Holiday Blues

4 Days in Dubai

Starter... 4 days was 100% not long enough. 

I can not believe this time last week I was exploring a completely new country in the beautiful sunshine. Actually, to be precise... this time last week I was on my way into the desert; which turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.

Heading to a country I had never visited before was super exciting. I couldn't wait to see new sights, experience a new culture, but most of all, I couldn't wait to be in the sun. I had also done a bit of research on the Dubai malls... bad idea. Quick tip - if you go to Dubai and don't have too long there, (if you love shopping like me) don't go. The malls are that big that you could honestly spend a week in them; 1200 shops under one roof is just a recipe for disaster. We stayed in a hotel called The Atlantis, Palm. STUNNING. I don't think I have ever seen a hotel quite like it. It was that big I don't know how I didn't mange to get lost.

Day 1: 

Flying through the night meant we landed in Dubai pretty early which was nice because we got a full day. After checking in, I was that tired and my eyes were burning that much, that I had to take a quick nap. Nap over with... time to explore the hotel. A quick walk down to the hotel's private beach was the perfect way to start our little holiday. Now, when we're all on holiday ('we' being Mum, Dad and I), we're all like big kids. Not that we're not always... But being on holiday makes us even crazier. The hotel had its own water park next door and if you stayed in the hotel you got free tickets. Perfect. Seeing as though at 17:00 the heat was still standing at a good 36 degrees (celsius), going to the water park was a must. I have been to so many water parks around the world but hands down this one was the best! On a scale of 1-10, it definitely scored 10. After about an hour of whizzing around the rapids it had come to my favourite time of day... Dinner time. Free food is always the best kind of food, so being half board was right up my street. As the hotel was pretty fancy-shmancy it was a perfect excuse to get dressed up which is always a nice thing to do. An international buffet was just perfect and I was already looking forward to dinner again. Day 1 over and an early bed time was on the cards for a full day in the city for day 2.

The Atlantis, Palm

Day 2:

 We had pre-booked a city bus tour which nicely set us up for the day. I figured being on an open top bus all day in at least 40 degree heat probably meant a nice layer of suncream was the first step of the morning. Lets go explore! First stop... Mall number 1. Following the theme of everything being beautiful, the mall didn't change that. Everything is just so much more extravagant over there; they don't do anything that's less than perfect. Second stop... Mall number 2. And I thought the first mall was great; the Mall of Dubai just wiped the floor with the first mall; exceeding all expectations of any shopping complex I had ever visited. I never thought there could be a mall so large. And as if the 1200 shops were't enough, located right next door was the world tallest tower; the 828m Burj Khalifa. It wasn't just the hotel and the malls that were stunning, the whole city was just insane. You'll never see buildings quite like it. I think my jaw was open for the whole time. Catching the last city bus we had to stay on board for the rest of the tour. Not a problem at all as it gave me time to sit in the sun and admire the beautiful skyline; watching the sunset come down and seeing so many beautiful mosques.

Day 3:
Blue skies, the hot desert sun and a view of the beautiful city and sea is definitely the best thing to wake up to.
Day 3 was the most thrill seeking day I think I have ever had in my life. Little did I know what the day had in store. With not having too much time, everything had to be structured. We knew that today would be half a day in the water park and the other half we would be adventuring in the desert.
Rising early to be one of the first in the water park was definitely a great idea. No people meant no queues for any of the rides, woo. Having been on a huge vertical slide in Florida (which scarred me for life) I said I would never go on one like it again. Obviously didn't stick to my word, after being persuaded by dad to go on it with him, I gave in. I HATE heights. In actual fact I think dad tricked me into going on it because he knew that once I got to the top, I would have to go down the slide because i'd be too scared to walk back down the stairs. Thanks Dad! However I can't lie because I did enjoy it; what I didn't enjoy was Mum missing the recording the first time so I had to do it again. Not so fun! After a few more slides, I just spent the whole day on my favourite... the rapids. Best rapids ever! I felt like I was doing a bit of white water rafting down the Grand Canyon. 

The vertical slide in the background doesn't look high... trust me, it was.

15:30... Desert time! In the info about the excursion, it stated: Dune driving through the desert... maybe I should have done some research on the exact definition of 'dune driving'. Definitely was not just 'driving' thats for sure. Im changing it to bashing and flying into every dune that there is in the desert for an hour, whilst feeling like your life is in the hands of a driver that has just had 'dune driving training'. I think travel sickness was taken to a whole new level here, having to stop the truck to get out and sit in the sand trying not to be sick definitely isn't what I had in mind. Other than that it was incredible and some of the photo opportunities we got were breathtaking! If you follow me on Instagram (@jadinadarling) you'll have seen a few. Desert drive over! Finally. Next stop was our camp. I can't explain in words how amazing the evening was and just writing about it now is making me smile and reminisce the night so much. I just felt so blessed to be in a beautiful place watching the sun set with my amazing parents experiencing a night of Arabic culture.  I love camels and i'd been on a camel ride before in Egypt, but I was just as excited to go on one again. If you've been on a camel ride before then you'll probably agree with me here; the ride is great; what I hate is when the ride is over and the camel kneels back down. But in the process of this it nearly throws you head first into the ground if you don't hold on tight enough. It was such a traditional night: we ate all of our food seated on the floor. Got hennas. I invested in a head scarf (I apologise I really can't remember the exact name). To finish the night we had the privilege of getting to watch 2 different types of traditional dance before heading back into the city. So happy I got the chance to experience a night like that that I will never forget.

Our dune bashing convoy.

Sunset at camp.

     

 Day 4 wasn't exactly a day as we had to leave for the airport at 06:40. Leaving a holiday is always hard but even harder when its been as amazing as this. There is so much to do in Dubai, I definitely underestimated how big and amazing this city was going to be. They're doing a ridiculous amount of work still so it's only going to get bigger and better. For now, I can only treasure the memories I've made. Thank you Dubai, you've been amazing. Until next time.

Enjoy your day :) 

...Mucho Love...
Jadina
x

The High School Musical jump just has to be done :)