Adventure Travel in the Middle East

10 Amazing Things to do in Dubai

April 20, 2018 By Guest Blogger

Editors Note: When Neha asked us to write a guest post on Dubai, we were excited to learn more about a destination we’ve not been to! Read on for her tips and favorite activties!

Dubai is chock full of amazing things to do and see. From the incredible architecture to the scintillating skyline to the pristine desert – there’s so much excitement around and not a single moment of boredom or dullness in Dubai. To make matters more exciting, Dubai is constantly trying to better itself, by building more and more spectacular architectural marvels. We just caught our breath after the Burj Khalifa, and the Dubai Frame is up now drawing oohs and aahs. Very soon, the Dubai Eye will be up and running. Here are 10 amazing things to do in Dubai right now. Don’t miss them!

Pretend To Be A Dolphin At Dolphin Bay

Visit one of the most sophisticated dolphin habitats in the world – Dolphin Bay in Atlantis. You can swim and play with the dolphins and even scuba dive deep into the bay with them. The dolphins are friendly and enjoy playing ball games and hide and seek with their human friends. Book your dolphin bay experience 14 days in advance and save Dhs 100. Enjoy visiting Aquaventure Waterpark as well as Aquaventure Beach along with Dolphin Bay and you’ll see why visiting the Atlantis corner is one of the most amazing things to do in Dubai.

Ooh and Aah at the Dubai Miracle Garden

Dubai Miracle Garden is a lush, verdant landscape full of flowering plants of every description. The difference is that these plants and flowers are shaped to resemble cartoon characters, animals, global landmarks and much more. Every season, the entire display is changed. It’s an organic, growing garden, raised into the shape that they’re raised to fit. Recently, Dubai Miracle Garden unveiled a humungous 18-meter tall Mickey Mouse statue, made entirely of flowering plants and flowers. The floral statue took almost 100,000 flowers to make and weighs close to 35 tonnes. It’s even won the Guinness World Record for the World’s Tallest Supported Topiary Sculpture.

Get Framed by the Dubai Frame

Dubai’s latest picture-perfect architectural marvel is open at Zabee

l Park and is a great success. The Dubai Frame consists of two 152-metre towers, which are connected at the top by a 93-metre glass bridge. When you go up the elevator to the bridge, you’ll at first feel disoriented as the bridge is made of glass. But the panoramic views over old and new Dubai more than make up for it. The ground floor of the Dubai Frame houses a museum where you can observe the city’s transformation from the fishing village it once was to the thriving metropolis it is today.

Stand Tall At The World’s New Tallest Hotel

The mighty Burj Khalifa is also the tallest hotel in the world, at 356 metres high beats the JW Marriott Marquis by one metre. The Gevora Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road has a rooftop viewing deck from which you can enjoy spectacular 360 degree views of the city. Tickets for Burj Khalifa Dubai are priced at Dhs100 for adults and Dhs50 for children. Still, there’s no problem with queues – just eat your meal, and get on to the rooftop. What’s more, your ticket gets you a voucher from the Le Veryon Cafe for a pastry tray and drink!

Check Out Dubai’s New Beachfront Destination

If you’re looking for an exciting beachfront destination in Dubai, here it is – La Mer, a whole new beachfront district in Jumeirah 1. This cool new hip destination has more shops, cafes and restaurants that you can count. It’s a colourful seaside spot, picturesque and Instagram-worthy. In fact, the Dubai Canvas street art festival was recently conducted on La Mer. During the evenings, it’s the perfect place, all lit up with fairy lights. Best place for a romantic proposal.

Check Out The New Urban Maze

Check out the world’s first urban maze, a series of rooms that twist and turn and present mind-numbing challenges. Visit Jumble, the latest in Dubai’s spectacular offerings for the curious mind. The urban maze allows teams of three to six people to progress through the maze, with each room containing a problem to solve or a physical challenge to overcome. It is youthful, it’s exciting and since it’s Dubai, spectacularly designed with 4D elements.

Experience A 24 Carat Gold Facial

Gold, as we’re taught, is rich in antioxidants. But did you know that a gold facial can reduce sun damage and tighten your skin and create a radiant glow on your face? Leave it to Dubai to come up with a 24-carat gold facial. Apparently, gold, when ingested, heals the issues within the body, according to methods practiced by ancient Egyptians. Guess what? Good old Cleopatra used to go to bed with a gold mask on her face, to enhance her already dangerous beauty.

