Like most people, I have a bucket list of all the places I would like to visit in my lifetime but the problem is most of the entries in that list stays in the bucket. Last year I ticked off one location from that list – Dubai, commonly known as the shopper’s paradise. I’m not much of a package person so I had packed light for the trip which I found to be very useful because on my way back I had a significant amount of luggage to carry. When I landed in Dubai what I saw around me was very different from what I had in mind. Every road divider in the city had more flowers and plants than I had seen back in India and this were surprising because I had imagined Dubai to be a desert with very little vegetation. Now being a non vegetarian I fell in love with the food there and you can get pretty much any variety of meat here. But for a city with a majority of non vegetarians, I was surprised when I discovered that it is an offense to harm camels in any part of the country.
One of the most memorable places to visit is a theme park here named Wild Wadi. This theme park is situated right next to the famous Burj Al Arab and the specialty of this theme park is that it is an exclusive water theme park. And needless to say, if you can afford it a visit inside the Burj Al Arab would definitely be worth your money and time. Another must-do in Dubai is the Desert Safari. This starts with a roller coaster like experience on a four wheel drive as it whizzes past the sand dunes. Now this ride is definitely not for one with a weak stomach.
After this, there is a slow camel ride which is completely in contrast to the dune safari. This goes on till the Sun sets after which an elaborate dinner is served. After dinner the stage is set for an exotic belly dance which starts with two beautiful dancers. After a while the audience is invited to join in with them and be a part of the fun. After a fun filled day I went to one of the biggest malls in the city – Lulu Hypermarket. From electronics to grocery, you name it and they have it at Lulu. The minute I stepped inside, I realized why it was called a “Hypermarket”. The size of the mall is enormous and what appealed to me the most is that there were car park provisions for the entire crowd in the mall.
The entire city has been planned accurately and the low population has been used to their advantage. During my entire stay in Dubai I never came across a full parking spot. There was always room for one more car. To end my trip I went to one of the many beaches to chill out and realized that the water ran shallow for quite a distance before it became deeper. This is ideal for kids to play and parents to relax along the beach coast. To sum it all Dubai was indeed a paradise on earth.
