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BiloTrip day 1-3: One day in Dubai

Hi guys! I would like to take all of you on my first big travel adventure on my own. BiloTrip to Dubai & Thailand.

As Im not very good with travel posts… It takes me ages to get through all photos. By the time I do so, all details & interesting info is long forgotten. The whole vibe of the trip is gone! So I decided to do it right away as I travel! And here is a first amazing thing about travelling alone – nobody minds me typing away :) Love it! I can just absorb, enjoy, do what I want in my own time & speed, take pictures & blogging. Woohoo!

Thailand is my main destination, but decided to stop by in Dubai just for a day, to see what is a whole fuss about :p.

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BiloTrip day 1-3: One day in Dubai

Emirates

Emirates flight Prague – Dubai was on time, seems like Emirates are not affected by yesterday’s weather as Wizzair :) They provided us with usual long distance flight service: hot towels, blanket, dinner, soft drinks, spirits & ice cream on top. Surprisingly AC wasn’t too cold! Hurray! Fantastic TV screens with USB connectors & possibility to use own headphones! Offering a wide range of new & old films! Managed to see:
Creed – Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) & Creed Jr. just legendary. Boxing, angry guys, sweat & blood, motivation speeches. Simply everything we love about Rocky! Love it! Fave line from the film: “I’ll fight, if you will!”. Another movie – Pan – The very first book I read as a kid. Amazing fantasy world, that every child should visit. Fave line from the film: “A home is whenever you create it!”

The passenger next to me turn out to be Czech guy living in Thailand for quite some time. So got some tips & contact from him. Yeey, lucky me :)

Dubai airport

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Looks like a massive shopping centre or 5 star hotel. Majestic building. Huge, high ceilings, palm trees, waterfalls, shiny & clean. Almost no waiting time in the passport checking area, but no welcoming smiles either :D

Uber

I tend to take Uber any time I have an internet. Specially for the first time in the area, best way how to get an idea about local taxi prices. Uber is always cheapest but WiFi is a question of luck :)

Anyway back to my trip. Driver couldn’t find me on the airport, for about 20min :) but surprisingly he didn’t cancel the trip! Amazing patience, EU drivers wait about 5min. Eventually Uber driver found me! His English wasn’t great & I had to navigate him to the hotel. But he was so sweet & friendly! Took us about 40min & I paid 60 AED. In comparison a ride back to the airport was around 15min for a price of 32 AED.

Radisson Blu hotel – 4 stars

Radisson Blu hotel at Dubai Deira Creek (there is 4 more of Radissons in Dubai). Amazing 4 star hotel! Was taking pictures in the loby as a proper Chinese tourist :D. Got a beautiful room with gigantic bed, but unfortunately no view what so ever… on the first floor haha. Which is fine with me, for 2 nights. Booked it via hotels.com with one free night, otherwise it would be way too expensive for a single person. :) Free toiletries, bottled water & fantastic fast Wi-Fi. Polite staff & very generous all you can eat breakfast buffet.

Creek is name of the river dividing Dubai, there is no many bridges but a river taxi is available (single ride 1 AED, make sure you have some change).

Tv

Around hundred international channels on the hotel TV, that’s something for a film lover like me! :p A program about Mark Wahlberg made me laugh, I found out a few facts about him. So wish to share… He was in the band – New kids on the blog & then he went solo as a Marki Mark! How could I miss that?! Loool! Those old pictures made me laugh! After troubling teenage years he done good for him self! Everybody love bad boys! :)

Second thing was a Yellow label tea advertisement – Muslim wife makes a tea for her husband who doesn’t share his business problems with her. After one sip he closed his laptop & start talking & sharing with her :) ahahaha I’m not convinced that’s the reality – but the issues pointed out obviously are :)

Back to Dubai!

Hotels.com

Always use them for hotel bookings, they give 1free night for 10 nights you book with them! That’s how I got to stay here. But I have to say the hotels tend to “fuck” with these deals. Giving away rooms with no view, on the first floor & so on! So complain guys, don’t be scared, it’s your money & your holidays! You are worth it!

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To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to wear to avoid attention on the streets. Seems like this outfit worked just fine :)

Getting around

I tried almost all possible types of transport in Dubai. Walking, boat, taxi, metro. There are buses & helicopters, well next time. What I learned: No one is walking here – not surprising – 35 degrees, everything is too far & there are no side-walks at some places! A never stopping weave of cars day & night. Few bikers, one walker – Me :)

The main life is happening inside in malls & office buildings. Air conditioning is the key :) (typical for all hot countries – AC set on 19 degrees!!! Brrr). Temperatures in Dubai can go up to 50 degrees. Auch. No life on the streets makes perfect sense I guess.

I do prefer European type of cities, where you can walk almost everywhere & explore the city without the car. Feels more homey that way.

Beach

I went to the one with the view to Burj Al Arab. Quite clean, almost empty – I was told that weather changed just yesterday (29.3) & that its the end of the season. Haha lucky me! But the milky sky doesn’t mean there is no sun. Nice 32 degrees in combination with my all day long walk made sure I managed to burn a bit – NEVER underestimate the sun guys!

