The United Arab Emirates: The Land of Fast Cars and Glitz

[Photos by Vyom Dixit]

By: Vyom Dixit

Imagine a day before your trip, you find out your hotel reservations are cancelled unexpectedly and you have not been informed. What terrible news to hear before a highly anticipated trip! 

My mom and my aunt had planned this trip about 6 months in advance. My cousins and I were really looking forward to this trip because we’ve never had an opportunity to spend time together. But when my mom told me that morning that our reservations at our selected stay got cancelled, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Thankfully my mom found a place that she thought would work.

Day 1

Image Credit: Manasee Bhandekar

We landed in Dubai at 5:30pm local time and later headed to our Airbnb. For all the uncertainty with the cancellations the day before, we were greeted with this view. Later that night at around 8:00pm, my mom was going to have dinner with her childhood friends at a Lebanese restaurant called Al Safadi. I didn’t want to go at first but when I saw the reviews of the restaurant my mind instantly changed. No pain no gain. There was pita bread, hummus, shawarma, meat skewers, and kebabs. It was some of the best Lebanese food I’ve had or so I thought.

Day 1 Photos 

Image Credit: Vyom Dixit

Day 2

Image Credit: Manasee Bhandekar 

The morning was very slow and we didn’t do much. For lunch I had steak and fries which was mediocre. It was good but I’ve had better steaks. After lunch, we had a desert safari which was easily one of the best parts of the trip. We went on ATVs which were fun and thrilling. Before we went on the ATVs we were given the traditional Arab headscarves called Keffiyeh. I really enjoyed wearing them to the point that I’d be wearing it every single day. The only downside of the ATV driving was that it was a fenced space but other than that it was amazing. We later started to go into the desert and I noticed that in some parts the sand was redder than other parts. This is the case because some parts of the desert have more iron compared to others which makes the sand red. Right before we entered the desert, we took a quick stop to deflate our tires to have better traction in the sand. In the desert, we went up and down on dunes which was a lot more fun than going on a rollercoaster in my opinion. If you experience motion sickness I would highly recommend taking your medication before you go. As we got out of the desert, we made a pitstop at a plaza with some shops to inflate the tires. There I had some really refreshing coconut water which made me feel a lot better from the slight motion sickness during the bumpy desert drive. Next we went to a camp in the middle of the desert. There it had traditional Emirati barbecue and some other food. There were performances such as belly dancing and tricks with fire. I even got a picture with a falcon. Given that it was a weekend, there was lots of traffic on our way back to our apartment. We came home at around 9:30pm feeling very tired yet very satisfied with the fantastic day that we had. 

Day 2 Photos

Images Credit: Vyom Dixit

Image Credit: Manasee Bhandekar

Day 3

Image Credit: Manasee Bhandekar 

In the morning, my cousins, my mom, my aunt, and I had to meet a family friend for lunch. For lunch, there were foods like idli and pav bhaji which were really nice and spicy. After that, we headed to Dubai Mall which is one of the largest malls in the world. It has lots of shops for multiple different brands along with an aquarium, an Olympic-sized ice rink, a virtual reality (VR) park, a digital art museum, movie theaters, and great dining options. I’m not much of a shopping mall person but I honestly really liked the Dubai Mall. It has lots of things to do other than shopping and it is a fun place to walk around. In the mall, I had some mango flavored ice cream that I shared with my cousin because the portions were huge. I thought it would be a scoop or two but it was a full bowl. The ice cream was very nice but really filling because of how much was there in the bowl. I also noticed that my name is a digital real estate website by the company Emaar which was really funny. After the Dubai Mall, we headed back to our apartment. My mom and my aunt had to go out and meet a friend and my uncle (my cousin’s dad) had some of his friends come over. For dinner, we had some Persian kebabs from a restaurant called Al-Ustad Special Kebab that was recommended by one of my other uncles. The kebabs would melt in your mouth and the marinade was just perfect. Each of them were incredible. It was a nice chill day and the trip was so far going great and I could not wait for the things coming up in the following days.    

Day 3 Photos 

Image Credit: Vyom Dixit

Day 4 

Image Credit: Vyom Dixit

In the morning, we were getting ready to go on the biggest Ferris wheel in the world, Ain Dubai. Ain Dubai is 820 ft tall. The Ferris wheel overlooks the artificial island the Palm Jumeirah and the Dubai Marina. It was an amazing view. After the Ain Dubai we went to a Lebanese restaurant nearby called El Beiruti which again was amazing. We had hummus, shawarma, meat platters, and kebabs. After lunch, we headed back to our apartment to get ready for our tour of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa! To get to the Burj Khalifa, you have to run through the Dubai Mall and there is an entry point which leads to the Burj Khalifa. We took an elevator to the 148th floor and then the 147th floor after. The view, as you can expect, was amazing. You can see a lot of downtown Dubai which includes the Dubai Mall. There is an outdoor viewing gallery which was also really nice. After the Burj Khalifa, we had dinner at the world famous Taiwanese restaurant Din Tai Fung (DTF). Believe it or not we didn’t have to wait unlike in the Westfield Valley Fair Mall in San Jose. The food as usual was fantastic. We had some soup, dumplings, and noodles. Again a fantastic day and the following day we were heading to Abu Dhabi which was very exciting. 

