Dubai Travel Guide | Things To Do around Dubai and place to visit| Dubai Blog
It was due to covid that my planned trip to Srilanka was canceled during April 2020 and from the effect of covid had brought us various immense effects like quarantine life, lockdown, curfew, social distancing, closure of private/public organizations, institutions, doing remote work and other steps taken by govt to get the disease in control affected a lot of other peoples livelihood severely. Coz after being in very strict lockdown from Feb to June 2020, I felt exhausted and reached a point where I can’t endure this current scenario as most of my 2020 plans were messed up. Though I continued to focus on my other interests like gardening, playing my piano, and watching new Netflix series I felt something was missing still .and that’s when I thought why can’t I do a safe trip in the mid of covid before ending 2020. as I strongly feel everything is an experience that we need to get it rather than just being idle.
Preparation: when I sat during November month to decide which country to travel to during Dec 2020, we had only 4 countries that had their borders opened for tourism which was Maldives, Dubai, turkey, UK. And I dropped Maldives as I felt it might be apt only for couples who gonna spend their honeymoon and would not be the perfect place for a solo Traveller like me and turkey had earthquakes during the time I started my preparations and UK was costly and I’d run out of my budget .so I picked Dubai as my next international country to be visited. Since I had experience in doing a solo trip to Bali around Feb 2020, I was confident enough to do the same for Dubai. And started fetching the flight deals, Visa, hotels for Dubai, around the first week of Nov, but all prices were crazy due to Christmas and new year until Jan mid of 2021. unfortunately, flights were way too high since I had only one month buffer time. And there were lots of state regulations, airline regulations due to covid which I came to know after spending a half-day to read these docs from appropriate flight websites .so I got disappointed since I need to research more during my travel due to all these hassles, so checked with travel agencies if they have a better tour package price and luckily I got a good package from a reputed travel agent for around 62 K INR covering hotels, flights, visa, travel insurance, morning breakfasts and other main activities(for 3 days). Hence, I opted for it but otherwise, I don't prefer to go through a travel agency, As this is covid time, there are many other risks involved, which made me pick this way.
Prerequisites for an International Trip in Covid:
you need to get a negative PCR covid test report from ICMR approved labs before 72 hours of your departure flight which is mandatory to board the flight .so I took it directly from an ICMR approved lab called Rado labs in Chennai for 2,500 INR. this too might range up to 3500 if you take in hospital directly. I was confident to take a vacation in the mid of covid as my trip was covered by an insurance provider, so in bad cases, if I get reported positive for covid I’d not ve incurred any financial losses. this is also one reason why I required travel agent assistance. It’d been tedious for me to sync with people to cancel or reschedule flights, hotel, and activities if I had tested positive for covid.
and I was given an emirates flight by the travel agent which departs from Bangalore though I hail from Chennai as they had booked these flights in advance in a bulk slot.so I booked an SETC bus via bus to travel from Chennai to Bangalore .
Day 1 Chennai — Banglore — Dubai via Emirates
After reaching bangalore Shanthi Nagar bus stand at 3.30 AM, I felt like I was stranded and didn’t get any airport bus till 5.30 so I took an ola cab which was shared by another woman who was traveling to Delhi.
Emirates had an option to do online check-in, so I opted for a window seat online 2 days before my departure which is complimentary. after completing check-in, and immigration checks in the airport, I tried a use a lounge through the Priority pass card given by HDFC bank, this was the first time I used this card, it was indeed a great experience to get some food, beverages, snacks for free and proceeded to board my emirates flight.
The flight duration was 3 hours and I was able to see the flight details like route, Headwind/Tailwind, altitude, directions, speed, etc which was cool. landing view from the window was bizarre as the place was surrounded by just an empty desert before reaching the Dubai airport. and the climate was good (24 deg cel), the sun was moderate.
After landing, airport authorities had a separate queue for Pakistan people. and we need to give covid sample again in Dubai airport before stamping our passports and samples will be tested for covid and reports will be shared in a day until then we need to be self quarantined at our hotel in Dubai.
So On day 1(Dec 3, 2020), I didn’t have any other activities. just checked into the hotel at 3 pm, and paid 50 dirhams (calculated for a 5-day stay)to the hotel as an extra charge/tips as per Dubai govt rule and took a walk nearby to see local shops and prices .as expected everything was costly, even a lays packet cost 10 DHR which is 200 in INR .
after the continuous hunt for restaurants I found a street restaurant where they offered Indian food for an affordable cost.
