[KarthikK]

Very nicely written travelogue with all the planning details, lovely pictures and comprehensive narration to re-live the trip for us virtually .

I particularly liked the part where you have kept aside quite a bit of buffer time / days left for unplanned activities. Many first-time travellers go overboard and in the enthusiasm of ticking everything, they pack their itineraries with so much of attraction-hopping that they have no breathing space or additional time later in case they find something interesting in real time.

P.S - you know it is a car enthusiast travelling when the itinerary has 1 day for car spotting, and the automobile pictures almost outnumber the other pictures .

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Makes me wonder though - our beautiful country is blessed with an abundance of everything and all they had was a desert!

Agreed that they had only desert, but below that, an abundance of Oil. While he have abundance of corrupt politicians.
Less, or rather sparsely populated. The rulers ensured that all citizens benefitted from the wealth acquired from Oil. Abu Dhabi, I know of gave free land and interest free loan for construction of buildings. The buildings were taken by 'Khalifa Committee' to lease on rent to recover the loan. Yet, the owner received 25% of rent for his personal use.
Then, their law that each and every business would be owned by local as minimum of 51% partnership. Thus, while expats worked hard towards their business, the local would earn his part easily. This is where their immense wealth earned from.
Corruption is nonexistent as no one knows who is from Intelligence.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by NPV

Lovely narrative and beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing @crazydriver

We visited Dubai couple years ago and your Travelogue brought back great memories. Made by day already, no more Monday morning blues

Thanks NPV. Glad if you liked it.

What was your itinerary like? Any other places worth noting down for a future visit?

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

Thanks for showing me the changes if the decade.

So even a valid US visit visa also entitles visitor Indian to obtain VOA in Dubai

Yes. True on the VOA rules.

Thanks for your brilliant thread again. I had marked it above for readers, in case they missed it. Presents such a vibrant contrast between the old and new Dubai. Also - brought back my itch to gets a hands-on offroading experience. Some other day, hopefully.

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Brilliant T'log Sujai. Very well written.

A car/TeamBHP meet during a vacation shows the level of enthusiasm in you .

Thanks Naveen. Of course, can discuss cars anytime - especially during vacation, that too in a place like Dubai.

[Mistakenguy]

Excellent Thread Sujai ! Have taken notes and will definitely help me with my trip planning, whenever that happens.

When I saw the thread title, I was definitely expecting a meet with Anif.

[vibbs]

Nice Travelogue CD. I have been to Dubai quite a few times, all on work though and never for liesure.But it definitely warrants one visit for sure to enjoy all the artificial extravaganzas money has built.

As a Malayalee it always has a special place in the heart add a car enthusiast to the mix, it becomes a mouth watering proposition. Here are a few pics from my last visit to Dubai in Nov 2019. Hope you dont mind me sharing them here.

Burj Khalifa is a different experience with all the lights on. Since it was a business trip, choice of time was out of necessity. But I did not complain .







Below is the glimpse view from a rooftop bar at the hotel I stayed.



We also managed a short drive into the desert with one of my colleagues.





A view of Ski dubai from one of the earlier visits. Did not enter though.



Finally a photo any mallu specially with ties to Calicut will connect with.



Coming from Singapore, whenever I visit Dubai, a trip to either Paragon or calicut notebook is mandatory to fulfill the kerala porotta- beef fry craving!

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

We had never tried Emirates before and it was a bucket list item for her. So choosing the airline was easy! Back then, the round trip cost us 40k INR.

The route towards Kerala and back to Dubai is not the best to experience Emirates hospitality, that too they fly smaller (sometimes older) aircrafts on this route. I regularly fly COK - DXB - FRA, the DXB - FRA has always been a much better experience than COK - DXB. In one of those flights from DXB-COK, I witnessed a fight breaking out between two mallus - reason --- alcohol

So, did you get to see / meet "Gaffoor ka dost" in person?

Spike

[Amrik Singh]

As Male members, I understand your crave for fantastic Cars and training your Cameras on them.
If Females had a hand on this thread, I would have seen some pictures of Gold Souq.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Very nicely written travelogue with all the planning details, lovely pictures and comprehensive narration to re-live the trip for us virtually .

I particularly liked the part where you have kept aside quite a bit of buffer time / days left for unplanned activities. Many first-time travellers go overboard and in the enthusiasm of ticking everything, they pack their itineraries with so much of attraction-hopping that they have no breathing space or additional time later in case they find something interesting in real time.

P.S - you know it is a car enthusiast travelling when the itinerary has 1 day for car spotting, and the automobile pictures almost outnumber the other pictures .

Thanks, KK. Like mentioned in the report - car pictures were all thanks to Anif and I never had it planned out. But - well worth it.

Earlier I used to plan vacations without a break either - till I realized two years back in Goa (was a TBhp support-team meet too!) about enjoying a vacation by not planning anything about it. Will definitely stick to a very relaxed schedule for vacations going forward. Same with the Thailand trip too - only half the planned days had planned activities.

Originally Posted by Mistakenguy

Excellent Thread Sujai ! Have taken notes and will definitely help me with my trip planning, whenever that happens.

When I saw the thread title, I was definitely expecting a meet with Anif.

Haha! But - I didn't have the meeting planned out, just because I wasn't sure he was in Dubai. For me - all these Gulf countries were only 'Gelf' back then, constantly confusing myself with Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Qatar. After reaching there, I just casually texted him if he is in Dubai only - and he picked me up the next day morning only.

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

The route towards Kerala and back to Dubai is not the best to experience Emirates hospitality, that too they fly smaller (sometimes older) aircrafts on this route. I regularly fly COK - DXB - FRA, the DXB - FRA has always been a much better experience than COK - DXB. In one of those flights from DXB-FRA, I witnessed a fight breaking out between two mallus - reason --- alcohol

So, did you get to see / meet "Gaffoor ka dost" in person?

