[mobike008]

December 8th, 2023

Well, I was in India for 3-weeks and due to work had to come back to US alone.

I rescheduled my flight and deliberately booked the longest layover in Dubai.

I have been transiting via. Dubai for nearly 2-decades now and for some reason, I never planned a stop nor had got an opportunity to visit Dubai for vacationing purposes. I would always enjoy their amazing airport (DXB) and then head to my destination in Europe or Americas.

This time, I decided to make a pit-stop and primary reason was my cousin sis lives in Abu Dhabi (150kms & 2-hour away) and she was insisting that I should make a stop for a couple of days before heading back.

Well, 2-days was not possible so I decided the “layover” trick.

Delhi-> Dubai-> Seattle was booked with a 22-hour layover.

I landed in Dubai at 1:00pm and my flight to Seattle was next day at 11:00am.

Emirates gives the following :

1. Free Visa
2. 5-Star Accommodation
3. Free Meals (Lunch, Dinner & Breakfast)

Landed on time and a bomb was dropped on my head. My sis said they cannot make it as her husband got into some critical work (it was Friday and working day in Dubai- Gosh, if this was a few months ago, it would have been a holiday in Dubai)

I was left alone to fend for myself. Sigh !!

Getting a transit visa was a breeze which was completed in 30 minutes. Then Emirates dropped me to a 5-Star hotel which was not too far from DXB.

I checked in and grabbed some lunch and in the meantime my sis organized a SUV which will arrive at my hotel at 4:00pm and take me to all the popular places of Dubai. I can use the car until Midnight.

Normally, there is a group tour but, I preferred a solo tour (meaning just the driver & myself) which came at a premium (actually, more than double the price).

My SUV arrived and I was pleased to note it was the huge “Chevrolet Tahoe” and I felt like royalty (You know GMC and Tahoes are US Government preferred vehicles). Haha!

My driver was a middle-aged extremely sweet Pakistani fella. He was very flexible, knowledgeable and humble. I had a great time with him over the course of 8-9 hours that we were together on this local Dubai sight-seeing trip.

I treated him to a Shawarma & Milkshake and also tipped him generously after knowing the measly salary he makes and how he saves his money to give to his mom (he was unmarried). And, when I got to know how much he saves each month- I almost had tears in my eyes.

Anyways, here are some pictures of my short trip. Obviously, due to the nature of this trip, I could not see their famed attractions up and close. Hopefully, next time.

Dubai was hot even in December and this was supposed to be their winters. I shudder to think how the weather would be in summers. I would recommend folks to visit Dubai only between December to March.

Dubai blew me away with its sheer extravaganza, skyscrapers, filthy rich people lifestyle etc. However, I felt everything was just too artificial and is probably great for people who are millionaires (other folks here will always be a shadow of the rich who are generally the Emiratis).

Anyhoo, enough of talkin’. Let’s see some pictures and videos.

Cheers to Dubai & Thanks for checking this photoblog out.

Emirates- One of the finest airlines.



DXB- Never saw so many 7's and BMW Station wagons in one place.







My hotel room in Dubai.



Lunch at the hotel. Massive buffet. I hate buffets but, this food was pretty nice.









Chevy Tahoe





I took a boat ride across this man-made canal to other side to visit GOLD SOUK & SPICE SOUK by foot. I enjoyed a lovely walk in these markets.







You have to pay AED 1 (each way) to use this wooden boat ride.







Saffron on display- Shopkeeper told me this is INR 2 Lakhs worth on display.



First comes SPICE SOUK and then as you keep walking, you enter into GOLD SOUK.





Gold Display in stores which are 300+ in this market blew my mind. It's too much gold our eyes can handle. LOL!







Disembarking from the boat after an enjoyable time in the market for an hour or so.



Dubai Legislation- This is where the government was formed.



Mosques are located every 1/2 kms. Supposedly to give access to folks for prayers without having to travel much.



Shawarma time...



Beach view of Burj AL Arab.

[mobike008]

Well, with the super short time in hand. We decided to do most of the attractions as " Drive-by" and covered the following in the 8-hour drive.

