The A380 landed at 5:30 a.m. and we were quickly through customs and immigration. Found the hotel shuttle bus stop and after a short wait caught the shuttle bus to the Premier inn Dubai International airport.
To ensure a room we pay for the night before.
A sleep and a shower now fresh and ready to go we went back to the Terminal 3 to the Metro station to get a Metro Day Pass ( 22 AED or $8.65 AUD). Our first stop was the Deira Metro Station to explore the Dubai Creek area. We ended up in the Deira city centre which is actually one of many huge shopping malls in Dubai. Wandered around for a while and then spent more time trying to find a way out!
Once out we were not where we wanted to be and there was no boat to catch from here so back on the metro for a couple of stops to Al Ghubaiba Metro Station on the other side of the creek. Here we explored the creek area, the Grand Souq – Bur Dubai, the textile souk and markets.
The old textile souk is an amazing place to wander around. Fabulous fabrics, dresses, cashmere scarfs and where the modern world gives way to the more traditional as you pass the perfume and spices stalls stimulating the senses as we follow the alleyways guiding us to the creekside,
A pleasant lunch at the Creekside restaurant MAZMi Coffee & More Sitting in the In the heart of the souks watching the boats pass by.
Over lunch we made a tactical decision to head to the Palm Jumeirah while there there was a stand where they were promoting tours of the tallest hotel in the world. This looks interesting with a car to take us there and then to wherever we wished to go after. The hotel overlooks the Palm Jumerah and the whole of Dubai. Only an hour and we get a great view of Dubai.
The promotion was to buy a hotel room. I am quite familiar with the condominium investment process used in the USA so knew there was going to be a sales pitch to put up with. Only an hour why not. To cut a long story short we were taken to an office building, lounge free drinks snacks etc. We indeed had a tour of the tallest hotel in the world unfortunately it was only a 6 foot tall model. When they said we would be able to see the top of the new hotel this is not what we had in mind when we agreed to take the tour!!
But true to their word the provided a car to drive us anywhere we wanted to go so we had the driver take us all the way downtown to the Burj Khalifa tower and Dubai Mall. We were hoping to take the elevator to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the word to see the sunset if possible. All the tickets were sold out online so we just took our chances and joined the que. There were a few tickets available but at A$300 each! we put this on the next time list.
We did however get to spend some time in the Dubai Mall see 200-300 of the 1200 shops, the Aquarium and the ice skating ring. Nicola was going to buy a new handbag but did not want to joint the que to get into Louis Vuitton.
The highlight of our day was spending the evening in downtown Dubai and the Dubai Fountain.
An amazing water, sound and light show. An opportunity to immerse yourself in a captivating water, music and light experience.
Submerged within the 30-acre Burj Lake, at the foot of Dubai Mall, powerful water jets are laid out strategically over an area the length of two football pitches. The fountain jets up to 22,000 gallons of water as high as 140m in the air at any one time. This is complemented with the light show on the buildings and the whole of the Burj Khalifa. Not to be missed.
Struggling to stay awake and at 20,000 steps we had pizza’s for dinner at an Italian restaurant while watching the fountain. Then on the metro and back to the Hotel.