Desert safari in Dubai – is it worth?

Is desert safari worth it? Should you do it or not? Is the cost justified? Is it a new experience? Here is my experience of the whole thing – Desert safari was highly recommended by everyone travelling to Dubai. So we decided to go for it. But then which one to book and how to ensure you are not getting a shit deal. How we did – when we arrived in Dubai we had collected a lot of pamphlets from each point be it tourist office, airport or hotel lobby. However when we inquired, found that each varied in pricing a lot but not much groceries. we booked through our hotel travel desk which was managed by Rayna travels. There are different operators for desert safari with price ranging from 100 to 360 dirhams. The 360 priced dirhams is done by king’s company called Arabian safari. The main difference between different prices is – 1. the car in which they take you 2. The duration of dune bashing 3. The quality of camp I.e. Facilities and freebies such as camel ride, hookah/seesha, mehndi, traditional clothes, different shows. 4. Quality of food in the camp The one at the hotel was priced 225 per person but 150 per person if we are not doing dune bashing. The price seemed to be the best deal we had got and since it was thru hotel it seemed more genuine. So we booked it by paying for it all in advance. Since we had an infant with us and elderly couple, there were 2 different trip itinerary for us. How to get a good deal- Later that day we met with a local friend and he mentioned that there were many coupon booklets available in Dubai which locals usually buy. There the discounts available are from 1 plus 1 offer. So effectively the safari could cost somewhere close to about 75 to 100 dirhams. Also, most of the things are negotiable in Dubai. So do negotiate. We got about 15% off on safari per head. Trip details: 3:00 pm picked at about from the hotel in land cruiser. It took about 20 minutes to travel outside Dubai. 3:25 pm we stopped at a small so skier shop for buying any local some jets if we needed any. After 15 mins break we then started towards the point where dune bashing was to start. After about 10 mins we were off the main road and stopped at a point where road met the desert. That’s where we got down and took lots of photos. Our driver was the leader of the group and had to wait till all 30 cars came together. Meanwhile we took photos. After that all 30 cars started in a single file and started riding over the sand dunes. This is a very scenic place and the ride is too good. At time the car is almost 90 degrees. Also, a lot of shaking happens inside hence, for people who get nauseated they should sit up front in the land cruisers. The car keep going over higher and higher sand dunes and then suddenly running down. Most of the times the drivers keep the car on the dune ridge lines and then ensure they curve towards where the ridge line is curving in. Also, the ride is very bumpy and you enjoy the most when sitting at the back of land cruiser. Secondly, it may not be too well for the elderly folks and they anyhow don’t allow kids below 2.

Buying Gold in Dubai - travel experience

Planning to head out to Dubai in a weeks time and have heard a number of references about buying gold in Dubai. So here is what I have found out from my research till now. I will keep updating the article as I learn more and finally what I find on the ground during my trip to Dubai. Is gold cheaper in Dubai: Yes it is cheaper by close to about 5-10% from most parts of the world (expect the gold mines). and that is because there is not VAT on gold in Dubai which makes it cheaper. But this is the absolute price of gold i.e. only dependant on weight and carats of gold. So buying gold bars definitely cheaper. However, if you have been to Mustafa in Singapore, not sure you will find it too attractive. Anyhow, that's a separate topic. Quality of gold: Typically, its said the quality of gold is very good in Dubai for the same 22k or 18k which you get elsewhere. (yet to figure out why?) What about buying gold jewellery in Dubai: When buying jewellery, along with the absolute price of gold, there is also the prices of wastage and making charges included. This is where the jeweller makes money. And if you are not going to a big store such as Joyalukkas, usually it is negotiable. Quality of jewellery: Dubai has a developed gold jewellery market and as such the craftsmen ship is one of the finest in the world. The designs are among the best you can find. Where to buy gold in Dubai: Best places for buying gold are the Gold Souk and mall of emirates. Exact shop names I have not been able to find in my research. So probably, I will share the names once I am there. How to buy: Cash is the best way to bargain and buy gold. Cards are accepted everywhere but usually all the shops will charge an extra 2%-5% of transaction value if paying through cards. (details on cost of using credit cards abroad is shared in a different blog post.) Bring it back to the home country: usually any such purchase is liable for custom duty if above a certain value. This is what I have been able to dig out till now. Will share further updates on this post the trip. Update from Dubai: In Dubai, the first sojourn with buying gold happened at the Gold souk area in Dubai. That is in the older part of Dubai. Shops with huge neon signs and windows filled with yellow metal. First, went gold center and checked out branded players such as Joyallukas and Damas. Lots of Indian from Kerala working there. In fact, the biggest shops were owned by them. The prices in the gold center are much higher and hardly any negotiations were taking place. After coming out of gold center, there are lots of shops in the back lane which leading up to a wooden gate with more shops inside there. Inside the wooden gate was the official gold souk. Anyhow, checked a couple of shops there and one with the name Meena bhawan looked promising and over crowded. The jewellery designs were really good and fancy. When it came to price, the price of gold was definitely cheaper. It was about 150 INR cheaper per grams as compared to India. But about 20 INR expensive per gram as compared to the Mustafa store in Singapore. So the deal sounded good. However, what killed the deal was the making charges, which were usually above 25% of the value of the jewellery. This was a known fact that it could be negotiated down but starting at that price itself was too high to start bringing it down. Hence, skipped this shop as well. Decided to come back the next day with more preparation and check it out later.

