It sure will take your breath away on a thrilling dune-bashing trip in the desert sands of

DUBAI is one of the most extraordinary travel destinations on the planet. Lavish. Bold. Eye-popping. One of seven emirates in the , Dubai is a thoroughly modern metropolis in an ancient desert land, where East and West meld into a unique and ever-evolving culture. Dubai, growing as a popular stopover destination for THINGS Australians travelling to Europe, has become known in recent years as a place YOU MUST where big things happen. An indoor ski field? No worries. ’s tallest building? Here it is. A 7-star hotel? DO IN Can do. Local Arabs, sporting spotless dishdashas, wander the mega-malls with DUBAI mobile phones pressed to their ears. Nearby, merchants in the oldstyle souks sell fabrics, clothes, spices, jewellery and trinkets, and beyond, camels roam the desert. Here are some good starting points when planning your Dubai holiday:

1 High & Mighty At the Gold Diamond Mall, 90 retailers sell gold, diamonds and jewellery; Mall of the Take a trip up the world’s tallest building, Emirates, opened in 2005, is a 223,000sq the . Before you enter the mshopping, leisure and entertainment structure, stand outside and take in the sheer destination with 520 international brand architectural magnificence of the Khalifa, a retailers, a 14-screen multiplex cinema, the metallic rocket rising more than 800m. Inside the lift, the guide and a light show surreal , two hotels, a 500-seat do a good job of keeping sightseers occupied theatre and more than 80 cafes and food as they climb 124 storeys. Surprisingly, the outlets. trip is quite quick and the view at the top , meanwhile, has more not as unsettling as those with wobbly knees than 1000 shops, attracts more than 750,000 may assume. On the observation deck, get a visitors a week and is home to the Dubai Ice real sense of the Burj Khalifa’s mindbending Rink, Sega Republic, Dubai Aquarium and dimensions by peering at some of Dubai’s Underwater Zoo and Dubai Fountain. other skyscrapers way, way below. From 3 Holding the Fort Outside of festival time, Dubai’s taxfree up here you can take a wide pan on Dubai, status ensures there are always plenty of from the ocean to the desert and the myriad In a comparatively grittier area of Dubai is the resorts, hotels, business districts, residential Al Fahidi Fort, housing the . opportunities for the holidaying shopper. areas and construction projects in between. The fort was built around 1787 and once guarded Dubai. Renovated in 1971 for use as a museum, it houses artefacts from excavations 5 Snow Business 2 Water everywhere in the emirate, including those dating back Temperatures in Dubai can soar sky high, so to the third millennium BC. Also inside the The waters of the Persian Gulf can be as tepid it’s handy that a fair portion of the emirate is fort are a series of life-like, full-sized dioramas enclosed in airconditioned space, including as a bath and as still as a statue, so it’s nice illustrating daily life in the era before oil. to swim, float and splash about in the sea off the bus stops. Open Saturday to Thursday, 8.30am- resorts such as Hotel, which And then there is Ski Dubai, the first 8.30pm, Friday 2.30 - 8.30pm (different hours has its own private stretch of sand. From one indoor ski resort in the Middle East. Ski of the Jumeirah pools you can wander straight during Ramadan). Dubai, the size of three football fields, has five down to the sand and into the water, which runs varying in difficulty, height and gradient, the longest falls 60m over a run of 400m. boasts terrific views of the remarkable, sail- 4 Shop Till You Drop shaped , which rates itself as a There is a capacity for 1500 skiers or 7-star hotel and is accessible only by causeway Early each year, the Dubai Shopping Festival snowboarders, quad chairlift and tow lift, from the mainland or helicopter. If the sea is a draws tourists from all over the world seeking professional instructors and, seeing as people little too staid, walk the short distance to Wild bargains. Participating shopping complexes don’t tend to travel to Dubai with ski gear, all Wadi Water Park, which is themed around include , Dubai Mall, equipment can be rented onsite. You really do Juha, a character from Arabian folklore, and Mirdif City Centre, Mall and need to see it to believe it. has 30 rides and attractions. Gold & Diamond Park.

Take a desert roller-coaster ride

Phillip Hudson driver and guide Yeoman, one of 40 drivers We continue our safari in the Arabian desert for Arabian Adventures. He’s quick with a joke where there’s seemingly nothing to see in any THE unexpected and rapid acceleration as he roars up another sand dune, creating direction except sand and tyre tracks. Surging straight up the steep sand dune catches me an all too real illusion that the 4WD might tip up and down and around the sand dunes, completely off guard. Then there’s an equally over, but provides the re-assuring confidence we pause to observe footprints left by a wild surprising plunge straight down the other that it won’t. Still, it’s best to hold on tight as rabbit, sand fox or spiny tail lizard. side. It’s just like a roller-coaster but there’s he charges ahead and cracks another joke. We halt at the top of a dune to watch a no track for this thrilling ride in a 4WD on the Yeoman stops suddenly when he spots a lone magnificent burnt orange sunset over the sand dunes in the Dubai desert. oryx and crawls the vehicle closer so we can sands ‘‘This is our technique, no worries,’’ says our take photos. OLD-WORLD CHARM: Camels at sunset in the desert near Dubai contrast with the modern city’s glitter ENCHANTING: A Dubai mosque silhouetted against the sunset.

