Our Dubai trip was God’s gift as counted
in so many ways! First, we were one (1) of the only two (2) lucky recipients of
a 3D-2N Dubai visit package, courtesy of Meteor Philippines, Inc., a Manila-based
travel agency specializing in Mediterranean Tours. Secondly, Cebu Pacific, the
Philippines’ renowned low-cost carrier, made available low fares for
Dubai. Still, among others, there are
many Filipinos working in Dubai whom we can easily call for assistance. One of whom is Celina “Linlin” Anora,
daughter of our closest friends Efren & Cecil, who gave us last minute tips
to finalize our itinerary!
Travelling on a motorized wheelchair
could be taxing! However, I believe in the PWD saying that “If there’s a wheel,
there’s a way!”. My excitement to
explore the Middle East surpassed whatever reservations I had in my mind!
Mobility, after all, is just a state of the mind!
On August 13, my staff Rachel and I took
a connecting flight from Tagbilaran-Manila-Dubai. The travel time took us about
one (1) day including stop over, i.e., left Tagbilaran 11:30 AM and arrive
Dubai 9:30 PM (1:30 AM Philippine time).
We were billeted at Howard Johnson
Hotel, Bur, Dubai for three (3) nights and transferred to ABC Arabian Suites, Kuwait
St. Mankhool Area Port Rashid, for another two (2) nights. Excellent accommodation and services from its
staff, mostly manned by Filipino “kabayans” who are the best “go to” folks
ready to provide info when needed the most!
August
14, 2014
At 8:30 AM we were picked up by Jafar of
North Tours, a major Dubai-based tour player, who brought us to Dubai Creek
where a tour bus was scheduled to pick us up for a joint tour. Taking an air conditioned coach, we scanned thru
the scenic route of Dubai City’s amazing sky scrapers for photo stops at its
must-see destination points including the majestic architecture of Burj Al Arab
as well as the trunk, leaves and crescent of the famed Palm Islands, the
Jumeirah Palms.
The
4-hour Dubai City tour allowed us personal encounters with Dubai’s vital
landmarks:
1.
Burj al-Arab
Hotel: The most photographed,
7-star hotel, rising 321 meters (the 3rd tallest hotel in the world) and voted
as the most luxurious in the world (think of a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce
picking up its guests). "Very smart casual" is its official dress
code. Hotel rates ranges from a whooping
USD 2K-USD20K/night!
It stands on an artificial island 280 m (920 ft) from Jumeirah beach and
is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. The shape of the
structure is designed to mimic the sail of a ship.
2.
Jumeirah Mosque, the only mosque open
for non-Moslems to enter.
3. The
Sheikhs Palace (w/ peacocks welcome).
Our city tour gave us the chance to take a glimpse of the Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Palace, the President of Dubai. He is also the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and constitutional monarch of Dubai. He is the third of Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum's four sons (Dubai's
ruling Al Maktoum
family).
4. Dubai Creek – A saltwater creek dividing
Dubai City into two (2) main sections – Deira & Bur.
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| The Dubai Creek |
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| Beautiful sights along the Dubai Creek harbor |
Dubai museum. The main museum in Dubai is located in the Al
Fahidi Fort, built in 1787 and is the oldest existing building in Dubai. The
museum was opened by the ruler of Dubai in 1971, with the aim of presenting the
traditional way of life in the Emirate of Dubai. It includes local antiquities as well as
artifacts from African and Asian countries that were traded in Dubai. It also
includes several dioramas
showing life in the emirate before the advent of oil in addition to artifacts
from recent discoveries as old as 3000 B.C.
In 2007, Dubai Museum welcomed 1,800 visitors daily, with a yearly
total of 611,840. In March 2008, the Museum had 80,000 visitors. The most
popular times are from August to April. The Museum received over 1 Million
Visitors in the year 2013.
