Adventure in the UAE - The Traveling Filmmaker

I always love that feeling I get before traveling to a new destination. It’s both excitement and a little bit of nerves, but mostly more enthusiasm for the new land I will be able to experience. And today I was off to Dubai! I’ve been wanting to travel to the UAE for quite a while. It always seemed so grand and over the top (but in a good way). I mean they have Lamborghinis for police cars! (Although I did find out why – the locals hold important jobs like airport security, government positions, and yes police officers, so makes sense they get the best cars for the job) ;). But the one thing that was holding me back from traveling to Dubai was the potential cost. However, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to see this wonderful country (of course you can if you want) ;). But here’s all about having a fantastic adventure in the UAE on a budget.

Arrival Into Dubai to Start My Adventure in the UAE:

So 24 hours later, after a very long 6 hour layover in Frankfurt (where I maybe got 2 hours of sleep), I landed in Dubai. I mean even the airport is beautiful! With it’s sparkling pillars and beautifully dressed Emirates employees. I knew I was going to like this place. I landed near 11pm, so my basic plan was just to head to my hostel and rest up for my next day of exploring. Customs and immigration was so easy. Maybe took a whole five minutes? So yes very simple. And then I was off into a taxi towards my hostel. Although I will mention that if you’re like me and enjoy practicing the local language, most of the cab drivers are from India or Pakistan. I was all set to try using my few Arabic words when I realized this wasn’t even their native language. But everyone does speak English here, and a lot of French as well. Very easy to get around.

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My Hostel for my Adventure in the UAE:

Maybe 30 minutes later I was at my hostel for the next couple of nights. And let me just give a shout out to this place, it’s called At The Top Hostel and it was absolutely amazing! It’s up on the 66th floor and has a lot of different room types to pick from. Also has a great free breakfast every morning. Highly recommend it! And it won’t break your bank account. I have noticed, I mean I’ve stayed in a ton of hostels, but I am starting to enjoy the nicer hotels as I get older, however this hostel was so great I might go back to staying in them again. It’s a great way to meet other travelers and share stories. And as most of you know, travelers really are the greatest people. Maybe because we just get each other, but I just love being around those who enjoy seeing this beautiful world. 🙂

What To See On Your Adventure in the UAE:

Burj Khalifa:

Dubai really was amazing. I’ll include some of my highlights if you’re interested. I really loved the Burj Khalifa. And I do highly recommend getting your tickets online beforehand as they seem to sell out on the day of. The views are absolutely beautiful. And for a short time longer it is still the tallest building in the world. I know Saudi Arabia is building the next tallest and then I think Dubai is going to counter that in the very near future.

I really loved sitting on the beanbag chairs and staring out over the desert. It was magical. I also love that they cash in on the Tom Cruise awesomeness by showing clips from Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. I mean who wouldn’t want to climb up the side of the building like he did? I asked if I could but they said no ;). Maybe next time Burj Khalifa ;).

Dubai Mall:

I wandered around the Dubai Mall after and found it to be just so grand. I mean they really have all the stores and chain restaurants we know of but make them grander. There was a huge Tim Hortons (I super love their donuts!). There’s even dinosaur bones and a giant aquarium! It’s all very grand. I settled on having lunch at The Social House and had a lovely seat outside overlooking the Dubai fountains. The weather was perfect in February.

Heritage Desert Safari for the Best Adventure in the UAE:

That evening I had decided to splurge and do the Heritage Desert Safari. And I cannot recommend them enough! It was so nice. They picked us all up on time and then drove us out into the desert (maybe 45 minutes to an hour). And I met so many wonderful people. I met a lovely couple from Ireland who were also traveling on flight benefits ;). They’d been to Dubai quite a few times and keep coming back. I feel like people either really love Dubai or they don’t (as I met a lovely British woman on my flight back to London who didn’t like it at all). I do tend to always love every place I go though so it’s tough for me to not enjoy myself. Although there are a few cities I don’t need to go back to, but Dubai is most definitely not one of them.

