Dubai

With my arrival in the early morning hours on Thursday in Dubai 🇦🇪, the time for my return trip to the Federal Republic 🇩🇪 has now come. For my time here in Dubai, I purchased a 5-day ticket for the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus. So, after a few hours of sleep and breakfast, I set off to explore the city and get an overview. The bus ticket included an entrance fee for the aquarium at the 'Atlantis The Palm' Hotel on the artificially created island 'The Palm Jumeirah'. And the visit was magnificent 🤩🥰. It was simply overwhelming to be able to admire these beautiful animals up close 🫠.

In the afternoon, I then took a one-hour boat trip ⛴️ on the Dubai Creek, a water channel dividing 'old Dubai' from 'new Dubai'. This tour was also included in the bus ticket, and to recharge, we had pizza and soft drinks as much as we wanted 😋.

After the first eventful day and little sleep, the nighttime rest 😴 came early, before 8 PM.

On Friday, feeling refreshed, I continued exploring right away. Since the ticket for the local Madame Tussauds was also included, I checked that out too. I was glad it was practically free, otherwise, I would have felt bad spending the money 😜.

Some of the celebrities present were keen on a souvenir photo, and I, of course, obliged...🤳🏼

For the evening, I got a ticket for the Burj Khalifa. Before that, I planned a bit of time for the Dubai Mall to watch the 'rich and famous' of this world. Then I headed towards the Burj, passing the fountain right in front of the huge building. And as expected, just as I arrived at the fountain, the daily 'water performance' started 😏.

After the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, I knew what to expect... Due to the exorbitantly high cost of around €47 per person for the visit, I thought long about whether to go for it. But then I thought to myself, 'after 4 months in Asia, it doesn't hurt to spend a bit more' 😜.

For Saturday afternoon, I spontaneously decided to go for a desert safari 🏜️. So at around 3:30 PM, I left the hotel in a jeep towards the desert.

After about a 50-minute drive, we reached the starting point of the jeep safari, and the fun began.

Aside from a lot of sand and resilient plants, we also got to see gazelles and camels 🐪 🫠.

The conclusion was a barbecue buffet at a resort of the organizer somewhere in the middle of nowhere. But the resort was really beautiful and idyllic. Various dance performances rounded off the trip 💃🕺🏻

This morning, I went to the Gold Souq and then to the Spice Souq (spices). Afterwards, we crossed the creek one more time with an abra ⛵️ and paused for a photoshoot at two mosques 🕌 📸.

Tomorrow, after lunch, my journey takes me a little further towards home and to my second-to-last flight for now. The destination is the capital of Turkey, Istanbul, where I will be stationed within throwing distance of the Bosporus.

In this sense - see you around and stay curious 🫶🏽🫡

#Dubai