Then it is time for a feast under the stars at than an hour away by car is the other Dubai tempt you with all sorts of Middle Eastern a desert camp made to look like an authentic – the sparkling silver city of dreams trying to delicacies and crafts, although once you say Bedouin village. offer the biggest and best of everything, even you are Australian many will stop the hard sell Before dinner comes an obligatory camel when it seems absurd. because they understand our strict quarantine ride and the sudden jolt backwards and up as The drive into town takes us past a laws ban many of the goods they have to offer. the beast rises for yet another tourist from its landscape punctured with racetrack rails, Yet, even here, very little of the original crouched position. built for horse and camel racing, the favourite Dubai remains, with most of the souks having After a short stroll on a tame camel, there sport of the sheiks who are regular visitors to been rebuilt, perhaps to compete with the is a warm welcome inside the camp. The Australia, especially for the Melbourne Cup sparkling malls and department stores. harsh sand is covered with colourful carpets carnival. Dubai is a city of contradictions. and cushions and we sit at low tables lit by We have the briefest encounter with Conservative Middle Eastern women wearing lanterns. royalty when the ruler of Dubai Sheik a head-to-toe hijab shop alongside other As the sound of classic Arabian music Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum passes women whose state of undress would turn wafts over the evening, the banquet begins. us on a quiet desert road and gives a wave. heads on Bondi Beach. Plates are piled high with grilled meats, He is driving his luxury 4WD the other way, The Mall of the Emirates is not quite salads, rice and traditional Middle Eastern presumably to check on his racing stock. as big as Dubai Mall – it has only a 14- fare. In the heart of Dubai is the soaring Burj screen cinema but has 85 coffee shops and A belly dancer performs, but beware – Khalifa, the world’s tallest building opened in restaurants. there is often audience participation whether January 2010. you like it or not. This shining silver monolith stands 828m The writer was a guest of Emirates After dinner there’s the option to high and has 160 storeys. A high-speed lift try the ‘‘hubbly bubbly’’ which is apple- with a 1970s inspired light and sound show flavoured shisha ‘‘smoked’’ through a hookah inside takes just one minute to climb to (waterpipe). the 124th floor observation deck. (The lift Women can visit the henna ladies who operators work strict 30-minute shifts so they Go2 will paint designs on their arms, legs, feet or don’t get ill going up and down repeatedly at DUBAI other parts of the body. It leaves an indigo such rapid speeds). mark like a tattoo that is supposed to fade Below is a panoramic view of the city Getting there after a few weeks. and an impressive multi-media telescope Emirates flies to Dubai from Brisbane. After a This is just one side of Dubai, an emirate presentation showing what is described as stopover, you can fly on to several European built from the sand on oil riches. ‘‘virtual time-travel visions’’ of the landscape. destinations. We stay at the luxurious Bab Al Shams By flicking a button you can switch from Desert Resort & Spa – the name means present day to the past and see the vast Stay gateway to the sun – and it’s a self-styled oasis development below disappear into the sand. Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa. Prices start in the desert. It’s a great way to see how Dubai has grown at 1275 AED ($A352) a room a night, It can hold 500 guests in its 113 rooms so quickly. depending on time of year. www.meydan.ae – most tucked away in courtyards built Burj Khalifa sits above the Dubai Mall around a half a dozen pools overlooking the which claims to be the world’s largest Do rolling desert dunes. With palm trees and a shopping centre with 12,000 stores, a 22- Arabian Adventures dune dinner safari. Daily. traditional Arabian architectural style it looks screen cinema, a luxury hotel and a Sega Cost 330 AED ($A91) for adults, 295 AED like a fortified Arab palace built by Hollywood. theme park. Dubai is a cosmopolitan city that ($A81) for children. Includes meal. And it’s run by a vivacious chef from wants to be noticed and won’t let the heat get www.arabian-adventures.com Melbourne, Andy Cuthbert, who, as general in the way. manager, is a long way from the kitchens of There are artificial marinas and islands Melbourne’s Regency and Hilton, where he and development as far as the eye can see. Burj Khalifa started 30 years ago, before a stint in London It’s a long way – up and out – from the Open 10am-midnight. Tickets 400 AED and then Dubai, where he has lived since 30-storey building opened in 1979 by Queen ($A110) but 100 AED ($A27) if you buy for a 1992. Elizabeth, in what was once a town built on specific date and time.www.atthetop.ae Cuthbert promotes the pleasure of a creek where traders and pearl divers made eating and is very proud of the adjoining Al their living. Ski Dubai Hadheerah desert restaurant with its array of A hint of that old Dubai can be found in a Typically open 10am-11pm, sometimes later. Arabic food and a floor show that aims to re- visit to the souks – the bazaars and markets Cost 180 AED ($A50) for adult, 150 AED for create a touch of old Arabia with horses and famous for selling everything from gold to a child for two hours or 300 AED ($A82) and traditional dancing. colourful aromatic spices. 240 AED for a day pass. Lessons cost extra. But if sand dunes and a night under the It’s easy to get fabulously lost in the www.skidxb.com stars like a traditional Arab is not for you, less sights and sounds here, where hawkers will OLD-WORLD CHARM: Camels at sunset in the desert near Dubai contrast with the modern city’s glitter Exchange $A1 = 3.7 dirham