My first ever solo trip — Dubai
Hello, folks out there,
Hope everyone is fine and safe with family in this pandemic situation of COVID-19.
As it’s my debut in writing the blog so I’m a bit nervous and excited too about how I’ll elaborate my experience of the first-ever solo trip.
But I can guarantee that you will enjoy my blog and surely get to know how to break your barriers rather than just skip it. Also, you will find about all places to check out in Dubai and Abu Dhabi through my eyes and lenses.
Why am I travelling solo?
Yes, there is a reason behind that which is — Anxiety.
A lot of people nowadays are known to anxiety which is a kind of fear of something that stops or makes you worry about doing something which other people might do easily.
So I always fear to travel alone, especially in-flight because of its dangerous turbulence experiences or unnecessary worry about “What if plane..??”.
But I finally decided to go somewhere I can travel alone on/by my way and suddenly I remember that one of my school mates Vaibhav is living and working in Dubai and he asked many times to visit there.
And that’s how I contacted him and he said YES to visit as it was a Shopping Festival also happening there in January end. So I planned a solo trip for about 9 days.
He helped me a lot right from asking me to live in his apartment (and this is where I saved a lot of money by not staying in any hotel or hostel) to guide me on how to travel in Dubai.
And this is how I started my journey from Pune airport to Dubai on 24th Jan 2020 at 11:59 PM as it took around 3:15hrs to land in Dubai airport.
After reaching DXB, I book a taxi to reach out to my friend’s apartment which is a safer option (even for girls also).
And I rested that full-day then at evening my Dubai Darshan began!!
Day 1 — Atlantis: The Palm Jumeirah
In the morning I landed in the beautiful Arabic land and my friend told me we are going to Palm Jumeirah in the evening. And I got hold of my nerves back for a second because I only saw that in the films and NatGeo so far.
So we booked a cab to go there. Also, we had options for bus or metro. For the very first time, I was touring around such a beautiful and one of the most spectacular cities in the world. I’m amazed by looking at such huge skyscrapers.
After reaching Palm island, it was a stunning and beautiful seaside view having a walking track on the side. I saw my dream cars roaring on the road which I only saw in Hollywood films till then.
Yeah!! Surely a dream scenario for a middle-class boy!!
Coming back to Vaibhav’s apartment, as it was his company’s accommodation flat I did not have permission to live there so I was being stopped by the guard but somehow we told him that I’m living in Dubai only and I’ll be there at his place for a few hours till work is done. And that’s how I entered his apartment.
Day 2 — City tour and malls around
As I told you it was a shopping festival going on in Dubai (mostly happens between Nov-Dec to Feb-Mar). So it was time for shopping!!
My friend showed me all about routes, metro lines, buses in the city.
First I thought about what would be different from Indian malls and brands, let’s not go there. But let me tell you because of my friend I went there and stunned [jaw_drop] moment for me. I had never seen brands and varieties like that ever before. So I keep shopping for hours and still have so many brands left from us. I went to Merdif city central mall which was nearest to our location.
Also, we hung out in the city area where we saw the financial centre, Business bay and nearby area. Must See!!
Day 3 — Miracle Garden and Mall of Emirates
Miracle Garden was the most suggested place for/from everyone. It’s a seasonable garden which opens only for 3 to 5 months (depends on weather) in the year.
Beautifully maintained garden, full of flowers and different coloured leaves.
I heard they decor a different theme for each year for some part and it was a Disney theme which is most popular over there.
After that I visited the Mall of Emirates, one of the largest malls in the city which is having two buildings, one is old and one built a few years ago.
I was so hungry at that time but did not want to have meat for lunch, so I searched McDonald’s for an hour in the entire mall. Luck was with me as that shop guy was an Indian and that too from Maharashtra, so he told me to apply for a coupon and that’s how I got a 70% discount on the meal [Lucky day].
Day 4 — Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall
Complete jungle of buildings with one of the greatest and stunning architectures the world has ever seen. Dubai mall is currently the world’s biggest mall. I was only on one floor for like 4.5 hours! Now you can imagine, right [haha].
There is a huge Aquarium and Underwater Zoo inside it. So you can get a combo ticket which includes Aquarium + Burj Khalifa (124th & 125th floor).
Aquarium and Zoo were very large and must-visit places if you are a sea creature lover. Dubai mall contains almost all the things, brands in the world in terms of clothing, technology etc.
Now I can’t express my experience of Burj Khalifa. When I saw it for the first time I lost myself in some other fantasy. Seriously it was nothing like one fantasy place; an extraordinary, massive and humongous.
There’s a lake just outside the mall & Burj khalifa where they organise an eye-catching water dance and laser show every day.
Inside the building of Burj Khalifa, there is a huge elevator in the lobby to go upside on the 124th and 125th floor to capture and experience the mesmerising view from the roof of the World’s largest and tallest building.
When I was on the roof, my anxiety struck and my legs started to shiver literally. So for that instance I took one corner and told myself “If not now then it will never!”, and I took a long breath to walk-in to the transparent roof of the building. (It was like a winning moment for me at that time).
The elevator itself was one ultimate journey, as it has a virtual reality concept added to it. So overall it was an unforgettable and life-changing experience for me. Can’t explain it in words literally!!
Day 5 — La Mer beach
My friend Vaibhav taught me how and where to take the bus and metro from, so I started kind of my solo journey from this day.
I always liked the beachside evening, which gives me thoughts of life. It was a kind of relaxing day I’d say. I took some rest the whole day and around the evening I went to La Mer beach. It was a decent place where you hang out in the evening. You could not ask for more by experiencing the beautiful and romantic place in Dubai.
