OMG! I’m Going to Dubai!

OMG! OMG! OMG! I’m Going to Dubai!

Yes, this coming Sunday, December 1^st I will board a flight in Dublin, Ireland bound for Dubai, UAE (United Arab Emirates). I’ll arrive in the early morning hours of December 2^nd.

Eeek! I’m sooooo excited!

I’ve been wanting to visit Dubai for years! All those ultra-tall, gorgeous modern skyscrapers!

More recently, while I was ‘stuck’ in Turkey in 2020 for seven months during Covid, I spend hours – days – weeks researching where I else could travel to from Turkey during the pandemic while so many borders were closed and others were open but had heavy requirements for entry.

One of the regions I researched in depth was Dubai, UAE and neighboring countries in the Middle East. That’s when I discovered, much to my great surprise, that Dubai actually has a lot of budget accommodation! OMG, even I could afford to visit! Yeeha!

I also found out that Dubai has a huge diversity of things to see and do, beyond just gazing at mind-blowing skyscrapers. Looking the photos and reading about all the amazing things to do there really got me ultra-hyped to visit.

However, it wasn’t possible to visit that region during Covid. So I just tucked all my new-found knowledge into the back of my mind, with an ongoing ‘flag-to-self’ to visit the Middle East at the earliest feasible time in the near future.

While researching weather in the region, I also noted that the best – and only – time to visit would be in the winter months of Dec-Feb, possibly into March. During those months, day-time temps typically are between 24-28C / 75-82F, with night time temps between 20C-24C or even lower.

With all the daily sunshine, it was bound to feel a bit hotter, but those temps are certainly reasonable, even comfortable. In fact, I love those temperatures! Other times of the year, temperatures soared up into the 40s C / over 100F, even up to 50C / 120F. No way!

So ever since my Covid-era research, I’ve kept in the back of my mind to fit in a Dec-Feb exploration of Dubai, UAE and the Middle East. It just had to fit into the rest of my travel scheme some year. And this is the year! Yeah!

I start my explorations in Dubai for 10 days. Then I’ll explore the neighboring countries of Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait for one-two weeks each, as well as the UAE city of Abu Dhabi.

I had also planned on visiting Saudi Arabia, at least to Riyadh city for one-two weeks. But I recently found out that a visa to Saudi Arabia costs more than $100 US! Eek. That’s way too much to spend for a simple one-two week visit. So I’ll skip that for now…unless I find a pet sit in Riyadh during my designated months.

At this point, I’m more or less ready to go. My travel arrangements are all set in place for the entire month of December. I’ll be in Dubai for 10 days, as noted above. Then I fly to Oman for 10 days, followed by a return to Dubai for a 10-day pet sit, which will bring me to Dec. 29^th. I then plan to stay another week in Dubai over New Year’s before heading off to the other places.

I’ve already booked my flight to Dubai, plus my first 10 days of accommodation, a RTN flight to/from Oman and, obviously, have arranged the pet sit. I’ve also researched more extensively about Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Kuwait, in terms of what to see & do and accommodation options in January / February. I’m ready!

Paying for my Middle East explorations is a combination of using money that I’ve already earned this year reviewing luxury hotels in UK and EU, plus upcoming hotel reviews in these Middle Eastern countries, and pet sitting gigs (which doesn’t pay but cuts out accommodation expenses).

Sadly, I don’t have any hotels to review in Dubai, but luckily I do have a handful of hotels to visit in all the other places.

As for pet sitting, I was confident that I could find a pet sit over Christmas since there are so many expats living in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and all the other major cities in the region. And sure enough, I landed a gig looking after two cats for a Scottish woman over Christmas. That sit ends Dec. 29^th, so I’m still hoping to find a second pet sit over NYE. Let’s see!

If not, I’ll make another reservation somewhere in Dubai. I really want to watch the NYE celebrations in Dubai!

Some of the things I’ll be doing in Dubai – and, actually, most of the other places – include visiting their main mosques (some offer guided tours); going to various museums to learn about the culture, history, religion and art of each country; exploring Old Town centers and typical labyrinth-like traditional markets; going to beaches (Dubai has stunning beaches with bright turquoise water!); gazing at all the amazing cutting-edge modern skyscrapers and other architecture; checking out some of the world’s largest and most luxurious shopping malls; and a few more touristy attractions/activities like night-time ‘dancing light and fountain’ displays.

Since I’ve done so much research on Dubai and other regional countries, I already have tons more information to share. After I arrive and get to know the places in person, I’m sure I’ll have even more to write about.

So stay tuned for lots of photos and travel updates from Dubai & beyond!

In the meantime, you might also enjoy some of my articles about other Muslim countries I’ve visited, like Morocco, Egypt and Turkey…

=====================

12 Things I Most Love about Turkey

My First Impressions of Morocco

My First Impressions of Cairo Egypt

=======================

You might also enjoy:

8 Surprising Facts about Cairo, Egypt My First Impressions of Cairo, Egypt Train Trip from Cairo to Alexandria Egypt Introduction to Alexandria, Egypt