Green Desert

Would you believe me if I said that rolling lawns and plush flowers lined the roads of Abu Dhabi and Dubai? I think not, in fact I've already had many of my friends ask me if what I said is true. Many think that there is nothing but undulating desert here, but is it true? Read on and you'll know.

At half-past-three on that Thursday afternoon, started the wait for our flight, which seemed to be eternal. We boarded our flight and prepared ourselves for the four hour journey. The dimming sun accompanied my view as we began to ascend. In about three and a half hours, we were already well into our descent towards Dubai. Soon the land started glowing with dots, weaving together a sort of map. Roads and settlements were clearly outlined by the street lights. As we descended further, I could see vehicles and houses, their swimming pools and then suddenly, touchdown! We had landed at Dubai. We stepped for the first time into the new, Terminal 3. I had never seen something so big and vibrant, all this was just one terminal! It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie to me. The walls were all white, and the pillars, were large and made of polished metal. There was so much glass here that if it were all stacked, it might have collected to form a pile, sky-high. The Terminal was very large and it didn't look one bit plain. The lights were the main ingredients in decorating the vast spaces that were carved into this structure.

Entering Dubai Duty Free at Terminal3

The garden at Terminal3

The ceiling, bright with well-placed lights reminded me of galaxies floating in space. The famous Dubai Duty Free shopping area looked like a mall. And for those of you who'd like to be among nature, there is a space dedicated to you. A garden with trees, plants and a small stream also waits for people to relax in. If you fear getting lost here, fear no more, there are help desks everywhere. Terminal 3 let me feel like a King. I wasn't out into Dubai yet, but I was enjoying it's warm welcome!

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the U.A.E was my home for the following 10 days. This beautiful city is in a young but rapid stage of growth, in height as well as in area. It's wonderful location next to the blue sea adds to it's showcase. The skyscrapers, hugging the sky can be seen almost everywhere in the city. The roads are very wide and the cars here ride with the wind.

A road in Abu Dhabi

The lawns which carpet the road-sides are pillared with trees and beneath every patch of shade, is a bench, at the sight of which one is reminded of intoxicating sleep. During the weekends, people shed their 'load' of tension, over a picnic or a barbecue lazing on the lawns. The sea with it's striking colour is spectacular. As you rest on a bench along the waterfront, you seem to realize that time has stopped and that the blue void of the calm water just won't let go of you. You can sit for hours gazing at the sea, contemplating why the sea seems to end at the horizon far away.

An inlet of the sea, Abu Dhabi

But then, if your the kind of person who enjoys shopping, there are plenty of malls to scour. The first mall I visited was Marina Mall at Corniche in Abu Dhabi. Inside, we were welcomed by hundreds of other shoppers, all busy with the 'chore' of shopping. The mall has a unique tent-like shape and is a shoppers' magnet. We roamed, not knowing which direction to walk in. Shops were everywhere and almost every other corner looked similar to the previous one. By the time we had done seeing all the shops, half-a-day had passed by, and we hadn't even visited all the shops.

Inside Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi

In this mall, IKEA and CARREFOUR are the stores which will kill your time like crazy. If you get into these mega-sized stores, there is no coming back for a long time. IKEA offers great home-making solutions, while CARREFOUR has everything from electronics to fresh food. I'd like to call it, the "Everything-you-get store". If you still have time left after plundering these two stores, you have another 398 stores to visit. There are plenty of cafes here and you can enjoy a latte as you surf on the mall's wi-fi. Once your done sniffing every shop here, it's time to finish off the rest of the malls in Abu Dhabi. The other malls I visited were not in any particular way different from each other but I guess only an avid shopper can make out the difference. Abu Dhabi Mall, Khaladiya Mall, Al Wahda Mall, are some malls for you.

There are several other shops other than the malls which can be found scattered all over the city. You can either catch a city bus or a taxi to hop from place to place. To catch the action of the sea, you can visit the Corniche area. There are benches and lawns along the sea and you can sit here as long as you like looking at the yachts and speed boats playing out at sea. At some parks near the Corniche you can even hire a tricycle or a bicycle and ride along the waterfront. There are docks at several locations and they might take you for a ride into the sea, never asked.

Dubai

Welcome to the fun side. The spirit of joy cocoons Dubai and fun is embodied in many forms here. As soon as we entered Dubai we were welcomed by a bloom of high-rise architecture. The roads ever longer and 'ribboned' with bridges and flyovers. Each building had a stranger shape than the other and there seemed to be a competition between each for the the higher position. Far away towards the sea, I could see the top of a building almost blending with the clouds behind it. It seemed interestingly familiar. As it revealed itself, I was filled with wonder. It was the Burj Al Arab, a building that I had always wanted to meet in person. We included that in our schedule and decided to visit later.

A long list of places were waiting to be visited by us, but time was a barrier to it all, so the only option was to visit popular spots. One structure which is just so prominent in Dubai's skyline is the also the tallest building in the world. It is the Burj Dubai. Still under construction, it has already surpassed Taipei 101, previously the world's tallest building.

Burj Dubai

As we approached Dubai, I could see this building, standing high above the rest of the city, as we neared, I was left awed by it's 2,684 foot exoskeleton. I could see that it's needle-like top was still being completed. Cranes were dangling from this area and were hardly noticable from their height. It's so high, that I've seen it's top sticking out of clouds! Hat's off to Dubai and it's beanstalk.