The desert safari was by far a highlight! Everyone was great. We rode around in vintage Land Rovers (One of my favorite cars), rode camels, and had an amazing dinner. Plus we had some entertainers. It was really just a lovely way to spend an evening. Oh and we had a falcon hunt demonstration and we could even hold the falcon afterwards. Beautiful creatures. We saw the national animal of the UAE, the Arabian oryx, out in it’s natural habitat as well. Honestly I love the desert. There’s just something so magical about it. I’ve been to the Sahara, the deserts of Egypt and Turkey, and I never tire of them. Just beautiful places.

Day Trip to Abu Dhabi and the Sheik Zayed Mosque:

The next day I set off towards Abu Dhabi in search of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque (that’s that grand white mosque you’ve probably seen photos of). And boy did it not disappoint! It’s absolutely breathtaking! There are a few ways to get there, you could take a bus but I honestly couldn’t find where that bus picked up from, you could take a taxi (better if you have a larger group), or I found a group that drives you down and back from Dubai for just about $40. I decided to do that since I didn’t have a whole lot of time on my days off. Although now that I’ve been to Abu Dhabi I’d definitely like to go and stay there longer. It’s lovely too! But, back to the mosque…

Sheik Zayed Mosque:

As I’m sure you’re aware, the dress code is quite strict. I was worried I wouldn’t be dressed right, but they offer hijibs and such for women to wear so you can be fully covered. Also makes for great photographs. I really love the Islamic religion. I learned about it years ago while traveling around Egypt and was just amazed at how loving and peaceful Muslims are. Wonderful people. They’ve always been so kind to me on my travels throughout the Middle East. Yes true there are some radicals, but you find those in any religion… except maybe Buddhists? I love Buddhists. But I don’t want to get political or religious, I’m just saying I love people of all faiths. 🙂

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque is really just something to marvel at. You really will take some amazing photos there. And you can see the world’s largest chandelier and carpet inside. And yes they were grand! Really such a beautiful place.

I ended up wandering back towards the back of the structure when I came across a group of Islamic women paying respects to the grave of Sheikh Zayed. These women really were so kind. They took me back to see the man who reads the scriptures near the grave (it always sounds so beautiful), and honestly I could have spent the whole day with them but they had to go as did I. No photos are allowed of the grave just as an fyi. You’ll see the signs though.

High Tea at The Burj Al Arab:

The rest of my time in the UAE was just as lovely. I splurged once more and had high tea in one of the world’s only 7 star hotels, The Burj Al Arab. Now here’s a grand adventure in the UAE! You need a reservation to one of the restaurants just to get in. And I highly recommend doing it. The food was so good! As was the tea. They even put specs of gold on the food! Very fancy. I really loved it. And yes it was probably the most expensive tea I’ll ever have, but I don’t regret it for a single second. It’s lovely and so very Dubai.

Madinat Jumeirah:

I wandered around the Madinat Jumeirah as well. That place is beautiful. And I took the boat ride around the canals. Also had a great lunch there. And I did make it inside the Mall of the Emirates as I really wanted to see the indoor ski slopes. It is in fact an indoor ski slope! So very cool! I did not partake this time but perhaps next time ;).

My time in the UAE really was wonderful. And I highly recommend visiting. There’s a lot of things you can spend money on, however you could also do a more budget friendly trip too if you just want to at least see it. And there are much cheaper desert safaris than the one I took.

In Conclusion:

I hope you go. The Middle East really is one of my favorite places to travel. And as a woman going solo I felt so completely safe there. I walked around late at night and had no troubles. I did start to take the metro more instead of cabs, not because I didn’t feel safe or anything, but I always talk to my cab drivers and they would tell me about how they left their families to earn a living and some of them hadn’t seen their wives in quite a while so I was giving them way too much money in tips ;). I decided the metro was better for my cash I’d brought ;). But it does break my heart to hear about families who live so far away because they can’t get jobs in their own country. I do honestly wish I could help the whole world… but that’s a blog post for another day ;).