This city and emirate of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a metropolitan area of over 1,000 km2 but a population of just over 2 million people. People often imagine Dubai's luxury and wealth based on oil, but in fact Dubai's main revenue comes from tourism, finance and real estate. Dubai has turned its "barren desert" weakness into a unique "strange dish" that is most loved on the "tourist menu".
“City tour”, explore the luxurious city
Hop on - Hop off is the most popular means of transport for “city tours” in many places around the world, but in Dubai, cars are the most suitable means of transport. At the end of January, in the middle of the Arabian winter, the outside temperature is still 27 degrees Celsius, the climate is dry, windy and the sun is bright, sitting in the car still requires a scarf, hat, and glasses.
Dubai opened up before my eyes with layers upon layers of massive, skyscrapers, modern architecture but still retaining Arabian features. The intertwined, interconnected lanes, traffic works, real estate, hotels, etc. under construction were seen everywhere, showing that Dubai seemed to have not stopped. As a coastal city, built on the desert, Dubai rarely has green trees. Occasionally, I saw bushes, gnarled dry branches.
The favorite attractions in the Dubai “city tour” program that no tourist wants to miss are walking in the old town of Al Fahidi, strolling along the coastal road on the famous Palm Island. Along with that is the 7-star hotel, the most luxurious in the world Burj Al Arab, impressive with the shape of a sail built on the sea, crossing the canal at sunset by water taxi (motorboat). But the most interesting thing to say is to explore the spice market and the gold market Spice and Gold Souks.
These are two traditional markets connected together. Here, visitors are easily fascinated and indulged in shopping for many unplanned items. The spice market mainly sells dried goods, spices and spices with hundreds of items from tea, dried flowers, seeds, dried fruits, etc. and traditional cakes, jams and candies, with all kinds of eye-catching colors and shapes. The most popular item is dried dates, every store sells this item, visitors can try them and bargain freely. Dates are sold by the kilogram but the price difference is very large depending on the quality.
Going deeper inside, past the spice market, you will reach the gold market. Perhaps nowhere else has as many gold and jewelry stores as this market. Walking until your feet are tired, hundreds of large and small stores, located next to each other, the market only sells one product: gold and gold products. Even though it is dark, tourists and shoppers still come and go busily. The stores are brightly lit, displaying countless gold jewelry, fine art, and precious stones. Each store looks splendid and luxurious like a treasure trove in the Arabian Nights. The market is sold by men, mostly immigrants, of many different nationalities.
The magical darkness in the desert
Saying goodbye to the 7-star sail-shaped hotel, Palm Island with its luxurious villas, and the skyscraper city, we began our journey to experience the desert “Safari Night” starting at 3pm, the right time to escape the harsh heat and still be able to watch the desert sunset.
After about an hour and a half of driving out of the city, the desert appears vast and flat with bushes and date palms. People rest, drink water and watch the falcon show before going deeper into the desert. The falcon hunting show is a traditional favorite. After the show, tourists regardless of skin color, age, or gender often line up to take selfies with the brave bird and its trainer. After the show, guests begin their journey to explore the desert in 7-seat Toyota cars, off-road vehicles.
Our driver was a Syrian immigrant, tall, thin, quiet, but very funny and witty. He asked us to always wear seat belts, not to roll down the windows, and to notify immediately if we felt unwell. All cars were checked and had their tires deflated. At first, we were puzzled by the series of strange actions, the regulations seemed overly cautious, but after a few minutes we began to understand and gasp in amazement. The convoy of more than 10 cars followed each other into the desert, the flat sections began to recede, giving way to large sand dunes, steep sand pits, and sudden hairpin bends. The passengers in the car started to scream and grip their seats tightly, sometimes accidentally bumping heads with each other. Some cars had to stop because the people inside were not healthy enough. The scariest but also most exciting moment was when the car gained momentum to the top of the slope, then suddenly stopped and almost fell freely down the other side of the slope - due to the sand collapse creating a vertical abyss several meters deep.
After running for about ten kilometers, the convoy gathered at a high point in the desert, perhaps the most beautiful place to watch the sunset and take some souvenir photos. Just a few minutes later, the sun disappeared, returning the desert to the night sky like a dark purple velvet tent. At 7 pm, all the desert expedition groups had returned to the campsite for dinner. On a large field, hundreds of carpets and Bedouin-style tents were set up around the stage. Just choose a favorite seat with your companions and start enjoying the Arabian buffet.
