Much has been written about Dubai already. For me at night it was a city straight out of Arabian Nights and by day it transformed in to a spiffy swanky hub of professional to do. Stayed at Park Regis - very courteous staff and amazing food quality. They have a marvellous view of the Dubai skyline which offers nice panoramic shots in the wee hours of the day - dawn n dusk.
While work kept us busy during the day time, we did visit a few malls that Dubai is famous for. Be it the fountain of divers, an ice skating rink in the middle of the desert, or the sinister gleam of the Burj Khalifa at night - the surprise kept compounding! I kept thinking Tom Cruise would be see taking his famous leap of faith.
The Ibn Batuta Mall has very well captured a snapshot of the cities along the silk route. Most impressive was the area where we forgot that it was around 8pm and we were not walking under the sunny blue sky but artificially created ambience!!
No trip to Dubai will be complete without paying due regards to the majestic sand dunes which are right next door. We had an exhilarating round of dune bashing safely ensconced in the land rover. After the adrenaline rush, it was a sobering experience to see the sun in all its brilliance of yellow & orange sink & disappear in to the sand & the wide blue yonder. Its been years since I saw the sunset in Thar Desert and this one viewed in the land of the Arabs also could not keep me from shivering once the sun set - its certainly nippy not to mention everything went black....except for the lights of the casbah far, far away which was our next stop.
So there we were experiencing life in an artificial Arab casbah (village) which was nevertheless very picturesque. The food was warm & filling, the performances of the whirling dervish was way way way much better than that of the belly dancer. Some of my more intrepid colleagues even went for a camel ride which generated its fair share of laughs from the camel mahout and a smirk & snort or two from the camel! The gals of course went for a henna tattoo - arabic style!!
The time to drive back to the hotel we think came too soon but all good things do come to an end and this was so. The glitzy city lights failed miserably compared to the rustic charm of the lanterns of the casbah. Perhaps we may wander back some day to these melting pots and souks to hear stories of Quinquereme & Nineveh! Amen.
While work kept us busy during the day time, we did visit a few malls that Dubai is famous for. Be it the fountain of divers, an ice skating rink in the middle of the desert, or the sinister gleam of the Burj Khalifa at night - the surprise kept compounding! I kept thinking Tom Cruise would be see taking his famous leap of faith.
No trip to Dubai will be complete without paying due regards to the majestic sand dunes which are right next door. We had an exhilarating round of dune bashing safely ensconced in the land rover. After the adrenaline rush, it was a sobering experience to see the sun in all its brilliance of yellow & orange sink & disappear in to the sand & the wide blue yonder. Its been years since I saw the sunset in Thar Desert and this one viewed in the land of the Arabs also could not keep me from shivering once the sun set - its certainly nippy not to mention everything went black....except for the lights of the casbah far, far away which was our next stop.
So there we were experiencing life in an artificial Arab casbah (village) which was nevertheless very picturesque. The food was warm & filling, the performances of the whirling dervish was way way way much better than that of the belly dancer. Some of my more intrepid colleagues even went for a camel ride which generated its fair share of laughs from the camel mahout and a smirk & snort or two from the camel! The gals of course went for a henna tattoo - arabic style!!
The time to drive back to the hotel we think came too soon but all good things do come to an end and this was so. The glitzy city lights failed miserably compared to the rustic charm of the lanterns of the casbah. Perhaps we may wander back some day to these melting pots and souks to hear stories of Quinquereme & Nineveh! Amen.
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