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Always check with locals or taxi drivers the beach places – some of them maybe closed due to – surprise surprise BUILDING works!

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Food

Well apart from some humus & tzatziki I had for brunch, you can find all kind of world kitchens. From kebabs & McDs to Italian & Asian dishes. Of course Starbucks & Costa in every mall.

Prices

Uber from the airport was around 60AED but my hotel was quite close by, because of my short visit. Later on I took a local taxi – 15min/10km for 25 AED.
Hotels – depends on stars & locality, but in any case quite expensive.
Starbucks ice coffee large 21 AED
Ice-cream cornetto 3 AED
Boat taxi 1 AED
Metro single ticket 8 AED
Meal at the mall – anything from 40 to 400 :)

Dubai – city of wonders

First impression: Huge, massive hotels, building sides, highways, concrete, asphalt, clean, expensive cars, hot, no life on the streets (not during the day for sure), alcohol is super expensive & its hard to get.

History: Despite a lack of oil, Dubai’s ruler from 1948, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, used revenue from trading activities to build infrastructure. Electricity, telephone services, and an airport were established in Dubai in the 1950s and, in 1959, the emirate’s first hotel, the Airlines Hotel, was constructed. This was followed by the Ambassador and Carlton Hotel in 1968. Source Wiki.

One of the fastest growing cities in the world! What a management. Oil & trade money helps of course :D. Builders working days & nights.

A major expansion of the Red Line to add 15 kilometres of track & extend it from Ibn Battuta to the Expo 2020 site was announced in April 2015. What a great time plan 15km of metro in 5 years. Reconstruction of the highway in Czech republic takes longer than that :D ridiculous… Dubai Metro also holds a Guinness World Record as the world’s longest fully automated metro network with a route length of 75 kilometres (47 mi).

Burj Khalifa

Astonishing Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world – make sure you come see it in the evening or at night as the whole tower is covered in a light effects/ projections. There suppose to be a dancing fountain, with the music close by, but it was closed… :( The tower it self is close to Dubai mall, so there is many restaurants & coffee shops outside – offering amazing view & 50min waiting time :D.

Dubai mall

The Dubai Mall (Arabic: دبي Ω…ΩˆΩ„β€Ž) is a shopping mall in Dubai. Along with West Edmonton Mall in Canada, it’s the tenth largest shopping mall in the world by gross leasable area. Opened on 8 May 2009, with about 635 retailers. Crazy! If you wish to explore a whole mall you may need around 3 days. Its not just a shopping btw there is an ice ring, cinema, aquarium, restaurants & much more. I was amazed by the waterfall wall with “jumpers”. Incredible! The best thing is that there is a direct Metro entrance from the mall (20min walk).

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Women

Don’t want to criticise the whole Islamic tradition of covering women & making them walk like slaves behind their husbands… But I just to wish to point out that I haven’t seen a single happy, laughing muslin woman in Dubai. Children & teenagers are smiling, laughing & seems to be happy. BUT women in hijabs or burqas are just invisible. Like ghosts! Ridiculous! How can any religion makes a person disappear & stop be alive basically? Why didn’t a good Alah came up with so other children making machine, if woman is so unworthy to be herself?

Muslim Clothing Facts 

Man

Most of the Arabs staring with interest or contempt. No smiling, no response on greetings.

After years in London I came to one basic conclusion – if you wish to enjoy this great city you need a well paid job to afford good flat & big city life. After 2 days in Dubai? Well you need rich boyfriend or be from a very wealthy family. Otherwise you are just a fly on a skyscraper, not even scratching the surface of what this city has to offer. So if you are not a millionaire – I can think of many other places on the planet – when you can enjoy your money for more. For example – Thailand :)

So next time I’m coming only with a wealthy husband on not at all :)

Helicopter ride

Booked a flight to see whole city in few minutes. But it was cancelled due to the bed weather conditions. Would not see a thing through that milky sky :( Shame – the Eye in the Sky Helicopter Tour with a pick-up from Oasis Tours Operators from Groupon was a such a good deal. I used helicopter tour services in London & New York, its the best thing ever! Seeing city from the bird perspective has a special meaning for me. It is very powerful experience, plus it helps you to decide where to go & what you want to see from the ground. I found few other pages offering a helicopter rides – so If you planning a trip to Dubai – check them out: time.com, tripadvisor.com, viator.com

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Haven’t spoke to anyone apart from the Czech guys on the plain, hotel staff & taxi drivers… oooh ye this hot Russian guy on the beach. Otherwise – the only conversation I had was with myself & you guys :)

Im writing this from the attitude around 2000m, as Emirates plane is preparing to land in Bangkok. Time to write a different story – a story about Crazy Bangkok :)

Hope you enjoyed my BiloTrip day 1-3: One day in Dubai post See you soon guys! Xxx

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