Stay At The Atlantis Underwater Suite

Here’s your chance to spend a night at a real to goodness underwater suite, at the Atlantis – the Palm hotel. There are only two uber-luxurious underwater suites at Atlantis, offering an incredible view via glass windows at the spectacular marine world. Check out over 65,000 marine creatures through the full-length, roof-to-floor glass wall. Hold your own as deadly sharks see you through the glass and rush at you. Watch colourful fish put on a special show outside the glass. It’s the most incredible experience Dubai offers for an entire night for Dhs. 9500.

Enjoy A Fabulous Dubai Safari

The Dubai Safari wildlife park is a great place to take your whole family to.

It is home to more than 2,000 animals from 250 species, gathered from all over the world. More wildlife will be joining the ranks in the coming months. There’s also the world’s first drive-thru crocodile habitat, where you can sit safe in your car as deadly crocs roll around you and threaten you uselessly. The Dubai Safari Park also has the UAE’s only drive-through hippopotamus and tiger exhibit and also the UAE’s largest aviary exhibit.

Check Out Dubai’s Instagram Lakefront

Check out the brand new sophisticated destination in Dubai – The Yard at Al Khawaneej. Here you’ll find a full-fledged rural farm laden with urban accents, complete with a rustic courtyard, a bakery, a farmers’ market, and a manmade lake with shady walking trails. There’s also some excellent street art that you can check out, worthy of several Instagram shots. Check out the famous ‘Promise Bridge’ where lovers can hang love locks.

About the Author

I am Neha Singh, a full-time travel blogger by profession. You can follow my blog at dubaiwikia.com.

Living History While Traveling in Trabzon Turkey

August 1, 2013 By Danny

It about three years ago when we found ourselves traveling through Turkey during Ramadan. Turkey itself is a wonderful place to travel but what we found difficult was that as we headed further east, to the more religious parts of the country, we encountered the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. During the holiday, Muslims traditionally don’t eat during the day and instead pig out at night. Trying to be sensitive, and challenged by what food options were available to us, we tried to do the same which left us hungry during the day and awake at night as our busses made frequent food stops.

This past week we read an article in The Economist detailing how a Byzantine Monastary was being used as a Mosque to celebrate Ramadan. The article took me back to that time on the trip, travlling through that very city during this same very holiday. Although we didn’t visit this specific site, The Hagia Sophia of Trabzon, we were passing through during Ramadan and did visit another Byzantine Monastery, the Sumela Monastery. The site was itself quite beautiful and, as a tourist site, made a nice reprieve for us from the restrictions of traveling during Ramadan. Reading the Economist article I am left to wonder if it may to find a day when its own purpose is changed to another religion. This is something that happens all the time, especially in the Middle East, but I just can’t help to wonder what the future holds for sites such as this.

I intend to offer no opinion regarding the cultural and religious politics of that region of Turkey, but instead just want to offer a few photos from the Sumela Monastary

Drinking Tea in Egypt

May 22, 2013 By Jillian

There comes a point in every trip when a traveler needs a moment to themselves. A moment to just sit back and take it all in. This happens to me whether I’m sitting beside a busy pool on a family vacation or in the middle of a crazy market trying to negotiate my way into buying some ridiculous souvenir I’ll probably wish I hadn’t bought when I return home. (Editor’s Note: Ok, so I am still in love with everything I buy overseas – I just don’t know what to DO with it when I get home!)

One of the nicest things about traveling in the Middle East, especially Egypt is the tradition of tea drinking. Egypt holidays wouldn’t be the same without the hustle and bustle of a local market, nor the busy streets and shouting vendors, nor would they be the same without the brief break for a few sips of tea with a shopkeeper. It’s like stepping away from the world for a few moments.

I’ll never forget the moment when we stepped off the busy street in the Khan el-Khalili market in Cairo. We had just entered the area with souvenir shops and night had fallen on the market. Vendors had their stalls lit up like Christmas enticing passersby with welcoming gestures and good natured heckling. We stopped to look at a drum in a stall across the street, careful not to approach until we knew we were really interested. As we approached the vendor, who had other customers in his shop welcomed us with a hearty greeting and pulled out a cushion for me to sit on. Immediately a cup of tea was thrust into my hand as he invited me to sit while he continued with the other customers. We sat there for a moment discussing the drum in Spanish (another market buying technique- avoid speaking English if you can!) before he came over to join us. Then of course the negotiations began, but for that brief moment before he returned I remember looking out onto the bustling, noisy, bright as daylight street and feeling cocooned in his little shop.

Sip, smile, repeat. Take a break from the bustling market outside.

