Day 1-4: Dubai - Higher, bigger and better...

After a 7-hour in a small Norwegian airplane, we finally arrived Dubai around midnight local time. To our pleasure they upgraded my and Stian's room to the biggest suite they had. It was about 55-60 squaremeters (of course on the top floor) and had 4 beds and 2 bathrooms. That's a pretty good deal for some cheap backpackers like ourselves :)

I've, of course, heard a lot about Dubai, but still I didn't really know what to expect. We found out there's not really much to do here, except from shopping and sightseeing. Since we have to carry our backpacks around the world for a few months, we couldn't do much shopping, so we spent the days checking out the Dubai sights. 3 days in Dubai is more than enough I think, and we got through practically the whole city. The distance between the sights was much bigger than i thought, and walking is not an option here. The cheap taxis (at least compared to Norwegian prices) became our transportation.

We went to the following sights:
- Burj Al Dubai: the only 7-star hotel in the world. We planned to eat lunch here the last day, but we didn't have enough time before our plane departured. Bad planning :( There's of course a dress code here, and if you want to go I can inform you that to drink tea here cost 435 AED (about 95 Euro) pr person and any average lunch cost about 600 AED pr person)
- Dubai Mall: The world's biggest mall. Still not totally finished and wasn't very interessting, yet. It also includes the world's biggest aquarium and is worth a visit.

dubai mall 2

dubai mall

- Burj Dubai: The world's tallest building. The height is secret, but for the moment it has 165 floors and it's between 7-800 meters high. It's not finished yet, and 'nobody' knows how high it will be at the end.
- the Palm: incredible! much bigger than I though it would be. It's hard to believe that this island is man-made when you're at it. They opened a new, huge hotel called Atlantis less than a month ago, and if I ever go back I would love to stay at the Atlantis (if I can't afford the Burj Al that is)

Tiny guy at big chair :)

)
- the gold and spice souk: Booooooooooooooooooooring. Don't go here unless you really want to buy anything.
-

ski "resort" at emirates mall

Emirates Mall: Another great shopping mall. Also including an indoor skislope. Bernt went skiing here :) I didn't really see the point.

It's winter time in Dubai now, and the temperature is very nice, about 30 degrees (celsius) and it's a nice change from the cold Norwegian climate.

dubai skyline at sunset

For thirsty tourist (like ourselves) I'd have to warn you: Dubai is NOT the place to go if you want to drink and party. They only sell beer at the hotels, and your not allowed to be drunk in public... Sad, but true :(

having a beer while waiting for the plane

The flight from Dubai to Beijing (through Doha) with Qatar was excellent. Every seat had their own tv, with a whole entertainment center, tons of movies, tv-series, music and videogames.

we're not drunk, it just looks like it...

Day 1-4: Dubai - Higher, bigger and better...

Dubai, United Arab Emirates