Arrive in Dubai around midnight – the busiest time apparently for the airport. The Emirates flight is parked on the tarmac miles from the terminal and 15 min bus ride to the terminal! long queues at customs! a shouting match between some Arabs when some people made a mistake and were perceived to have jumped the queue. Hotel is comfortable but not 5 star on the beach – couldn’t afford that – sigh! Welcome sleepin in the morning. Visit to the gold souk – well out of my depth there!!
Afternoon went on a desert safari – turned out to be 45 4WDs from the company met in the desert – our driver a Pakistani been in Dubai for 30 years was intent on giving maximum thrills – was an excellent experience – defintely exciting and not for the faint hearted. Some people tried boarding down the sand slope and others of us had a brief camel ride, then a decent BBQ dinner and bellydancing show. Overall was a great experience – clearly Dubai needs more than one day to do it justice! Never got to the beach, the waterfront developments or the malls – last on my list anyway… Dubai Photos
To be fair the new Emirates terminal is very impressive – the check in hall was huge and no queues – the whole process was very quick even though I was finding my way – kiosk terminal to print boarding pass – no queue at bag drop – no queue at immigration or security – maybe 20 mins at most to get from entry to airside, and there were lots of flights going in a short space of time. Had an airbridge to flight this time – the first time in 4 landings/takeoffs. Overall I am impressed by the new Dubai airport and Emirates as an airline. Bound now for Hong Kong.