Day 4 Photos

Images Credit: Vyom Dixit

Images Credit: Vyom Dixit

Day 5

Image Credit: Manasee Bhandekar 

We started our day with about a two hour drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. We planned on going to the Yas Marina Circuit which is a Formula 1 racetrack and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. On the way to Abu Dhabi, we made a quick pit stop at a gas station to get food. There we had some Indian food like biryani, egg paratha, and some chicken 65. The food was actually a lot better than I expected it to be. We then continued our journey to the place we were staying for about 1hr. Once we got to our apartment, we realized the location was amazing. We were right next to the Abu Dhabi Airport, the F1 track, and Ferrari World which we would be going to the following day. We headed to the F1 track and once we arrived at the lobby, we immediately noticed the showroom which was full of F1 cars. The car in the F1 movie was in the showroom which was really cool. I realized that F1 cars are a lot longer than I thought they were. Our tour guide was really informative and while the tour was going on, a Formula 3 regional practice race was going on at the same time. We also got really close to the track and the cars would zoom past us. It was really loud but our tour guide said “If you think this is loud, wait til you see an F1 race.”. After the F1 track, we headed to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. If you don’t know, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the first leader of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the country’s creation in 1971. The mosque started being built from 1994 and finished in 2007 which is 3yrs after Sheikh Zayed sadly passed away. Sheikh Zayed opened the mosque to the public because he wanted to promote peace and to create a landmark for both Muslims and non-Muslims. The mosque was nothing short of amazing. The architecture was amazing and the azan which is the call to prayer sounded spectacular. The person singing had such an amazing voice and it was honestly soothing and calming. After the mosque, we headed to the Yas Mall and had dinner at a traditional Emirati restaurant called Al Fanar. Like Lebanese food there was lots of meat and hummus. Really good food but I preferred the Lebanese food we had a lot more. After a long day, we finally arrived at our apartment and called it a day. 

Day 5 Photos

Image Credit: Vyom Dixit

Images Credit: Vyom Dixit & Manasee Bhandekar

Images Credit: Vyom Dixit

Day 6

Image Credit: Manasee Bhandekar 

Today was a day that I was not looking forward to. As a proud Lamborghini fan, I did not want to go to Ferrari World but because of my cousins I had to. We went on quite a few rides. In Ferrari World, they have the world’s fastest rollercoaster which is called Formula Rossa which my cousins went on. My mom, my cousin, and I went go-carting. In the theme park, they designed the inside like Italy, which I thought was cool. There were a lot of Ferrari cars as expected and I can’t lie some of the cars did look really nice and luxurious. Thankfully there were lots of Italian options in the theme park so I had that. The food was really good and like the pitstop we had the previous day, it was a lot better than I expected. After Ferrari World, we headed to the UAE Presidential Palace. This is the place where all the political meetings happen. It reminded me a lot of going to the Capitol Building in Washington DC. The bathrooms in the palace were huge. When my uncle told me that the bathroom was that big, I didn’t believe him at first. Then when I went inside, it looked super luxurious. Near the end of our tour, there was a show on the outside of the palace. It was about 13 minutes long and I recorded the whole thing on my phone. No pauses or breaks in between. It was a very nice show and it shows the history of the UAE. After the palace, my mom and I headed out to meet another one of her childhood friends at a Lebanese restaurant called Zahrat Lebnan. There we had more meat, hummus, and shawarma. The shawarma was the best we had on the trip. I ordered a spicy one instead of the traditional one and I do not regret it. After meeting my mom’s friend we headed back to our apartment. Another really fun day but our trip was coming to a close very soon unfortunately. 

Day 6 Photos

Images Credit: Vyom Dixit and Manasee Bhandekar 

Images Credit: Vyom Dixit

Day 7

Image Credit: Manasee Bhandekar 

The last day! We started our day by heading to the place where my mom and my aunt grew up for quite a few years, Al Ain. On our way to Al Ain, we made a quick stop at Etihad Arena. A lot of things take place there like concerts, National Basketball Association (NBA) preseason games, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fights, and other shows. We then headed to Al Ain which was around a 2hr drive. In Al Ain, we saw my mom’s and my aunt’s school. Both of them complained as kids that Al Ain is really boring and were hoping that it would not be the case anymore. Unfortunately, they both thought it was boring and I agreed. There was nothing to do there and it just looks boring as well. For lunch, we went to an Emirati restaurant called Golden Sheep which has been there since my mom and aunt were living there. Their hummus was not the best but their meat was amazing. After lunch we headed back to Dubai because my mom and I were leaving the next  day. After 2hrs, we arrived at our hotel which was an Aloft near Dubai International Airport (DXB). We said goodbye to my aunt, my uncle, and my cousins. For dinner, my mom and I had Persian food which was a perfect way to cap off our trip. What a trip this was and I wish it didn’t go by so fast. 

Day 8

Image Credit: Vyom Dixit

My mom and I got up at around 5:00am for our 8:50am flight. We got to the airport at about 5:25am. At the airport, I had a za’atar flatbread which is a Middle Eastern spice blend and herb mix on bread. It is a really good snack to have. Super filling. At around 8:15am, we boarded our plane and headed back home. 

I really liked the UAE. From a country that had a huge desert and lots of oil, they’ve turned themselves into a big tourist destination. I liked both Abu Dhabi and Dubai but if I had to pick one it would be Dubai. I thought Dubai had a lot more happening compared to Abu Dhabi. If you don’t want lots of people and prefer a more peaceful setting instead you’ll probably like Abu Dhabi more. I would love to go back again and if you can I recommend you go as well.