22-23 July 2012 – Airport hopping
From Taipei to Hong Kong. Seven hours later from Hong Kong to Dubai. Trying all the beers they offer. Sleeping at the airport in Dubai.
23 July 2012 – Hot in here
“Welcome to Dubai. It is 11 pm and 40 °C,” said the captain before we dropped down in Dubai. “What the hell, it’s 40 °C in the middle of the night”, I thought and realized that I’m in the desert. Since I didn’t have a hotel for the first night I slept a bit at the airport and went to the city centre in the early morning. No doubt, it was hot, very hot. It was literally that hot that I had problems to breathe. However, the city was amazing. Skyscrapers just everywhere, one higher than the other and everyone an architectural highlight. Higher, bigger, faster… that seems to be Dubai’s rhythm of life.
The last Ho(s)tel
Since there are no “hostels” like in every other city I’ve been to, I had to take a hotel for the last 3 nights. The hotel was quite nice but let the pictures describe it.
Do you see the little arrow at the room’s edge? It shows the direction of prayer for the Muslims.
Ramadan
Apropos Muslims, there was Ramadan in Dubai. But most tourists didn’t know or didn’t care about their clothing. If they didn’t care about it, I find it impolite and disrespectful. One doesn’t have to support their views about women but it’s nonetheless their culture, their lifestyle and point of view. For me it’s just polite if they ask for following their rules to do so.
Furthermore, there was Ramadan at the time I’ve been in Dubai, what means that the restaurants are closed until sun set and it’s not allowed to eat in malls (public). For this reason I fasted all the days in Dubai. To be honest, I was very hungry every afternoon but enjoyed dinner like I seldom enjoyed it before. Feel the culture – experience something new!
I couldn’t await sun set everyday and enjoyed the delicious Arabic food with all the other people suddenly appeared about 7 pm.
Burj al Arab and Atlanits
In the evening I walked to the 7* hotel Burj al Arab, saw some beautiful buildings on the way and finished my walk with the nice view of Atlantis on the palm island.
Do you find the rabbits under the palm?
24 July 2012 – Abu Dhabi and the Hotel
Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi
I was a little bit nervous on the trip to Abu Dhabi in the morning because I didn’t know if there is a border between these two emirates. Luckily there wasn’t because I left my passport at the hotel. The Sheikh Zayed Mosque was the only thing why I went to Abu Dhabi and it was worth!
The hotel’s roof top pool - enjoy the sun
25 July 2012 - From the earth to the sky - Burj Khalifa, the highest building in the world!
At the top of the 828 m high Burj Khalifa all the other skyscrapers look like tiny little buildings, even if they’re a few hundred meters tall. In front of this superlative building there is a nice fountain show every evening. I expected a bit more for Dubai but it was ok.
Burj Khalifa
On the right picture one can see the Mall of Dubai - just to get a feeling for its dimension.
The Fountain Show
The Mall of Dubai and Mall of Emirates
“Just another shopping mall”, I thought as I went to the Mall of Dubai at the bottom of Burj Khalifa and the Mall of Emirates close to the Burj al Arab. But both have their extraordinary highlights. Weather a big aquarium, an ice rink or a ski world, everything in a shopping mall in the middle of the desert. Just insane and not ecological at all. That’s Dubai – higher, bigger, faster, crazier!
26 July 2012 – I’m coming home
This was probably the last post of my little trip around the world. Sitting here at the Dubai International Airport once again, waiting for my flight to Frankfurt in 14 hour and writing this post. I’m happy that my blog had more than 4000 views from all over the world and followers until the end. All good things come to an end and every dream is only a dream when you wake up again.
Usually a book starts with acknowledgements but my blog ends with it:
To my Parents and Grandparents, who gave me the necessary background and support for this unbelievable trip…
To my Siblings, who kept me connected to my laptop at home to save all the pictures I took…
To my Friends, who showed me their world and made this trip possible…
To all the Readers of this blog, who were the only people I could share all my experiences with…
THANK YOU!
