TRAVEL BLOG December 3rd, 2021 - DUBAI

 

12/3/21- Didn’t get much sleep due to the Sprint fiasco last night, but we work it out. Cost $20 but well worth it to finally have service on this trip. I’m sure I can get a credit from them later.

We wait outside of our hotel at 8:25am as asked, however our transport didn’t arrive until 9:15am. The sugar donut I ate wakes me up enough to be alert, which will be highly needed on this day. We sit in the back of the van and already feel the bumps of the road as the driver swerves around traffic. An hour later we arrive at their headquarters to buy souvenirs, water, food and head scarves, which Sharece gets one and looks way cool in.

Shortly after, we get into an SUV retrofitted with special tires for sand bashing, which if you are not familiar with that term it’s like jumping sand dunes in a dune buggy, but much more erratic. The thrill was enough to wake me up though.

The driver pulls up to the camels and after taking a few photos we hop on for our thirty minute ride into the desert. This is the highlight as they offer a short walk for a few minutes but we sprung for the longer journey to get the full feel. The camels are actually comfortable and glad it wasn’t too hot outside during the journey. Sharece’s camel likes to rub up against my leg and let me pet it while it poses for photos. I was very impressed.

The last thing is sand boarding down the dunes. Sharece opts out while filming me attempt this maneuver, as I’ve never even been on a snowboard or a pair of skies before. Immediately after strapping in I, of course, fall back into the sand and fight to get up. The second attempt goes better only to gradually work the board down the dune as it keeps getting caught up. Finally, on the third attempt I make headway, only to almost tumble half way down. It's definitely an experience I’ll never forget, and neither will Sharece’s camera.

We make it back to our hotel in one piece, although very sandy. I had to maneuver while in the van to make sure my camera didn’t get any sand on it which was not easy, and rinse off in the shower upon our return. Needless to say, the bar of soap is caked.

Researching things to do, I purchase tickets to the Dubai Frame for sunset and the confirmation says I’ll get an email once payment is confirmed in thirty minutes. Well, it never showed up, yet there’s an authorization on my credit card. Does this mean it DIDN’T go through? I’m not going to try the payment again, so I take a screenshot and move on.

At 3pm, we take an UBER to the Saudi German Hospital for our PCR COVID tests. We thought we’d be in and out like before but it takes thirty minutes to register on their app before getting swabbed. Man, I still can’t get used to that nose feeling. The tests cost us 150 AED (roughly $40 each). We’ve been careful on this trip so far, wearing a mask and keeping our distance when possible. In Dubai, wearing a mask indoors is mandatory and almost all still wear them outdoors, which works because the last thing we want is to catch anything and have to quarantine.

With the test taking so long to do, we take an UBER ($20) to the Dubai Frame (which is 500 feet tall with a vast view of the city) and make it with ten minutes to spare before our scheduled time. There's already a long line forming, however, I still don’t have a confirmation email, so I went to the ticket guy and showed him the screenshots of the confirmation and my credit card’s pending charge and he let us right through. Lucky us. There’s another long line to get into the building and are asked for our tickets. This time they jot down my name and email and ask us to sit for several minutes before they allow us to go through. Whew! Can’t believe that actually worked.

The elevator takes us to the top just as the sun comes down, creating some great photos of Dubai. People there were also very courteous as they waited for each other to finish taking photos and looked around to make sure they weren’t in anyone’s way. It also wasn’t super crowded either. The sun fully went down as we continue to get night shots, but left shortly after the glare from the inside lights were becoming crazy, ruining most photos. Not sure why they built it that way, but it started to suck.

Once on the ground, we contemplate checking out other things but feel way too tired to continue. We could’ve forced it but it’s probably best to get some actual sleep tonight, so we take an UBER back to our hotel, pick up some food for tomorrow morning and call it a night.

Side note: Dubai is like a much larger version of Vegas in many ways. Each building is unique with its own character to it, everything lights up one way or another and just because a store seems close doesn't mean it's easy to get to.