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Our member yld200 has just returned from a week of holidaying in Dubai! Home to the world’s tallest building, this thriving metropolis has something for everyone visitor.
Taking advantage of a family connection, our member managed to pick up some great value Emirates staff travel tickets, albeit in economy, for the trip to the UAE.
My sister works for Emirates as a flight attendant in F so I have access to cheap standby flights on EK which is great since there are 3 flights daily from MEL > DXB. We were originally looking to travel over the Easter period to catch the public holidays but this was a no go due to the loads looking pretty heavy in both directions. We then locked in the first week of March which happened to coincide with our friends travelling to Dubai at the same time. With the loads looking light we were excited and ready to roll.
Our member stayed at the Dubai Marina which, like much of the booming city, is undergoing a large amount of construction. This includes a new Ferris wheel that will eventually be larger than the London Eye!
A short metro ride away is the Dubai Mall. This enormous shopping centre features everything from high-end shops, to restaurants, to an aquarium.
There are 4 levels with each section of each level having a theme like high end fashion, electronics, gold, shoes and everything else. If the aquarium isn’t your thing then you can also go ice skating at the ice skating rink which is down the other end of the mall next to the fountains. We mainly window shopped and popped into a few places but found the prices really expensive compared to back home.
Dubai is famous for its souks, or traditional markets. While the mall may not feature such great bargains, the souks are a different story. Our member visited several, including the Spice and Textile souks. But probably the most famous of all is the Gold Souk.
The next day we started off at the Gold Souk where you can buy anything in gold. If it’s gold you want, it’s gold you’ll find here. We even saw a female top made from gold here. You also have the guys coming up and touting you here asking if you want to look at watches, handbags, wallets, etc.
Dubai is also a great place to taste traditional Emirati cuisine, where bread, hummus, meat and salad feature heavily on the menu.
Looking for some inspiration ahead of your own visit to Dubai? Discover what else our member got up to HERE.