Musical fountains of Burj Khalifa!

Burj Khalifa – the fountains There has been a lot said about the fountains of the Burj Khalifa. Those are said to be one of the most legendary. So here is my experience of those fountains and how it happened. The fountains start late in the evening at about 6:30 pm and they go on till about 11 pm. Since we have only 3 nights in Dubai, so we decided to patch it with the night of our desert safari. Post the safari we were back by about 9 pm in our hotel. So we started for Burj Khalifa by the metro. The Metro stop was for the dubai Mall. From getting off the metro to Burj Khalifa, it is a good over 1.5 km walk. It goes through the whole mall of Dubai, which is huge in itself. There are walkalators but they only cover the distance between metro and mall. Post that anyhow you will have to walk along the mall, which is nice but gets a bit too much if there are babies, elders in the group and you are trying to get there before the fountains shut down. Anyhow so we arrived at the fountains by around 10:30 pm. Just in time for the show to begin. Ok here is what our preconceived notions were and what we had heard – 1. Show is about 15-30 minutes. 2. It is in more than 25 languages of the world 3. The fountains reach higher than the sky This is what we found – So by the time we reached, the whole plaza was super packed. So the girls, stepped on to a sitting bench to get a better view. We were standing on one of the edges of the lake. Its a series of fountains, in fact 2 series of fountains spread out across the lake, with Burj Khalifa in the backgroud. A french song started playing and the sound filled the whole plaza above the din of crowd. The sound was good to listen to and sounded romantic. The fountains jumped in series and rose up and down based on the pitch of the sound. The fountains near the center of the lake made more curved patterns whereas the ones near the edges were more straighter ones. The fountains closer to the viewing deck went about 15 meters high at the highest pitch. That hight was sufficient to engulf plaza in a blanket of mist. That happened a couple of times. After about 3.5-4 minutes the song ended and fountains also went dead after making for a beautiful climax. We linged on for about 2-3 more minutes before realizing that the fountains run for only a song at a time which is usually less than 5 minutes and it is in single language, but why french today we could not understand. Anyhow, we started taking some photos around the lake, the plaza with Burj khalifa in the backgroud. By the time we were done, it was another 30 minutes and the fountains started lighting up again. We were in a much better viewing position this time i.e. the center of the plaza and therefore were looking at the fountains and the lake and burj khalifa in the straight line. Which I think is one of the best views from the plaza. This time around the song was different and in arabic. The fountains looked much more in tune with this song and danced joyfully. This time the fountains went up higher and the cloud of mist was more dense. by the end of the song, half the audience had taken shelter in the mall passageway. After this song we realized that each fountainshow is usually performed with a different language song. I wonder which one they chose for Hindi. I wonder which one they chose for Hindi. Another feedback on the fountains and viewing Burj Khalifa is by booking a reservation on the rooftop lounge of the Address bar. That the hotel adjoining Dubai mall and opposite Burj Khalifa.