Dubai:
Visa is cool!
Emirates does not require you to either go to the consulate or even give your passport to anyone. All I did was to send across a scanned copy of my passport to a lady from my office in Dubai with other official details on Thursday. Had booked an itinerary for Monday and received the visa document by Sunday (remember Sunday is working for Dubai). Just took a print and was ready to go!
But I would still say if you are not going on an official trip, it is better to get the visa stuff resolved at least a fortnight in advance. Fly Emirates helps passengers in getting UAE visa as well.
ECNR : Not an issue with UAE (but your representative in Dubai must issue an Okay to board message to Airline office)
Travel options are many
Oman Air, Air India, Thai, Qatar and Emirates all fly from India to Dubai (there must be lot of others as well). If possible book your round trip on the same carrier as separate carriers could be very expensive (as with all international itineraries)
5 things you must carry!
A power adaptor: or you might end up with an uncharged camera/ laptop at the end of first day. Thank fully all good hotels would have universal sockets but it always helps to go prepared.
An international credit/debit card with ATM pin, in case you need to take cash advance. (Most of us never use credit cards to take cash advance so never bother to remember it)
Local currency: You can get this from the Airport or from your hotel. Taxis prefer cash.
Calling card: In case you need to call back to India. You could buy this at Indian airport itself.
Tip: If you forget to change currency at Airport and don't have any currency for Airport to Hotel taxi, ask the hotel to pay the taxi and add it to your room bill!
On reaching Dubai!
Take a moment to sink in the grandeur of the Airport and as you would realize this is just a starter. For first timers there is an eye scan required where after you need to proceed for the regular emigration clearance. If you need currency take your call as to whether you want to take it from Airport or from the Hotel and proceed to the cabs accordingly. Cabs donot generally accept credit cards there.
Tip: You could use your international debit/credit card to withdraw money from an ATM this would definitely be cheaper that the exchange rate that hotel will charge. So don't forget to check your Credit card pin before you leave for Dubai.
Tip: You could use your international debit/credit card to withdraw money from an ATM this would definitely be cheaper that the exchange rate that hotel will charge. So don't forget to check your Credit card pin before you leave for Dubai.
Public transport = Cabs !
Most of Dubai relies on private cars (you could find all flashy brands there -- remember Dubai is duty free).
Others are at the mercy of the Cabs. Finding a cab after office hours could be a real pain. You need to book in advance. If you want a cab on Thursday evening (start of weekend in Dubai) there are high chances you won't get any!
Tip: If you need a cab urgently and could not get hold of one, rush to the nearest luxury hotel (there are many in Dubai) and they will have a dedicated service of cabs. You can also use your hotel to book cabs and save a lot of trouble.
Hotels accommodation would be expensive!
All hotels in Dubai seemed to me as luxury ones. Good ones would be Raffel's and Shangri - La.
Depending on where you want to stay (and how much you want to shell out) you would have choices from Mariott to Fairmount to Intercontinental to Hyatt ...
Enough of do's and don't now let me tell you about my Dubai trip.
My Itinerary: Chennai - Dubai - Chennai on Emirates
(MAA - DBX: Morning 3'o clock flight reaches DBX around 6am local time)
(DBX - MAA: Evening flight reaches MAA around 11pm IST)
Had booked my hotel from India itself - Shangri La. The staff there directed me to the Jacuzzi and sauna area to take a shower and get ready for office, while they arranged for my early check-in. They also took care of my local currency requirements charging my card directly. Had a continental breakfast (exorbitant 85 AED!!) and left quickly for the office. Dozed off the whole day.
Morale: Don't take the late night flight from India!
Back to Shangri la!
I was on the 34 floor not realizing that the thin structure diagonally opposite the building was the Burj tower (under construction). The hotel Jacuzzi helped me take off a little bit of travel pain and so I decided to go out for dinner.
It is located on the busiest road in Dubai - Sheik Zayed Road, which also also had numerous other hotels and small restaurants. Nice place to take an evening stroll and pass by everything from the French Connection to Pizza Hut. Good to see such soothing hangouts just beside high speed maddening traffic rush. The shops on the other side of Sheik Zayed seemed even brighter (grass is always ...) The only thing that kept me wondering was how can a pedestrian get to the other side of road!
The television and cable network is pathetic, so you need to go out and see places. Shopping is one of the biggest attraction of Dubai. I am not a shopping freak (at least I don't claim so) but one of the hotel girls told me in detail about where to shop for what. Typical places to Shop and attractions includes:
City Centre Mall: Suggested for budget shopping. Items generally cheaper than other Malls
Wafi Mall : Has everything from electronics to hi fashion to jewelry to food. Has this nice food joint called Waffi Gourmet in case you want to try something special. And you can also try some Shisha (Hukka), very famous in all restaurants, with food.
Mall of Emirates: Supposedly Expensive. A big mall with an attraction of Skiing round the year. Skiing in hot Dubai weather, must be kidding. Not really, they have the biggest artificial ice skiing ground there. A typical example of power of oil!
Kya kare kahan jaye? (Where to go what to do?):
Concrete Jungle: They say a third of the world's cranes are working in Middle East. You could just look around to validate the statistic. Every where you see there would be new construction coming up.
The celebrated D shaped hotel (supposedly the only 7-star) in the world!
Almost all skyscrapers have a pub / nightclub on the top most floor, some people love to get high at night!
Palm Jumeria
Nearby Places: Abu Dhabi