3 ladies visiting Jumeirah Mosque in Dubai

3 ladies visiting Jumeirah Mosque in Dubai; credit Sherri Crawford

Dubai, Rising Above the Persian Gulf

by Sherri Crawford

We embark on another overnight trans-Atlantic flight destined for adventure in a far-away land. When daybreak arrives, the plane is fast approaching our destination, cruising smoothly over the friendly azure skies. Then as the jet makes its final turn, we see Dubai, Rising Above the Persian Gulf like a crown jewel edging the Arabian Desert.

Our escapade into the lifestyles of the rich and famous started from the time we landed. We rode in a pink cab (pink is for ladies) to our hotel. We were instantly hit with an influence from home, as we entered the Atlantis Dubai lobby. A giant burst of vibrant colors reds, oranges, and blues on the hand-blown glass sculpture in the lobby captures your attention.

As we admire the sculpture, we are trying to recall the artist’s name as we recognized his work from his Dallas exhibit earlier this year. The desk clerk cleared up the confusion by verifying the name of famed artist Dale Chihuly.
After checking out the nicely appointed, spacious room that lived up to the Atlantis reputation, we decided it was no time to sit and watch the menu selections on the hotel television screen. Let’s hit the streets of Dubai and get this vacation on the road!!!

Architectural designs captivate you from the moment your eyes lay hold of the skyline. The dazzling skyscrapers unique in design and shape are like watching contenders for an episode of Next Top Architect. As your eyes grasp one building, another grabs your attention until you gaze upon the magnificent grand dame of them all — The Burj Khalifa.

This is the world’s tallest building, as your neck cranes upwards to see the top of this 2,722-foot statuesque structure pierce the blue Arabian sky. Up close in the daytime, it looks like a giant spear. From some distance at night, Burj Khalifa shines bright like a diamond.

Burj Khalifa dominates the Dubai skyline

The world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, dominates the Dubai skyline; credit Danny Eid

We are surrounded by several restaurant choices for dinner, local, and chain. We decide to dine at a local spot, the chic Café Leblanc’ to try out the Lebanese cuisine. Our palettes enjoyed some of the food selections, especially the bread, maybe that’s a Southern girl thing. But I’m not sure how authentic my dish was since it came with French fries.

My friends enjoyed their meal selections and decided that the hummus was some of the best they had ever tasted. The beef patties were shaped like small pears with a crunchy coating on the outside but tasty beef on the inside. As we headed to the water show, I caught a glimpse of a familiar Chicago favorite inside the Dubai Mall and my feet headed straight for Garret’s Popcorn. I may have missed the beginning of the water show, but I did manage to get a good late-night snack!!!

A new dawn has arrived. We are refreshed and ready to go with a full day of planned activities. We started with a city tour that included several stops and filled our heads with loads of information. The tour even included a trip to the Dubai Museum which provides an in-depth look at how Dubai came into existence focusing on the culture, religion, education, spice trading, pearl diving, the life of a Bedouin, and of course crude oil. The museum helped clear up misconceptions that many people have.

After leaving the museum, we got a taste of Old Dubai as we hopped on board the water taxi to cross Dubai Creek over to Deira, the heart of the Dubai business district. Once the water taxi came to a stop, we were front and center for a stroll through the Dubai Spice Souk (Spice Market). A few streets over is the Dubai Gold Souk.

The spice souk carries every spice variety you can imagine and some you can’t. They come in every color in the rainbow with aromas that linger in the hot humid air. The merchants were friendly and seemed to enjoy tourists as they told us stories of how Dubai became their home. Many residents and merchants in Dubai are not native Emiratis.

We met several people from Bangladesh, Kenya, and Pakistan that now make Dubai home. Now on to streets where the stores are lined with gold, pure gold that is.

Maizan at the Gold Souk in Dubai

Maizan merchant in the Gold Souk of Dubai; (c) Soul Of America

We were bedazzled wandering in and out of various stores in the gold souk. Our tour guide advised us that the government keeps a tight restraint on the merchants to ensure your purchase is authentic, with harsh consequences if there is a violation. With options of 18k and 21k pure gold at cheap prices, diamonds, precious stones, no tax, store after store after store, this is a place where a girl can lose her mind in all the sparkles.

The day ended with our first trip to the sand dunes as we headed out for dinner in the desert. We had no idea that our first driver would only drive part of the way, then drop us off in the middle of the desert for a rendezvous with our 2nd driver. The second driver was waiting for us in a 4-wheel drive.

Well, I was a little nervous until I realized that the original driver’s vehicle was not equipped to handle the desert terrain. The driver began charging the sand dunes as the 4-wheel drive went full speed ahead up and over the dunes.
We were bouncing and jerking around in the jeep like hand puppets at the mercy of the driver. As soon as the jeep slowed and we felt ok, here comes another sand dune and here we go again. We managed to giggle out loud as we tried to mask our fear, I don’t know if the seat belt was any help. Nothing seemed to keep us stationary.

Finally, we reached the location for dinner in the desert. Camels were dressed in their festive attire waiting to give rides to the tourists. Up, up, and here we go for a quick ride before the dinner and show begin. The popular show was entertaining, and the meal included lamb, fish, and other Lebanese selections.

The next day, we decide to see the sand dunes from a vehicle that we could control. Our adventure is a morning ATV ride in the desert. The reddish-orange sand dunes appear to be sculpted like a movie scene. This sounded like a fun activity until our driver whispers in my ear “Please don’t fall, we don’t have any insurance.” Since we are not dare-devils, decided to ride the ATV gingerly. We had a fenced-in perimeter to ride until we could no longer bear the heat.
Later that evening, we make our way to the swanky Atmosphere Lounge inside the Burj Khalifa to watch the sunset in style.

Dubai camel ride

Yikes, a night camel ride in Dubai; credit Sherri Crawford

As you feel the elevator rocking from left to right, the elevator whisks you to the top in less than 60 seconds. We climb to the 122nd floor for impressive views of the city. Once we enter, we see a large group of African-Americans. I hear them speaking and ask where they are from. They answer New York City, visiting Dubai for a 40th birthday celebration. If you just want to enjoy the views, the Observation Deck is on the 124th floor.

Our time is starting to diminish, and I need a splash at the pool. I dash my way down to the famous Atlantis water slides. My friends slept in and had breakfast, while I soaked up the morning sun rays. What a time I had, screaming at the top of my lungs like a child carried by the exciting Poseidon water slide.

To round out the morning, I caught an inner tube and chilled while floating down the lazy river. Then it was time for the crew to visit the Lost Chambers Aquarium at the Atlantis. Our friendly guide was from Kenya and provided information about marine life at The Atlantis. Did you know that if you are a certified diver, you can scuba dive in their aquarium?

There were many other attractions to fill our itinerary.



Return to DUBAI

0 replies

Login. Register. Use your Google / Facebook login.

Leave a Reply