Then walk out with something that if you’re like me, you’ll cherish, but not know what to do with when you get home. Onyx candle holder anyone?

Photo Credit: Flickr user AG Gilmore via creative commons licensing.

Luxury, Mud and Salt: A Visit to the Dead Sea

February 20, 2013 By Jillian

Salt is all the rage these days- from salted chocolate to special salt scrubs to even flavored salt it seems no matter where in the world we go, we see some sort of salted souvenir. Honestly, until we started traveling I didn’t even realize there were different types of salt, nor the benefits of salt.

If you’re at all interested in salt or saline there is only one place in the world you can go to truly experience salt- the Dead Sea. Bordering Israel and Jordan, the Dead Sea has the highest content of saline in the world. Believe it or not, even the worst swimmer can float in the Dead Sea. If you go in, the rules are simple, absolutely, positively no splashing. The salt content is so high that the buoyancy will actually sweep you off your feet!

Besides being a fun way to experience total weightlessness, the Dead Sea is also home to some of the most mineral rich mud and thus skin care treatments in the world. It turns out that the same natural forces that increased the salinity of the water also increased the percentage of minerals that make your skin and body feel and look gorgeous. You may have heard of mud treatments, but no mud treatments compare to Dead Sea mud treatments. In fact, some people make a pilgrimage to the luxury spas and hotels like the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar, that line the Dead Sea, not for only a vacation, but also for body enriching mud and skincare treatments. All over the world products from the Dead Sea are recognized for their legendary properties. Some sell for hundreds of dollars an ounce, well out of the price range of this traveler!

Mud, luxury and salt, who knew that combination could be so beautiful?

IF YOU GO: The Dead Sea can be accessed from either Jordan or Israel. Many people make a vacation loop from Petra to the Dead Sea on the Jordanian side, taking in spa treatments like mineral mud facials, massages and salt scrubs to rejuvenate at some of the world’s most exclusive and luxurious resorts before returning home. Don’t skimp on the experience, Dead Sea treatments really do wonders for your skin-I even took a few bottles of product home with me!

Cruising Turkey’s Blue Coast

November 7, 2012 By Jillian

Turkey’s blue and turquoise coast is a glistening stretch of turquoise water, small inlets and hidden ruins. Although you can travel the blue coast on land, the experience is much better by sea. After all, who doesn’t love to be lulled to sleep by the waves?

We booked a cruise from Fethiye –Olympos (you can also book in reverse) on a gullet, or a traditional wooden sailing boat. Between sleeping on board and sailing from beautiful turquoise lagoon to beautiful turquoise lagoon it was a lovely vacation to travel – but it came with plenty of warnings. Like everything on the road, tourist adventures are a little bit of buyer beware. We stocked up on plenty of information before arriving in Fethiye on tour companies, boats, things to look out for and warnings about short-cuts that some operators take. Armed with that information we had an amazing experience along Turkey’s blue coast and so can you. Here’s what we learned:

Get recommendations from others who have taken cruises recently. Captains and tour operators can change ownership quickly so it’s best to have a recent recommendation.
Don’t go with the cheapest operator! We learned this the world over, but the cheapest operator often skimps on something- food, water or maybe even a crew that doesn’t speak English! Be prepared to pay a fair price for your cruise, if someone is 50% cheaper, trust us, you’ll know why within the first 24 hours onboard.
Ask about what is included, and get it in writing. Many Turkish blue cruise prices do not include alcohol – if this is important to you do some quick calculations before you get on board.

Like anything in tourism, going in with the right information can make the difference between having an amazing, once in the lifetime experience and an experience that could have been better. Although many tour operators will sell Turkey blue coast cruises from Istanbul, it is best to wait until you are at the coast to book your tour (if you can wait!) as you’ll be able to check out the outfitter and ask questions yourself.

IF YOU GO: Turkey’s blue coast is incredibly popular with tourists, but that doesn’t mean it is overcrowded. We found that the beaches and lagoons were not crowded with boats, most of the cruise we were the only boat in a harbor. There’s also a beautiful hiking trail, called the Lycian Way that follows the coast to Anatalya if you get a little sea sick. Don’t miss a chance to explore the various Lycian ruins along the coast. From sarcophagi near Fethiye to the ancient city of Olympos and the mythical flames of the chimera, the area is rich with cultural heritage sites that are well worth the visit.

10 Amazing Things to do in Dubai

Living History While Traveling in Trabzon Turkey

Drinking Tea in Egypt

Luxury, Mud and Salt: A Visit to the Dead Sea

Cruising Turkey’s Blue Coast

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