Day 2: Exploring Dubai City on my Own
On day 2 I took a metro red NOL pass in a nearby metro station called Al Rigga and took a complete metro ride from starting point to ending point (UAE Exchange stop ) to get to know the places and route better.
I had a good impression of the city as everywhere it was super clean, organized, and well maintained. roads were damn good, there were proper lanes for pedestrians and bicycle riders, and electric scooter riders. chances for seeing a bike were very very few there, I’d see most of the expensive cars a lot there. also, I saw few Asian people probably Thailand peoples working in a spa and salon, and a lot of north Indian people working as construction laborers, and a few south Indian people working in different unprofessional jobs. the train I caught from Al Rigga metro goes to UAE exchange took more than an hour to complete the journey one way.
I spend 22 AED on a red NOL card (20 for daily pass and 2 for the card) .automatic ticket vending machine was crazy for me and I stumbled to get the ticket for some time and then I was offered some help by metro authorities. over the journey, i crossed union and burjuman stations which is the intersecting stations to go to the metro green line. and i dropped at DMCC Metro station caught a tram from dubai Marina Tram station to Dubai Marina Mall.
I spent some time doing window shopping at Marina Mall,using Free wifi and catched a Tram again to reach DMCC metro station to catch a metro to reach my destination called Al Rigga.
I completely spent the day by roaming city and trying Dubai Public Transport and finding a restaurant to have food at an affordable cost.
and I got my covid test results today which was negative, i downloaded that report via https://icrs.purehealth.ae/cvdscr/ and took a printout. also in the evening was visiting few nearby cell phone stores to get a sim card but most of them were selling only for emirates citizens and for tourists they asked original passport and cost also was huge around 150 AED which is nearly 3000 INR.
Day 3: City tour — ( Al Arab,Atlantis,Deira,Old Dubai ) ,Dubai Aquarium , Burj Khalifa
My actual activity starts today (5th Dec 2020), I had some activities pre-booked in my tour package,as per today’s itinerary we had a city tour in a shared van with other tourists who booked packages through other agencies like travel triangle,MakeMyTrip,etc.
I was visiting few major iconic spots in dubai with other tourists today .
firstly we went to a museum where they showed traditional antique dubai statues and carpets,explained few things about the attire and how the city was developed after oil was found .
Later we went on a quick ride to Burj Al Arab “World’s first 7 star hotel” and took couple of pics around the beach and also we went to “Atlantis — the Palm” and took some beautiful wide angle shots in the entrance .
Later we were dropped at dubai mall to spend our remaining day there and also we were given tickets for Dubai Aquarium and Burj Khalifa .Visiting Dubai Aquarium & underwater Zoo was total fun thing as i myself being an aquarists and a fish lover didn’t hesitate to checkout all the varieties of aquatic fishes,birds,crocodiles and penguin ,
One of the main reason everyone wants to visit Dubai is to witness worlds tallest building “Burj Khalifa” Famous for its magnificent construction and being as a iconic shooting spot for most of the hollywoods adventure films like “mission impossible” , “fast and furious” .
I was able to reach 126 th floor @ burj Khalifa where the ceiling was open and we had a wind may be 10 kmph at the top which was really cool to experience the evening breeze of air in that height.
Day4 : Skydiving and Desert Safari
Here comes the most interesting part of my Dubai Vacation . Skydiving @ Dubai was also an important reason why i wanted to visit dubai . coz wherever i go , i’d try myself choosing the best food ,best places to visit and must visit places in any country .Having said that skydiving is the very most important thing one must try if you visit dubai .
The reason is, though we have this skydiving activity in other cities like sydney and california also , we wont get this mesmerizing view above the man made island called Palm Jumeirah. and for this reason the cost for this activity is slightly high in INR component (44,000 INR ) .
Nevertheless i tried this and had a once in lifetime experience when falling from a private jet from a 13,000 height altitude,
I had a breathtaking Experience while jumping , and i was really scared a lot to view the city from that height , but somehow my instructor managed me and he ensured i have a safe adventurous experience, neverthless after some point my instructor did a spin on the top with my permission and after that , i gotta a stomach upset on the top and had a vomiting sensation . after understanding the situation my instructor gave me a plastic bag to collect my vomit which you can see in the below pic ( iam holding a plastic bag in my left hand ) . I knew this would happen and thats why i didn’t had any breakfast . but still after that spin i had that stomach upset .
But overall i experienced a lot and witnessed city view in a bird's perspective .