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| The main entrance of Dubai Museum |
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| Dubai museum is the oldest existing building in Dubai |
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| some of the well preserved artifacts displayed inside the museum |
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| A wishing well inside the museum |
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| A slice of the hordes of tourists visiting the meseum... |
Gold
Souk is a traditional market (or souk) in Dubai. These are not
just malls but historical icons which gave different meaning to the word
“rich”. In the Gold Souk, everyone has
equal opportunity to gain a good buy of the jewelry variants on display. The souk is located in the heart of Dubai's
commercial business district of Deira.
It consists of over 300 retailers that trade almost exclusively in jewelry. By some estimates, approximately 10 tons of gold is present at
any given time in the souk. Trade in the gold grew during the 1940s due to
Dubai's free trade
policies that encouraged entrepreneurs from India and Iran to set up stores in
the souk.
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| Can't help but be amazed by the intricately designed gold jewelries displayed as far as your eyes can see!!! |
7. Palm
Jumeirah - The Palm
Islands are engineering wonders at its best!! Work on this marvel started two decades ago
and it has become one of the premiere icons of the modern world. It is a set of
three islands; the Palm Jumeirah, the Palm Jebel Ali and the Palm Deira made in
the shape of palm trees with the trunks connected to the main land and
breakwaters encircling the fronds. The three islands among themselves house 300
luxury hotels and villas owned by the likes of David Beckham, Tiger Woods, Tom
Cruise, Michael Schumacher and other world celebrities.
7. Atlantis Hotel - A 5-star hotel resort
located at the top of the Palm Jumeira (centermost of the crescent). It was the first resort to be built on the
island and is themed on the myth of Atlantis but includes distinct Arabian
elements. The resort opened on September 24, 2008.
While in the Emirates, do as the Arabs
do! Thus we ventured in so many first things to do that made our Dubai
experiences more endearing.
At 5:00 PM, Jafar picked us up for our
Desert Safari tour which started off with dune bashing on a private Land
Cruiser. We experienced roller coaster
bashing on the high and beautiful golden sand dunes of Dubai Desert! The trip
gave us breathtaking view of the endless desert fine sands to our heart’s
delight!
An hour later, Jafar brought us to the
Desert Camp where we experienced our first ever Camel Ride and Arabic dinner. Also,
we got a chance for shisha smoking and were served with a 5-star open
international menu BBQ dinner. We also experienced an ultimate session of Belly
Dancing as performed by a beautiful and seductive belly dancer.
Aug.
15, 2014
Friday is a prayer day for the Moslems.
The Metro station was closed up to 1:30PM.
So after breakfast, Lyn2x showed up at our hotel and we decided to spend
the morning at nearby places. Taking a taxi
we visited the old Dubai district of Deira, check the old souks and later
proceed to the other side of Dubai Creek.
The old stalls and promenades were attendant of then busy commercial
activities of the area. Other sects like Hindus also had their religious services
when we visited the area.
By 11:30AM, we went back to the hotel as
Mark & Caryl, both architects based in Abu Dhabi had to pick us up for
lunch. True enough, they picked us up
past 1:00PM and took us to Souk Madinat, a posh commercial center in the Jumeirah
area. We had our lunch at a Chinese
resto having the famous Burj Al Arab at the background.
After lunch, the couple and their friend
Ted from Bacolod, took us to Gold Souk to bask on the fine gold jewelries
displayed all over the place. We cannot
contain our amazement and marvel at the intricately designed jewelries
displayed in several stalls lined up in the souk. For some fulfilling reasons,
we bought a small piece of jewelry as a token of our visit to the souk.
By 5:00 PM we were dropped off to our Hotel,
took a little rest and get ready to be picked up for the Dhow Dinner Cruise.
The Dhow Cruise (Deira Side) The dinner cruise is a simple boat ride
along the source of Dubai's birth place. This used to be the lifeline of the
city, it being a major port where vessels from India and the Middle East used
to trade. Some of the old buildings that served as custom houses and inns still
exist.
An Arabic dinner was served aboard the
cruise and by coincidence, the same dancer who performed at the Desert Camp the
other night entertained the guests aboard.