It was lovely weather combined with a large and clean seashore you could ever see. I de-stressed myself on that one point of the beach. That was the first time I felt like someone should have been with me actually [wink].
It was a relaxed evening!!
Back home, again that guard spotted me while entering the building. And at that moment I was alone, so overall it was a funny moment altogether. I ran to our hotel where we used to have our lunch and dinner. After some time I went there again, luckily he was not there and I entered the building again.
Day 6 — Bur Dubai and Gold Souq
Dubai the old city is as much beautiful as the new one by securing and looking after their origin. The old city is called “Bur Dubai”. You can walk around the city and have a taste of the dry fruits and chocolates also shop at very cheap prices. So I travelled there by taking a boat by crossing a river to reach out there in Bur Dubai.
One of my neighbours in Pune is living in Dubai, he invited me to his office at Bur Dubai. So he only took me to all places there. We went to a shop in the market to buy some kinds of stuff famous in the area.
Another side of the new city, Bur Dubai is full of shopping like Masala(spices), dry fruits, electronic items, watches, purses, date chocolates, Kesar(saffron) etc. Here I used the Indian Bargain technique to cut down the prices of items that I bought from the market that usually we get trained by our Moms.
After that, I walked to the street and reached the Gold market(Gold Souq), and trust me the gold they were selling was like selling vegetables and fruits in the market. It was such a big market with a lot of variety and brands were available to shop and that too cheaper than India (approx 2k-4k).
That’s where I felt like, “yeah, now I’m in the Arabic country”.
It was such a rich and full experience to see gold, diamonds, dates, Kesar and stuff like that our Maharaja’s used to have.
Day 7 — Global Village
As teenagers, we always want to travel the world, know their culture and food. So this was the best place where you can visit the world’s almost all countries with their own culture and identity. I travelled to reach-out there by bus and metro. After an hour journey from the city, I reached there.
At the entrance, I saw a glimpse of all the wonders of the world which were standing high on the floor. It was a nice experience by seeing those all in the world in one place.
Some firework shows are also held every night at 9. Worth visiting this place.
Being a huge fan and coffee lover, I tried Iranian Coffee which makes it hot by heated sand and I tell you, it was Awesome!!!
You can try out special dishes from each city or country out there.
Day 8 — Abu Dhabi (Part 1: Ferrari World and Heritage Village, Date market)
Abu Dhabi is one of the most sensational cities to visit in the UAE. I arranged one trip with one of the travellers who had a fantastic monster car which he drove at 160km/h speed.
On that tour, I met one couple who were from Venezuela. Talking with them, I got some information about their country, culture and similarities with us.
We headed towards the Ferrari world first, where I saw real Ferrari models (cars) for the first time in my life. And tell you, those were stunning cars!!
You can also enjoy rides like a roller coaster etc which for which you need to buy a ticket to enter inside.
After that, we moved to Date Markets where you can buy a variety of dates and chocolates. The next stop was Heritage Village, the place where you can find out how ancient Arabians were living, how their hut structure looks etc.
Besides that, there is a beautiful beach where you can sit and enjoy the view of the city and around.
Day 8 — Abu Dhabi (Part 2: Emirates palace and The Grand Mosque)
After having lunch we headed to the Emirates palace where you need a pass to visit but because of our driver, they sent us inside the area. Palace was amazing from inside and outside as well. It’s one of the expensive luxury hotels in the world and why not so!!?
At the end of the day, I moved to the world’s largest and biggest mosque which is Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque aka The Grand Mosque.
This is one of the beautiful architects with outstanding interior and peaceful places ever visited. Your mind and body just get relaxed when you see that white marbled architecture with golden outlines on it.
It has well hand-carved designs on the wall and a huge Chandelier I have ever seen in my life.
It was eye-catching widely spread carpet on the floor.
One of the most favourite places for me in the UAE after Burj Khalifa.
Day 9 — JBR and Burj-Al-Arab
In the early morning, I went to JBR(Jumeirah Beach Residency) which is the most lavish area in Dubai. Hanging out in the area with stunning buildings aside was an awesome experience for me or rather would be for anyone.
It has the most scenic view on the side of the beach and a very clean and beautiful beachside area. You can play water sports, as there are a lot of options open to do activities so far. I enjoyed the whole beach, residency and nearby area only by walking around it.
After that, I went to the most spectacular and one of the finest architectural beauty 7-star hotels in the world which are of course Burj-Al-Arab.
I didn’t have much budget to go inside [sad], but yeah, I wanted to see it always as my favourite tennis players viz; Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal come there often to play tennis on the roof of the hotel.
After returning home, I was leaving the apartment to head to the airport and at that time that guard saw me again. So finally I told him everything and he said, “Pehle hi bataya hota to kuch nahi bolta, mai bhi Indian hu”. I and my friend looked at each other and laughed a lot (I remember Shahrukh Khan’s dialogue on that which is “Bade bade sheharo me…”).
So yes, that was my overall trip to Dubai. It was a very great and exciting experience to hangout on lots of streets and lanes around Dubai and Abu Dhabi, that too solo on a low budget of-course.
But yes my friend helped me a lot to make a plan and for making a provision to have a Ghar-ka-khana. And I quite enjoy “My time” and try to overcome my fear and anxiety. So definitely it brings a lot of memories with me back home for sure.
I learned so many things on my first ever solo trip. I gained so much confidence in life to do things more fearlessly.
Thank you for reading this.
If you liked my experience and photos, please click or tap on clap!!