Malls in Dubai do not merely serve the purpose of shopping, they are modern monuments and are home to the unbelievable. So there is no reason why you shouldn't visit malls in Dubai on the pretext of not shopping. The designation 'Largest' attracted my attention and we first visited the Dubai Mall, which is the largest mall in the world. Outside, I couldn't make out how big it would be. As we walked towards the entrance, cars with all types of posh names and equally stunning looks stopped for a brief moment and drove away. A lone Ferrari stood under the sun at one end and no camera spared a shot. As we entered, a blast of cool air streamed across us and we were inside. We walked further and we were left open-mouthed like the others at the sight of the largest in-mall aquarium. It was almost two floors high and extremely long.

The Aquarium, Dubai Mall

It was as if a section of the sea had been pinched off and placed here. A large shark patrolled the blue water, while shoals of 33,000 creatures of varied shapes, colours and sizes floated around. Flashes were going off everywhere as people wanted a shot of the underwater traffic on their cameras. Still amused, we walked by tons of shops only to be surprised again, we had arrived at an ice rink with hundreds of skaters skimming over the ice below. I later got to know that this Olympic-sized ice rink could accommodate 2000 skaters.

The ice rink, Dubai Mall

We soon had begun to realize that even a day wouldn't be sufficient to completely see the mall. Ok, so we passed hundreds of other shops out of the 1200 and then we were out. Well there was much more to see but we were saturated by fatigue and had to rest. We ended our day at Dubai by a visit to another popular mall, Deira City Centre.

The next visit to Dubai was a few days later and this time we visited the famed, Ibn Battuta Mall. Truly a mall worth visiting. This, one-of-a kind mall is named after the famous traveller and explorer, Ibn Battuta. It consists of six main courts after the countries he had visited, China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia. It was like entering into a different world. Looking up towards the roof, we found the sky painted and the floor was like a neatly paved footpath. There were street lights inside and the buildings along the streets inside were infact the shops. It was like a city with people minding their work.

Glimpses of Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai

We were in Andalusia and there were exhibits of some ancient inventions. Some corridors were decorated with ancient-looking lanterns and the painted sky changed to a roof with interlocked wooden beams. It's a pity that at the time of visiting this mall, we were unaware of the six main courts of this mall and we unfortunately visited only the Andalusia part of the mall. It was in this mall that I first confronted the popular Japanese dish, Sushi. At first I was very excited, but soon I made a mess of it all, I had no knowledge of using chopsticks so I resorted to using a fork and knife. The tasteless fish was complimented by a few strong flavours. I plucked at a lump of green stuff and put it in my mouth along with the fish. In the next second, my whole gut was fuming and my eyes watered, as if I had swallowed a piece of burning coal. I realized I had pinched off a bit too much of Wasabi a paste of some herb which is unbelievably hot. Then there were other herbs with the soy sauce all stinging my taste buds. There was some rice rolled in Nori (dried sea weed). Altogether, the sushi was a wonderful war of tastes.

We then headed towards the sea, towards the Burj Al Arab. When we were close to the beach, from behind the tree-line rose the Burj Al Arab, it stood high above us. Not remembering it to be so close to land, we drove towards the beach, craving for a better view. There it was, standing well into the water.

The Burj Al Arab, Dubai

It was ginormous and this was why it gave us the feeling that it was hiding behind the trees on the other side. The calm, blue sea extended towards the horizon. One my left was the the Burj Al Arab, on my right, some type of island was being constructed in the sea. Must be another addition to Dubai's collection of man-made islands, I thought to myself as we walked on the soft sand. I was looking at the horizon, which was as straight as ever and glowing blue. I followed it until the monotony was broken by a structure far away at sea. I soon recognized it to be the Atlantis, a mega-sized resort, located on the edge of the Palm Jumeira, a man-made palm-shaped island. I wanted to visit, but time was now as tight as a knot and so enjoyed it's view from the beach.

I recommend a visit to the Dubai Creek Park. Well, it's one place where you can relax, or enjoy a nap without any kind of city-related disturbance. It's rolling, lush green lawns are a treat to your eyes. You'll forget that you even were in a city.

Dubai Creek Park

It's quite big and has a science museum and also a Dolphinarium. Various types of cycles are available for hire. You can hire a four-seat cycle or a two-seat and take it for a ride around the park. The Dolphinarium has many shows in a day and you can watch the Dolphins flip like frisbees and also see the act of fur seals. By the time we were done with the park, the sun had already set and we made our way to the exit. By now, you must itching to ask me about the weather right? Well, at this time of the year the heat is on and is very hard on you, but lucky for us, it had rained two days before our arrival and so the weather was unusually cool.

The ten days had run their course and it was now the end of my trip. The next day I made the last journey of my trip, from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, to head back home. In the two hours that it took me to reach Dubai, memories from all corners of my mind were flooding to me. Dubai and Abu Dhabi had entertained me for the ten days that I had spent over there, but it wasn't enough. I had seen only the tip of ice berg and I wanted to see more. It was hard to leave, considering the fact that I had much more to explore. Time had whizzed past and within the blink of an eye, I was back where I had started. I looked up at the night sky, thinking I had woken up from a relishable dream. This was the end of another of my many journeys, a dream I will never forget. I had to record this somewhere, so I began typing.


I should tell you:

* It's very, very hot during the summer and the mercury can touch 50 degrees.
* Unless your roaming outside, you won't need to bother about the heat, because almost every building here breathes with an air conditioner.

* Terminal 3 is exclusively for Emirates passengers, so you won't be able to see it if you're not flying with Emirates.

* There are many tour operators in Dubai who will organize tours to famous and popular places in the city. One such tour operator is the Big Bus Company.

* Lastly, drink lots of water :)