Spike

True - have heard the same sentiments. Not lucky enough to fly those sectors yet and will have to wait for another chance some other time!

Gaffoor ka dost -

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

As Male members, I understand your crave for fantastic Cars and training your Cameras on them.
If Females had a hand on this thread, I would have seen some pictures of Gold Souq.

Thankfully, my wife never insisted on visiting the Gold Souq. Her wishlist only had malls and the aquarium included. We did visit some of the old markets in the Al Fahidi area though - just walking around after dinner with friends.

Originally Posted by vibbs

Here are a few pics from my last visit to Dubai in Nov 2019. Hope you dont mind me sharing them here.

Beautiful pictures! I waited till the twilight and then got out - did try to stay on till it got this dark! Lovely indeed!

[guyfrmblr]

Excellent travelogue! Wonderful photos. Enjoyed reading it. I have only seen the areal view of Dubai during the flight transits but have never visited the city. Must plan a visit soon. No idea when will we get out of this pandemic.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

• Coconut Oil
• Banana Chips
• Mohanlal Mammootty
• Puttu Kadla
• Porotta Beef

and finally

• Duphai / Gelf (ahem... Dubai/Gulf pronounced 'properly'!)

And then comes Dubai! Keralites love Dubai, supposedly - with a good number of NRIs in the Gulf countries. I've often heard others joking that every extended family in Kerala will have at least one person working in the Gulf

Hahaha, this cracked me up. I’m not from Kerala but from Mangalore and we share most of these traits

[Amrik Singh]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Hahaha, this cracked me up. I’m not from Kerala but from Mangalore and we share most of these traits

Believe me - In Dubai, you can survive without knowledge of English, Hindi / Urdu or Arabic, only if you know Malayalam.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Excellent travelogue! Wonderful photos. Enjoyed reading it. I have only seen the areal view of Dubai during the flight transits but have never visited the city. Must plan a visit soon. No idea when will we get out of this pandemic.

Hahaha, this cracked me up. I’m not from Kerala but from Mangalore and we share most of these traits

Glad you liked it. Do visit next year when the pandemic is over. Hopefully we will get more competitive rates as well as world over everyone tries to kickstart tourism.

Mangalore / Coorg has a lot in common with Kerala, just as Kasargod with Karnataka.

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

Believe me - In Dubai, you can survive without knowledge of English, Hindi / Urdu or Arabic, only if you know Malayalam.

Felt this is especially true in the old merchant streets.

[Amrik Singh]

Burj Khalifa - as it looks now, surrounded by equally magnificent skyscrapers is viewed often by all. But this is what it looked like in 2009 - Majestically standing alone.
(from my old memoirs)

[dpaul]

Very nice travelogue. Nicely paced vacation without the mad rush to visit all the touristy places cramped in a few days. Made for a pleasant read during the lockdown where all we can now do is dream of the places to visit once things become normal.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Makes me wonder though - our beautiful country is blessed with an abundance of everything and all they had was a desert!

A very profound thought inducing quote indeed.

[Jeroen]

Thanks for sharing. Really nice story and some great photography.

When we lived in Delhi I had many colleagues and friends who used to take short breaks in Dubai. My wife was never interested in going there. So when she was in Europe, I booked myself on a long weekend trip. I did pretty much the same as you guys. I thought it was an interesting experience. But at the same time, I must admit I found all of Dubai to much artificial to my liking.

We always enjoy finding out about the history of the places we visit. Look at some of the old historical places. But not to offend anybody, places like Dubai as somewhat limited in that respect. A lot of its history took part in tents and dessert. I’m oversimplifying, no disrespect, but from that point of view it just did not have much to offer, really.

I am glad I went and I had a good time. Since I have been several more times, purely on business. And it is a good place to stay. Very safe, everything is very well organised etc. So very convenient.

Lots of Indians about, both on holiday/break as well as Indian living and working there. I did the harbour tour as well. A boat full of tourist. People were talking to one another, where are you from, where are you staying.

As it turns out everybody was Indian and so was the crew! So then they stare at me, somebody finally asks me: where are you from? I am from Delhi, India was my reply. Which was technically true of course!

Jeroen

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Amrik Singh

Burj Khalifa - as it looks now, surrounded by equally magnificent skyscrapers is viewed often by all. But this is what it looked like in 2009 - Majestically standing alone.

Majestically alone indeed. Looks like Downtown Dubai area was built around the Burj later.

Originally Posted by dpaul

Very nice travelogue. Nicely paced vacation without the mad rush to visit all the touristy places cramped in a few days. Made for a pleasant read during the lockdown where all we can now do is dream of the places to visit once things become normal.

Glad you liked it.

Like mentioned earlier - a couple of years back I would have planned a full hectic vacation too, especially if it involves a lot of driving - but won't be repeating that mistake ever again.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

But at the same time, I must admit I found all of Dubai to much artificial to my liking.

We always enjoy finding out about the history of the places we visit. Look at some of the old historical places. But not to offend anybody, places like Dubai as somewhat limited in that respect. A lot of its history took part in tents and dessert. I’m oversimplifying, no disrespect, but from that point of view it just did not have much to offer, really.

Totally agree with you Jeroen. Everything about the city is artificial, no doubt.

Their history seems to be from humble origins and it could really be the discovery of oil that changed the fate of these Arab nations - but then again, the progress afterwards is also unbelievable.

Sometimes I wonder if this pace is sustainable - given Dubai's heavy dependency on travel and tourism. They had less oil revenue compared to neighbouring states, but went all out as a travel hub and destination. And then COVID happened.