My parents emailed to tell me that Emirates Airline was adding a non stop flight from Dallas to Dubai in February. They planned to book tickets and visit for a week.
I awaited the dates and was thrilled when I learned they'd be here from February 11th through 18th.
Then I began to fret... what to do, what to do?? What sights would they want to see? They've been through Dubai on their world travels. Also, they are not youngsters any more--there's only so much they can do physically. So, Dune Bashing was out. I researched the local history and decided on an easy drive by tour.
The Big Bus Tour.
This company has tours of several major cities: London, Philadelphia, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, and many more. But we were interested in Dubai.
There are two routes, the red line and the blue line. The red line goes through the old town and historic sights. The blue line runs down the beach and features the Burj Al Arab and the Palm Jumeirah.
What this day tour has going for it is the 'hop on, hop off sightseeing' offered by the scheduled stops. A bus comes by every 20 minutes at each stop. You can get off, look around for as long as you like, then get back on and go to the next stop. The lower deck is air conditioned, the upper deck, open air. There is a recorded track that is triggered by the sights and informs about each thing you pass. There are earphones provided and jacks in the back of each bus seat.
We climbed aboard at the Mall of the Emirates, which is a stop on the blue line. We rode a couple stops, jumped off at the Wafi Mall and boarded the red line.
We listened to the recorded information, then stepped off the bus at the Dubai Museum.
The Museum is in the oldest building in Dubai, a historic fort. What is most interesting about this facility is that in order to keep the original building intact, they excavated below it to create the space for the museum exhibit. So you walk through a small fort, then down a spiral ramp to more exhibits.
In the dark lower floor, they've recreated an ancient market place with life sized characters posed performing historically accurate activities. There's a potter, a spice merchant, a weaver. You can look into a school room, a private home and a traditional prayer room. Each one of the displays has a description of the period activity and dress. It's pretty compelling.
I asked Mom & Dad to pose in front of the archaeologist's dig. They had a full tent set up with all the tools and gear. I thought taking a photo of the geologist in front of the dig exhibit had a nice irony.
Unfortunately, the lower part of the museum is very, VERY dark. Lighting is the biggest issue and main complaint I had. I took a few pictures, but the tiny flash was not up to the all consuming darkness that was the lower floors of this fun museum.
We enjoyed the displays anyway, but we spent a lot of time holding onto each other's elbows, standing still and waiting for our eyes to adjust to the gloom. Parts of the walk-through had actual sand floors, so it made it a little tense because the footing was unstable.
We really liked the small gallery. We got back on the bus and rode the rest of the red line, then got off at Burjaman to rejoin the blue line. We ate lunch at Hatam Restaurant. A shared meal of kebabs, hummus and flat bread. Yummy!
The blue line took us past the Burj Al Arab and out to the tip of the Palm to the Atlantis Resort Hotel.
During the ride out the trunk of the Palm to the Crescent Road, the recorded soundtrack told how many pounds of sand were heaped up to create the Palm. The description of the building of the area was fascinating. I had no idea what an engineering marvel the dredging and construction were!
Once we completed the circuit out to the tip of the Palm and back, the Big Bus took us back to the Mall of the Emirates, where we were parked for our return home.
The tour bus was a great way to see the sights when you want to take things at your own pace, but like the route driven by the bus. By riding both the red and blue lines, we had a few overlaps and heard the same soundtrack for the sights, but that was little enough bother for a day of seeing the city of Dubai.
-- Sandee Wagner
I awaited the dates and was thrilled when I learned they'd be here from February 11th through 18th.
Then I began to fret... what to do, what to do?? What sights would they want to see? They've been through Dubai on their world travels. Also, they are not youngsters any more--there's only so much they can do physically. So, Dune Bashing was out. I researched the local history and decided on an easy drive by tour.
This company has tours of several major cities: London, Philadelphia, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, and many more. But we were interested in Dubai.
There are two routes, the red line and the blue line. The red line goes through the old town and historic sights. The blue line runs down the beach and features the Burj Al Arab and the Palm Jumeirah.
What this day tour has going for it is the 'hop on, hop off sightseeing' offered by the scheduled stops. A bus comes by every 20 minutes at each stop. You can get off, look around for as long as you like, then get back on and go to the next stop. The lower deck is air conditioned, the upper deck, open air. There is a recorded track that is triggered by the sights and informs about each thing you pass. There are earphones provided and jacks in the back of each bus seat.
We climbed aboard at the Mall of the Emirates, which is a stop on the blue line. We rode a couple stops, jumped off at the Wafi Mall and boarded the red line.
We listened to the recorded information, then stepped off the bus at the Dubai Museum.
In the dark lower floor, they've recreated an ancient market place with life sized characters posed performing historically accurate activities. There's a potter, a spice merchant, a weaver. You can look into a school room, a private home and a traditional prayer room. Each one of the displays has a description of the period activity and dress. It's pretty compelling.
I asked Mom & Dad to pose in front of the archaeologist's dig. They had a full tent set up with all the tools and gear. I thought taking a photo of the geologist in front of the dig exhibit had a nice irony.
Unfortunately, the lower part of the museum is very, VERY dark. Lighting is the biggest issue and main complaint I had. I took a few pictures, but the tiny flash was not up to the all consuming darkness that was the lower floors of this fun museum.
We enjoyed the displays anyway, but we spent a lot of time holding onto each other's elbows, standing still and waiting for our eyes to adjust to the gloom. Parts of the walk-through had actual sand floors, so it made it a little tense because the footing was unstable.
We really liked the small gallery. We got back on the bus and rode the rest of the red line, then got off at Burjaman to rejoin the blue line. We ate lunch at Hatam Restaurant. A shared meal of kebabs, hummus and flat bread. Yummy!
The blue line took us past the Burj Al Arab and out to the tip of the Palm to the Atlantis Resort Hotel.
During the ride out the trunk of the Palm to the Crescent Road, the recorded soundtrack told how many pounds of sand were heaped up to create the Palm. The description of the building of the area was fascinating. I had no idea what an engineering marvel the dredging and construction were!
Once we completed the circuit out to the tip of the Palm and back, the Big Bus took us back to the Mall of the Emirates, where we were parked for our return home.
The tour bus was a great way to see the sights when you want to take things at your own pace, but like the route driven by the bus. By riding both the red and blue lines, we had a few overlaps and heard the same soundtrack for the sights, but that was little enough bother for a day of seeing the city of Dubai.
-- Sandee Wagner
4 comments:
What fun, Sandee.
I've found the palm islands fascinating since the first time I ever heard of them. How cool that they built it.
I love bus tours. No matter how many times you've been to a city, you can still learn something on a bus tour without having to worry about driving/parking, etc.
Marilyn,
You said it about the bus tours being convenient. I'd heard about how close the parking was downtown at the Dubai Museum and after seeing it from the bus, I am SO GLAD I didn't try to drive down there and park myself.
I think you'd get a huge kick out of Dubai. It's SHINY!! spw
Loved this tour. So glad your parents made it.
Meggie,
They have WRECK diving in Dubai!! Come visit!! We'd love to host your visit to the Middle East. spw
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