Jordan, where we began our visits of sites dating back several millennia, such as Petra or the Giza pyramids in Egypt.
Practical tips to visit Dubai
Transportation
Walking in Dubai
One morning, being bouncy and having decided to have breakfast in a cafe not too far from the hotel, La Brioche, we decided to walk there as no taxi happened to be in front of our hotel at that time we were leaving.
That was a poor idea.
If you didn’t know it yet, Dubai is in the desert (close to the ocean but in the desert). And in the desert, it’s hot and dry, very hot and very dry even… It was only two kilometers to the cafe but we were so much sweating!!
Fortunately, croissants and pain au chocolat were really excellent. The dough was airy and light, probably one of the best I had in my life.
Taxi vs Uber
While in some countries it is cheaper to travel using the Uber app than with official taxis, it seems to be the opposite in Dubai, at least when using normal taxis (not luxury ones). Of course).
You have to take at least an Uber select. There is no UberX. However, you can take Uber Helicopter!
Etihad airways leaving from Dubai
Note that if you leave Dubai with the Etihad airways, you will actually take a bus to Abu Dhabi airport from where your plane will leave (not a Dubai – Abu Dhabi flight as we thought at the beginning).
Where to stay in Dubai? Accommodations
As previously explained, our choice of going to the Central Canal Hotel was dictated more by the pool and less by the geographic location.
There are as many hotels as tastes, at all budgets (but rather high to very high budgets). The location of your hotel will also be influenced by the activities you want to do (shopping, beach, parachute or other).
New hotels coming out of land regularly, it may be interesting to find an offer for such hotels because often they do special openings offers.
Where to eat in Dubai? The restaurants
Dubai can satisfy all your culinary desires. You will find restaurants offering just about any type of cuisine.
We had dinner the first night at the Creekside restaurant, specializing in Japanese food and more specifically in sushi. They offer three types of All you can eat menus. The difference lies in the choice of spirits, ranging from the cheapest, offering local spirits (wine and beer) to the more expensive, offering in addition to international spirits, sake! We eat sushis till we burst!
The second night, as we didn’t see that the restaurant where we wanted to go was closed before we found ourselves in front of the closed door, we went to the BHAR not far from there. We ate excellent Lebanese food from a terrace with a beautiful view on the canal.
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