Dubai with its glitzy malls to traditional markets is a complete shopper’s paradise. And then there are the eye-catching modern-day structures amidst sprawling villas and beautiful mosques. A trip to this country of dates and deserts made it seem like Dubai offers a wonderful amalgamation of the Middle-East culture and the Western world.
Shop, shop baby
Right from the minute you land on Dubai’s airport (which is some grandeur!); the place ensures that your arms are overloaded with shopping bags! The duty-free section offers exciting stuff but here’s a word of caution: spare some cash for other shopping to be done in the city!
The annual Dubai Shopping Festival is an excellent time to come down here and find everything that you can possibly need under one roof. It is very popular and attracts visitors from across the globe. However, in case you happen to visit Dubai when the Festival isn’t on, just like I did, there’s still no worry.
Shopping at a ‘Souk’ or a market, seemed more fun since though the malls are mind-blowing, I find the hustle-bustle and bargaining atmosphere at the former rather appealing. Spices, silk, gold and other precious metals and stones, perfumed oils, carpets, electronic items, and lots more. If all this can’t make you go crazy wonder what else will! In my opinion, buying gold jewellery at the Gold Souk seemed not only reliable in terms of the quality but the designs I found here were truly unique and exquisite. But as I mentioned before, the malls in Dubai are complete glamour and house every single international brand of clothing and accessories. You just need to know where to put your money in!
The desert safari
This is an absolute must-try for anyone visiting Dubai. There are a lot of tours which you can opt for a desert safari. And they all begin later in the afternoon, considering the high temperatures in the day. This thrilling and nerve-racking drive into the desert ensures a total adrenaline rush. When your SUV swiftly turns and climbs up and down a sand dune with a slope of almost 45 degrees in angle, there’s nothing else you can possibly do besides yell in sheer excitement! The specially trained driver takes you quite some distance into the desert where camps have been set up for visitors. Here you can dine on sumptuous kebabs and hummus and all the other middle-eastern delicacies.
You also might want to get your hands hennaed at one of the kiosk or dress up in traditional Arabic costume of burkha and the white robes to get a picture clicked! On special occasions, there are belly dancers at the camps enthralling the audience and it’s a sight in itself watching these beauties perform seemingly effortlessly on the Arabic musical notes.
And in case you go a little overboard on your expenses, which invariably shall happen, the best part is amidst this entire extravaganza, one can gorge on yummy delicacies found even in roadside eateries.
Dubai truly is the place to find one’s weaknesses! So make sure you indulge yours!