After doing slydiving,reached my room and took some food and rest to gain energy for another adventure later in the evening which is nothing but a ATV Quad Bike adventure @ Dubai Desert.
Desert is located away from Dubai City and you need to take a Range rover kind of cars to drive in those sandy areas . Riding this Adventure Quad Bike in desert was total fun , though i had driven this in bali , but that was in farmlands and driving the same bike in Dubai desert is different and gave a great spirit and feeling .
I booked this for 250 AED and shared with a co tourist who hailed from punjab .so it was value for money after sharing .
After this activity spent some time to watch the sunset @ Desert and was able to capture few great pics by European Tourist Girls . coz since am a solo traveller , often i end up seeking help with others to get me some cool pics which i can share in my social media .
After Quad bike, we went to Desert safari to view the famous Dubai Belly Dance show followed by other activities . i shot only few pics there, but will be posting those videos in my youtube channel .we had an amazing show of different artists performing varieties of traditional activities with fire and stuff.
Day5: American Hospital @ Dubai and Gopro Purchase
Today morning i was free without any itineraries and also i badly needed a covid negative report to fly back to india once my vacation is over , so since i will be leaving in couple of days i went to “American Hospital” and gave my samples and i picked up a bus for this travel so that i can complete riding in all public transports available in dubai . American Hospitals had a partnership with Emirates Flights to offer Covid Tests @ cheaper rate for their passengers ,fortunately i travelled with emirates i did this covid test for 150 AED otherwise it’d have costed me around 250 AED .
after giving my samples i walked to meena bazaar to find a best shop to buy my gopro hero action camera 9 which will cost in india around 42,000 INR at that time and in dubai it costed me around 34000 INR.
And in the evening we went to experience Dhow Cruise with dinner , it was really calm and so soothing to chill in the boat and experience the night view of dubai ,Also we had few fun activities organized in the boat for us . we spent some time chatting with co travellers and took some pics in night view and finished our day .
Day6: Day for Leisure and shopping
Most them would knew that buying electronics in dubai is cheaper than india coz tax rates are differ and they offer tax waive off for tourists as well . and thats the reason why i got a gopro for myself already . and i also bought a dji mini drone @ Dubai Mall for my friend who runs a tamil youtube channel named “Naveena Uzhlavan “ with 7 lakh subscribers .i bargained @ E city Electronics but they rather gave me a laptop bag as complimentary one .
While leaving Dubai Mall after my purchase , i was stopped by a young women who was desperate to sell her scent products . I should tell she had really great convincing skills and she offered me multiple scent flavours @ a cheaper rate . ideally i feel happy whenever i see entrepreneurs with good convincing skills . and later i got a dubai metro and reached ibn battuta Mall which i haven’t visited in this trip .
All these Buildings and Malls constructed in Dubai have a great design and architectural implementation done in Arab style which was really marvelous and splendid to watch it to know their nuances .
Since i am a budding pianist ,i tried to play a random piano at a musical store with a bunch of songs of my favourite and everyone there like it . it was really a overwhelmed feeling to play a branded huge piano since its very difficult to buy and own in my place due to its cost and size.
before leaving the mall i gotta call from my friend to get him another gopro . obviously i can't deny it ,hence i went and bought another gopro from “sharaf DJ store “ at the same price.
Later i gotta call from my dad to get some gold as he knew gold is sold in a cheaper rate comparative to india ,and this is the first time i am gonna get some gold for me ,i bought a 32 gram kada which usually men wore .now i realize why dubai is very costly for living and spending lol . coz amount of money spent for purchases exceeded my tour cost .
on the same night i have to vacate my room and need to reach airport to catch my next day flight .
Day 7: Dubai to Bangalore via Emirates
I had early morning flight , so just had some food in the midnight @ a lounge in dubai for free of cost using priority pass card . food was absolutely great and delicious .And i returned to bangalore in 3 hours via emirates flight with my covid negative PCR test report which is mandatory to board dubai flight and to enter india .Later from bangalore catched 3 bus to reach chennai which was though weird but really a different experience to carry all my luggages safely with me .overall i had spent around 70,000 INR for this dubai trip which would have been only around 60 K INR if it was couples as hotel costs would have been shared by 2 . nevertheless i wont wait for anyone in travelling coz i wasted so many years due to that . overall from the trip i had learned to manage costs in a country like dubai where cost of living is too high and also had some relaxation in the mid of covid and quarantine stuff .
