In the “Cudablin” project, we send completely different people on trips at our expense! Sofia Boretskaya visited Dubai and tells us about surfing the dunes, the largest shopping center in the world and driverless subway trains.
Like all participants, I was given 3 cities to choose from where I could go with #whereblin. The city that won the vote among my subscribers by a wide margin is Dubai. What associations does the word “Dubai” evoke in you? Arab sheikhs, skyscrapers and sand? You are not so far from the truth.
Many airlines fly from Moscow to Dubai. We chose the most budget option and flew with Flydubai. The flight is about 5 hours, so we stocked up on TV series and films for the duration of the flight. You can get from the airport to the city by metro, bus or taxi. We chose the third option and ordered a local Uber. All cars in Dubai Uber are Lexus ES. This trip cost us about 900 rubles (59 dirhams). Our hotel was only 10 minutes from the airport. We decided to travel around the city by metro – it can easily reach the main attractions of Dubai. There are only two lines in the Dubai Metro – green and red, and tickets can be bought from the machine and at the ticket office. The metro operates fully automated trains, which have special carriages only for women and children. If you are traveling from the old city towards the Dubai Mall, I advise you to splurge and buy a “golden ticket” for travel: this will allow you to ride in the first VIP class carriage to see the famous skyscrapers of Dubai.
On the first day we went to Burj Khalifa to admire the view of the city. The skyscraper is located next to the Dubai Mall. We bought tickets in advance in Moscow, it cost 440 dirhams (approximately 6900 rubles) for two. The height of the Burj Khalifa is 828 meters – it is the tallest building in the world! We went up to the 124th floor, which offers incredible views of the city. I sincerely recommend going there if you find yourself in Dubai. But the local aquarium is clearly overrated: too many people, children, huge queues and few opportunities. If you want to meet the fish or skip the line, you’ll have to spend a lot of money.
Dune bashing in the desert was the most exciting experience of our entire trip! If you have arrived in Dubai, this is a must-see program for you. The city itself is more about modernity, skyscrapers, constant construction, all kinds of entertainment, while the desert is about history, incredible emotions, loss of orientation in space and silence. Here you can learn a lot about Arab culture and enjoy landscapes unfamiliar to this moment. A desert safari is quite an expensive pleasure, but there are different entertainment programs: we chose one that includes jeep riding on sand dunes, sandboarding (snowboarding on sand dunes – editor’s note) and a visit to a Bedouin camp with an interesting program and authentic food. I was delighted by the views of the desert, so now I dream of repeating this adventure in more camping conditions – spending the night in the desert under the open sky, for example!
My main task from the project was to ride a board along the sand dunes. And I, as a person who had never stood on any board, was scared to try. But everything turned out to be very cool and fun! I didn’t slide down the dune very skillfully, but I didn’t fall even once! Now I consider this my small victory in life. Who knows, maybe I’ll decide to get on a snowboard and learn how to ride!
On the third day we decided to make another foray to the Dubai Mall. What’s a trip without shopping, really? Dubai Mall is a shopping center of incredible size! It contains a huge number of cafes, an aquarium, which I wrote about above, and a huge number of shops for different tastes and budgets. We wandered around the shopping center until the evening and, in my opinion, we only walked around a small part of it! The brand store & Other Stories, in which I wanted to stay and live – it looked so cool and the things they sold there were so cool! In the evening we went to have a bite to eat at one of the local cafes on the street near the Dubai Mall. While we were watching the evening city, we realized that we would definitely return here again next winter. After all, moving from winter to summer is always an extraordinary feeling!
If you have more than 1000 subscribers on one of the social networks, participate in the Kudablin project, and we will send you anywhere on the planet at our expense. Where you will go and what you will do will be decided by your subscribers.
Travel is closer than you think. Apply to Project Kudablin and you might be the next one to go on an adventure!
Text and photo author: Sofia Boretskaya (@mylifeassonia)