1. Gold Souk (Souk is Market)
2. Spice Souk
3. Drive through older sections of Dubai which looks and feels a bit like India.
4. Drive to beach for a few of Burj Al Arab from a side-angle view.
5. Drive through the parking lot of a fancy hotel (Didn't catch the name) which had Gold Horses adorning the entire drive-way (Talk about extravaganza) and some fancy cars parked in the driveway (G-Wagons, Lambos, AMG's etc)
6. Drive on the world famous " Sheik Zayad Road"
7. Visit to the Dubai Marina
8. Visit to the Dubai Mall and parked the car and walked around the mall to see the beautiful " Fountain Show" inside the mall with Burj AL Arab in the background.
9. Stopping enroute at a famous place to enjoy a "Shawarma"
10. Drive through the numerous palaces of wife's of Dubai Sheik that run in kilometers.
11. Drive by the famous Atlantis Hotel (Pink structure )
12. Drive by the even more famous "Royal Atlantis" hotel which was opened by Beyonce and is rumored to have been paid $2Million for her Hotel Opening act.

Whew! That's all I could cover in this short trip.

Rest for next trip !!

Cheers to Dubai.

Boat ride to SOUK Markets.

https://youtu.be/HLBQrzSLiE4

Fountain show at the Dubai Mall.

https://youtu.be/ZCJbdE3zmjM

Drive-by through a fancy hotel in Dubai with Gold Horses. Anyone knows which hotel is this one?

https://youtu.be/SuueLmUq-ME

Royal Atlantis Hotel- Drive-by.

https://youtu.be/8UsVTvBV8bw

Approaching the Atlantis Hotel- Apparently, SRK has a room booked here permanently.



Atlantis Hotel.



Royal Atlantis- This blew me away. Unique box shaped building and it stretches for almost a kilometer. I would love to stay here next time.





Dubai Marina- I was grumpy because I had to take an office call in the car just before this. LOL!





Glitzy buildings everywhere.











Another nice meal at the hotel- 1am dinner.



The "Eye"



Beautiful lamps at the market.



Gold, Gold everywhere in GOLD SOUK.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[dawnthegreat]

Loved reading this! I am flying to the US from Bombay via Emirates in a few months. Decided to include a small 3-day Dubai tour in it too on the way back. How can I avail the visa and accommodation that Emirates provides? All my flights are on the trip are with Emirates.

[TheSMG]

@mobike008 You visited many places during your long layover. I many times have layover in UAE, can you please let me know the process for transit visa and hotel booking. Thanks.

[Fuldagap]

I'm just curious to know the earning figures that the chauffeur told. Do share if you feel comfortable. From what I have heard they earn and save a lot. I could be wrong though.

[exhaustbreather]

Originally Posted by mobike008

December 8th, 2023

Well, I was in India for 3-weeks and due to work had to come back to US alone.

I rescheduled my flight and deliberately booked the longest layover in Dubai.

I have two questions to ask.
1) Are you an Indian passport holder?
2) Emirates ticket- which class?

Indian passport holder here, I often take connecting flights via Dubai, I want to see Dubai during the layover period too. I wonder if I have to take a visa(which type?). If it's an overnight layover, can I stay at my relative's rather than a hotel.

[dust-n-bones]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Dubai blew me away with its sheer extravaganza, skyscrapers, filthy rich people lifestyle etc. However, I felt everything was just too artificial and is probably great for people who are millionaires (other folks here will always be a shadow of the rich who are generally the Emiratis).

+1. Even Las Vegas has some culture and definitely a sense that you are in the US of A. Dubai just leaves me cold.

Originally Posted by mobike008

My driver was a middle-aged extremely sweet Pakistani fella. He was very flexible, knowledgeable and humble. I had a great time with him over the course of 8-9 hours that we were together on this local Dubai sight-seeing trip.

I treated him to a Shawarma & Milkshake and also tipped him generously after knowing the measly salary he makes and how he saves his money to give to his mom (he was unmarried). And, when I got to know how much he saves each month- I almost had tears in my eyes.

+1 again. Politics is in overdrive these days, but then there are gestures like these that reassure you that we will be just fine.

Originally Posted by exhaustbreather

I have two questions to ask.