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| Very handicapped friendly ramp for easy boarding into the dhow cruise! |
August
16, 2014
Malling/Shopping
Adventures and Opportunities:
1.
Mall of the Emirates - We
included this mall in our itinerary to witness for ourselves how winter is
experienced in the Middle East. In Ski
Dubai, people here experienced Winter Wonderland while the temperature outside
may be sizzling hot in this desert city!
The Ski Dome
is maintained at sub-zero temperatures. Enjoy skiing here or if you aren't into
that, try the cable rides or make a snowman among the adorable kids that flock
it. Winter accessories and jackets (along with gloves and hats) are available
for reasonable fees.
2.
Dubai Mall/Burj Khalifa
Burj
Khalifa- Standing at a staggering 828 meters with 160 floors, the Burj Khalifa
is now the world's tallest building, beating the Taipei by huge margin of 300
meters. It houses nine luxury hotels and has the observation deck on the 124th
floor, the highest artificial view point in the world. This building is where Tom Cruise shoot for
one of his Mission Impossible movie series.
The
famous Dubai Mall is at the ground floor where the world's largest
choreographed fountain system can be best viewed. Set on the 30-acre man-made Burj Khalifa
Lake, it is designed by WET Design, the California-based company responsible
for the fountains of Bellagio Hotel Lake in Las Vegas. Illuminated by 6,600
lights and 25 colored projectors, it is 275 m (902 ft) long and shoots water up
to 500 ft (152.4 m) into the air accompanied by a range of classical to
contemporary Arabic and world music. It was built at a cost of AED 800 million
(USD 218 million). The show starts late in the afternoon and the show runs
every 30 mins.
Dubai
Aquarium & Underwater Zoo. Dubai
Mall amazingly brought the ocean into the city!!
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| A giant aquarium inside Dubai Mall |
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| See the ocean in the city! |
Dubai
Waterfalls. Cascading waterfalls as high as a 2-storey building!
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| Add caption |
The giant waterfalls showered refreshing mists to our faces as we get nearer to the falls!
August
17, 2014
After breakfast, we went directly to
Burjujam Metro Station, taking the train (Green Line) for Oud Metha where St.
Mary’s Catholic Church was located. We arrived
in time for the 9:00 AM mass. After the
service, we went back to the Metro Station and took another train ride to Deira
City Mall for Pasalubong shopping. Leaving
our shopped items, we took again the metro rail to Ibn Batutta Mall, the
world’s largest themed shopping mall in Dubai. Uniquely designed to celebrate
the travels of the famous Arabic explorer Ibn Battuta, the exciting mix of over
275 retailers, 50 restaurants and food outlets, 21 cinema screens.
Dubai Marina: The Strip of
Las Vegas and The Fisherman’s Whart of San Francisco, USA have found a
competition at last! Dubai Marina is one of its
kind artificial canal city, practically carved out of the Persian Gulf shore
along a 2 mile stretch with a housing capacity to accommodate more than 120,000
people in luxury residential towers and villas along the coastline. Some of the
must see features of this phenomenal city are its mesmerizing skyline, the
pristine beach, the two walk ways viz "The Walk" and "The Marina
Walk", the small but lovely cafes, the myriad of shops lined along these
walks and of course the hotels.
Dubai Marina was
inspired by the Concord Pacific Place development along False Creek
in Vancouver, BC,
Canada.
August 18, 2014
After
checking-out from the hotel, Dideth of White Sands Tours, graciously brought us
to Deira City Mall to do some last minute shopping before we were dropped off
to Dubai International Airport. We are
so grateful of the personalized services of White Sands Tours and the way how they
handled their guests.
Finally, I conquered Dubai! A very
accessible city welcome to travelling PWDs.
I cannot say it was hassle-free but in sum, it was really convenient to
get around the city! Therefore, I encourage PWDs like me to get out of your
shell and see the other side of the fence! The grass outside might be greener!
BY: BERNADETTE G. CABERTE
Manager, Royal Fantasy Tours
Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines
