Dubai 2012

Dubai & Durban - March 2012

Tina moved back to Durban goodness knows how long ago and we've said for a while we'd visit her and Bruce. This year we did. We flew with Emirates and had a stopover in Dubai so, as usual, the photos are split over a couple of pages. Please click on the relevant link below to go to the page you'd like to see.

Dubai

Durban and surrounding area

As mentioned above, we flew with Emirates. This meant we got to go on a new plane (new for us any way)! The A380 is huge but doesn't feel like it when you're inside as it's the same "compartments" depending on which class you're flying.

Our hotel (Arabian Courtyard and Spa) was just round the corner from the Dubai Museum so that was our first stop before we jumped on a Big Bus Tour.

The museum was really interesting with various boats, rooms etc upstairs and then a "street" underground showing various shops, trades etc. We could have spent a lot longer there reading all the information (and taking even more photos) but the bus beckoned. That said, here are a few of the photos we took.

Jonathon was quite taken with the birds that were nesting in the cracks in the wall.

Some of the carving was pretty ornate...

... and some signs just told you how it was.

On to the bus and off we went. There is a lot of wonderful architecture in Dubai, modern buildings mingled with the older ones. Dubai started as a fishing and pearl diving port - how times change. Dhows (wooden boats) are still used extensively and can be seen in the Creek.

There's still a lot of building going on - you often hear construction type noises as you go round the city....

.... but when pretty buildings are the result it somehow seems worth it.

The shopping malls are huge and have to be seen to be believed. They are like cities in themselves and usually have ornate architecture or some kind of theme. Wafi is the most obviously themed one, being Egyptian.

Jonathon thinks the one of the right is a picture of the original Mother's Day.

We did visit a couple of the malls - Burjaman for coffee and a look at the map to decide where to go next and the Dubai Mall to get to Burj Khalifa (see later)

This horse stands outside the Dubai Mall, near the dancing fountain (also see later).

It was pretty warm (but nothing like as hot as it could have been) and the forecast showers didn't arrive until after we'd gone to bed so a nice day for travelling around. Still best to keep protected from the sun.

To say it's such a dry country there was a lot of green around. There were also millions of petunias greeting you as you entered the city.

palm trees

The date palm is the national tree of Dubai and there were quite a few of them around.

The bus route was split in two - City and Beach. We did some of each. The furthest we went from the City was to the tip of the Palm and the Atlantis. We didn't get off the bus but marvelled at the sheer size of some of the hotels!

The Palm itself had a whole load of buildings along both sides of the road and lots of speed bumps!

beach

It's easy to forget you're close to the sea when you're in the City so it was good to see it! Beautiful colour too.

The name Jumeirah was everywhere. Left is Jumeirah Park, up to the right is Jumeirah Beach and immediate right is Jumeirah Hotel ....

... and this beautiful building is the Jumeirah Mosque.

There were three things I specifically wanted to show Jonathon .....

This amazing building is the Burj Al Arab, an exclusive hotel - needless to say we didn't stay there - perhaps one day!

Another one of the "must sees" was the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building (so tall it was difficult to fit it in the camera lens).

top of khalifa

The third thing I wanted to show him was the Dancing Fountains but before that we went to the viewing platform on floor 124 of Burj Khalifa (and that was nowhere near the top - this much was above us).

Although the city seemed quite built up, when we saw it from above, we realised just how desert-like the area really is.

As you can see, it was a little bit hazy so we coudn't really see the sea from up there but it was still a good experience. Word of advice - prebook if you ever want to go to "At the Top" - it's a lot cheaper and there is no guarantee you'll get a ticket on the spot as it's really popular.

There were a lot of information plaques around - this one made me smile.

This one also made me smile. Burj Khalifa, in my opinion, is one of best buildings in the world from an aesthetic viewpoint. It is truly elegant.

It was time for tea so we went to the other side of the fountain to ...

... for delicious Italian food (I love this area in Dubai) and watched the first two fountain dances while we ate.

The lights were accompanied by music and then the dancing began.

A first attempt at a video - file is large so please be patient and allow to play.

We flew to Durban the next morning for the second (and main) leg of our holiday so had to say Goodbye to Dubai.