Indian passport holder here, I often take connecting flights via Dubai, I want to see Dubai during the layover period too. I wonder if I have to take a visa(which type?). If it's an overnight layover, can I stay at my relative's rather than a hotel.

https://u.ae/en/information-and-serv...s/transit-visa

If I remember right, you have to choose an emirati airline - can't be on Air India as an example.
Singapore has a similar free transit visa as well (or at least used to have a few years ago). Handy if say you're headed to the US west coast or Australia.

[soleinkol]

The official Emirates airline policy on long layover gives details here: https://www.emirates.com/in/english/...dubai-connect/

What I understood is you become eligible for this if your transfer is the best (read shortest) transfer time available and it is above a certain threshold. However OP would have more specific personal input to share.

[exhaustbreather]

Originally Posted by dust-n-bones

+1. Even Las Vegas has some culture and definitely a sense that you are in the US of A. Dubai just leaves me cold.



+1 again. Politics is in overdrive these days, but then there are gestures like these that reassure you that we will be just fine.



https://u.ae/en/information-and-serv...s/transit-visa

If I remember right, you have to choose an emirati airline - can't be on Air India as an example.
Singapore has a similar free transit visa as well (or at least used to have a few years ago). Handy if say you're headed to the US west coast or Australia.

I have an option of flying with Air India or Emirates to Europe. with this info, I'm definitely taking Emirates, with layover to see the city on two different days.

[Samfromindia]

There is a lovely video on this topic made by the official tourism department. Here it is:

https://youtu.be/SI0PkcYYl_0?feature=shared

[cormodore]

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

I'm just curious to know the earning figures that the chauffeur told. Do share if you feel comfortable. From what I have heard they earn and save a lot. I could be wrong though.

I have stayed in Dubai for six months and travelled with many drivers from TS and AP and can answer the question for you.

The drivers salary would range from 3000AED to 3500AED per month and Pakistanis join as drivers even for less. The waiters in small hotels or shawarma joints earn much less with starting salaries as low as 1500AED per month.

These people stay in rented bunk beds(12 to 15 persons in a room) costing 600AED to 800AED. The accommodation is without AC, and they prefer to work day in and out, so that they can be in the car or building for AC.

They make sure not to spend more than 1200AED and send the rest to India. Some employers are generous enough to offer return tickets once a year and many don't.

Considering 3000AED as median salaries of these people, they send around 35K to India per month (1.8k AED X 20Rs). The downside is they spend a miserable life (very basic food, no purchases or expenses in Dubai) which is quite opposite to the glitzy and flashy buildings/shopping malls that we see of Dubai.

@mobike008 and @Mods: If you fell I have digressed from the main topic which might deviate the topic of discussion/interest, please feel free to delete my post.

[mobike008]

Firstly, Happy New Year 2024 folks. As I type this message, it's already New Year in India.

Wish everyone on the forum a happy, prosperous and healthy new year. !!!

Originally Posted by dawnthegreat

Loved reading this! I am flying to the US from Bombay via Emirates in a few months. Decided to include a small 3-day Dubai tour in it too on the way back. How can I avail the visa and accommodation that Emirates provides? All my flights are on the trip are with Emirates.

Originally Posted by TheSMG

@mobike008 You visited many places during your long layover. I many times have layover in UAE, can you please let me know the process for transit visa and hotel booking. Thanks.

Originally Posted by exhaustbreather

I have two questions to ask.
1) Are you an Indian passport holder?
2) Emirates ticket- which class?

Indian passport holder here, I often take connecting flights via Dubai, I want to see Dubai during the layover period too. I wonder if I have to take a visa(which type?). If it's an overnight layover, can I stay at my relative's rather than a hotel.

Originally Posted by soleinkol

The official Emirates airline policy on long layover gives details here: https://www.emirates.com/in/english/...dubai-connect/

What I understood is you become eligible for this if your transfer is the best (read shortest) transfer time available and it is above a certain threshold. However OP would have more specific personal input to share.

Originally Posted by exhaustbreather

I have an option of flying with Air India or Emirates to Europe. with this info, I'm definitely taking Emirates, with layover to see the city on two different days.