There are many other interesting activities taking place here such as belly dancing, henna hand painting, sand sliding, camel riding... but the most interesting is enjoying a cup of hot tea by the fire while nibbling on dried dates piled up in a copper pot or gathering to chat around a shisha pot. It was late at night, the desert sky was full of stars, the sand dunes caught the light, shimmered, showing off their graceful curves like soft silk strips blending into the blue-purple night. Before leaving the desert, the camp lights suddenly went out. It turned out that the organizers asked all visitors to temporarily leave all modern means of transport for five minutes. Hundreds of people lay stretched out on the ground, relaxing, watching the sky and breathing the cool desert night air.
Shopping - Night out in the heart of Dubai
For those who are shopping enthusiasts, coming to Dubai is a waste of time. Hardly any tourist has enough time and energy to walk through all the shopping centers, as well as the traditional markets here. But Dubai Mall is the busiest shopping destination that tourists cannot miss. Dubai Mall is located right at the foot of Burj Khalifa - the tallest tower in the world - the heart of luxurious Dubai. The 124th and 125th floors of the tower are open to visitors who want to experience the whole city from a view of 828m.
As the world's largest shopping mall, Dubai Mall has more than 2,000 shops, entertainment areas, an aquarium, a food court, a cinema and a separate area where boutiques of most luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Catier, Rolex, Prada, Givenchy, YXL, Dior, Chanel, etc. are concentrated. Outside the shopping mall is a square with a large artificial lake, with a water music show every 30 minutes.
Every night, tourists flock to the area, shopping, dining, enjoying the water music and watching the light show on the Burj Khalifa tower. One of the restaurants with the best view in the area is Serafina restaurant in Souk Al Bahar*. Here, guests can have dinner, enjoy the water music, and watch the Burj Khalifa tower change colors at night. And you will hardly think about going to bed early when the charming and enchanting space of Dubai opens up before your eyes!
* Souk Al Bahar is an old-style commercial, hotel and restaurant complex in the area
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More information:
+ Lifestyle:As an open Islamic country, Dubai represents a perfect blend of East and West, a fascinating mix of tradition and modernity, and a multi-ethnic population. Dubai's workers are mainly immigrants from countries around the world.
+ Safety:Dubai is famous as a safe city, tourists do not have to worry about security issues when visiting Dubai.
+ Currency:Dubai uses the Dirham. There is a currency exchange service at Dubai International Airport, with the lowest exchange rate starting at $200. $100 gets you about $350 Dirham. Visitors should keep their exchange receipts so they can exchange any unused money back.
+ Travel time:The best time to travel to Dubai is from late November to April. During this time, daytime temperatures range from 20 to 30 degrees Celsius, and at night below 20 degrees Celsius. You should not go to Dubai in the summer.
+ Costume:You should bring a light jacket, windbreaker, scarf, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and moisturizer. You should wear modest, polite clothes. Women should not wear short skirts or tank tops when going to public places.
+ Other places to visit in Dubai:Besides the destinations mentioned in the article, Dubai also has many tourist attractions such as: Zabeel Royal Palace, Dubai Miracle Garden, IMG Worlds of Adventure with cartoon characters in Carton Network, Dubai Ski Resort, Adventure Water Park, Dubai Museum,...
+ Cuisine:Many people are uncomfortable with the strange local food when traveling, which greatly affects the quality of the trip. In Dubai, you absolutely do not need to worry about this problem, because here you can find everything from European, Chinese, Middle Eastern dishes, including pho!
+ Itinerary:
-From Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, Emirates offers daily direct flights to Dubai. Flight times are convenient and time-saving for tourists.
-Emirates uses modern wide-body aircraft B777-300ER for both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City routes with convenient and comfortable services, including special services for Vietnamese passengers (such as entertainment programs in Vietnamese and Vietnamese crew).
-Emirates is the World's Best Airline honored at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2016.
-Book tickets online: https://www.emirates.com/vn/English/
-Ticket office in Hanoi:
10th Floor, West Wing, Lotte Tower Hanoi, 54 Lieu Giai
Tel: 1900 1599 or +84 4 3811 0088.
-Ticket office in Ho Chi Minh City:
Room 1409, Sunwah Tower, 115 Nguyen Hue, District 1
Tel: 1900 1599 or +84839113099.
Article by Le Minh Phuong Photos by: Various authors