Well, here are some more detail for all queries :

1. First things first, Dubai as a transit destination comes only if you are flying Emirates (Because Emirates Airline is from Dubai) and similarly, if you fly Qatar (it will be Doha- I flew them in May 2023 to India), Etihad (Abu Dhabi) etc. If you take an Air india flight, it will not go via. Dubai. AI typically flies direct to US. Like Delhi- Newark, Delhi- Chicago, Delhi- SFO etc.

2. I flew Economy from Delhi to Dubai but, I upgraded to Business from Dubai to Seattle with my points + cash on an awesome deal.

3. My perspective is from a US Citizen/Green Card Holder. There was an option to get a transit visa immediately as I approched the "Dubai Connect" desk for AED 65. I preferred to wait for 30 mins and get a FREE VISA. I have no clue how this works for other US visa holders (Business, Work or H1B).

4. Drop in BMW to the hotel, all free meals. All those 7's and BMW station wagons are owned by Emirates.

I just called the airline a day before when I was in Delhi and confirmed my hotel stay. They give you a voucher at DXB that you need to show at the hotel and your passport, onward journey ticket (in my case, it was Seattle).

Originally Posted by dust-n-bones

+1. Even Las Vegas has some culture and definitely a sense that you are in the US of A. Dubai just leaves me cold.

+1.

I would personally never live in Dubai (it's a great destination for vacation and mind you it's not cheap) as I would feel intimidated, poor and a failure in life. And, other side of Dubai (poor immigrants) is anyway not at all inspiring.

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

I'm just curious to know the earning figures that the chauffeur told. Do share if you feel comfortable. From what I have heard they earn and save a lot. I could be wrong though.

Originally Posted by cormodore

I have stayed in Dubai for six months and travelled with many drivers from TS and AP and can answer the question for you.

The drivers salary would range from 3000AED to 3500AED per month and Pakistanis join as drivers even for less. The waiters in small hotels or shawarma joints earn much less with starting salaries as low as 1500AED per month.

These people stay in rented bunk beds(12 to 15 persons in a room) costing 600AED to 800AED. The accommodation is without AC, and they prefer to work day in and out, so that they can be in the car or building for AC.

They make sure not to spend more than 1200AED and send the rest to India. Some employers are generous enough to offer return tickets once a year and many don't.

Considering 3000AED as median salaries of these people, they send around 35K to India per month (1.8k AED X 20Rs). The downside is they spend a miserable life (very basic food, no purchases or expenses in Dubai) which is quite opposite to the glitzy and flashy buildings/shopping malls that we see of Dubai.

@mobike008 and @Mods: If you fell I have digressed from the main topic which might deviate the topic of discussion/interest, please feel free to delete my post.

Absolutely correct information. This is the dark and seedy side of Dubai.

This glitzy city has been constructed with the blood, sweat and labor of all these poor immigrants from India, Pakistan, Other Middle Eastern Countries, Philippines.

My driver (his name was PRINCE, which I found cute ) makes 3,500 AED /month for his driver/tour guide job which involves a lot of driving every day.

He is from Karachi and lives with his mom and unmarried sister in a dedicated 1-bedroom apartment in Dubai for which he pays 2,000 AED and other expenses are 700 AED.

He spends 300 AED on himself (phone, eating out etc) and he hands over 500 AED to his mom who saves that money for a rainy day.

Just to put things in perspective :

Group SUV Tour costs 250 AED ( You will share the SUV with other people)

I paid 550 AED for this solo tour. I tipped him 100 AED.

Just to keep things in perspective :

3500 AED is INR 80,000 (May sound like a good salary but, Dubai is an expensive city)

500 AED is ~ INR 12,000 ( After all that hard work in a full month, he saves just 500 AED)

[exhaustbreather]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I just called the airline a day before when I was in Delhi and confirmed my hotel stay. They give you a voucher at DXB that you need to show at the hotel and your passport, onward journey ticket (in my case, it was Seattle).

Did all of this come with the business class upgrade or you spent cash or miles for the hotel stay and the emirates taxi?

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by exhaustbreather

Did all of this come with the business class upgrade or you spent cash or miles for the hotel stay and the emirates taxi?

I just paid the extra for the ticket upgrade. Not a single dime more. Everything else is taken care by Emirates Airlines.

Ofcourse, I paid for the SUV city tour cost which was my personal tour.