The Honeymoon Series [xiii] - Desert of Dubai, UAE

After beautiful  Black Forest, Germany (review here), we finally left enchanting Europe, and headed for Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai is a city and emirate in the UAE, known for its luxury lifestyle, vibrant nightlife and tall, modern architectural landmarks.

Well, you must know that after Europe's wonderfully-cold Wintry weather, the heat and culture in Dubai was like a little jolt to the senses, like waking up from a beautiful dream. Then we realized that Dubai was a lovely city in itself, and we had the time of our lives in my first ever Desert Tour for our sultry Arabian adventures.

DESERT SAFARI DUBAI

Dubai 232268, United Arab Emirates

Website: http://www.desertsafaridubai.com/

We had to get into these ... Jeeps? Driven by local drivers, and 6 to a vehicle. No food allowed onboard - at first we thought they were just being concerned about us dropping food or dirtying their cars with greasy smears, but then later we realized that the rides were excitingly bumpy. Consuming food might mean barfing in the cars, which would be awful.

We stopped at a shop where they sold us scarves / head wraps to protect ourselves from the sand when it got windy.

Then we entered the safari desert - made up of fine sand in beautiful mountainous formations / humps. Our drivers deliberately rode on the sand dunes, especially the steeper and higher ones, so we felt like we were on a roller coaster ride with every ascent and descent.

We stopped at the dunes for a long while, taking photos and catching the stunning sunset from unblocked views. Thereafter, we reached an area where we would hang out for the rest of the night.

There were plenty of tents here, surrounding a huge platform. In the tents were treats for us, like the Henna tent - a form of body art practiced in India, like an intricate temporary tattoo. Another tent was for the purpose of smoking Sisha / Shisha (water pipe smoke, often flavoured) - more men congregated in there.  Camel rides were available just outside the area.

Foodwise, there was a huge dining area with colourful futon-like seats, comfortable and low. The seats were arrange the huge platform, and we collected our food from tents, buffet-style. Cuisine was traditional Arabian, with lots of salads and grilled meat, basmati rice dish, and cloying jasmine-flavoured desserts. It was an enjoyable meal, especially in the coolness of the evening.

Then there were performances to watch while we were having our dinner., starting with an impressive spinning dance where the male dancer donned a brightly-lit (literally) costume so that when he spun around and around like a top, the vibrant colors flashed.

This was followed by Belly Dancing performed by a graceful and beautiful lady in sari costume.  Finally, the Fire Show, which was exciting but at the same time, worrying (would he lose control of his fire sticks while tossing them and the flames land on the audience?)

Pity I didn't get to ride the camels, take photos with them or try out the Sisha / Shisha here. Nonetheless, the desert tour and dining experience was an intriguing experience, a novel experience for us and we enjoyed ourselves very much.

Moving on, look out for The Honeymoon Series part 14, where we toured the rest of Dubai, UAE, visiting their famous architecture etc. Thanks for gracing my site - have a lovely week my dears.



For backtracks:
(i) Honeymoon Series part 1 - selecting the destinations (click here)
(ii) Honeymoon Series part 2 - researching and booking (click here)
(iii) Honeymoon Series part 3 - preparing for the trip (click here)
(iv) Honeymoon Series part 4 - Rome, Italy (click here)
(v) Honeymoon Series part 5 - Siena, Florence & Pisa, Italy (click here)

(vi) Honeymoon Series part 6 - Venice and Milan, Italy (click here)
(vii) Honeymoon Series part 7 - Lorraine and Fontainebleau, France (click here)
(viii) Honeymoon Series part 8 - Paris, France (click here)
(ix) Honeymoon Series part 9 - Swiss Alps and Bern, Switzerland (click here)

(x) Honeymoon Series part 10 - Interlaken and Jungfrau, Switzerland (click here)
(xi) Honeymoon Series part 11 - Lucerne and Zurich, Switzerland (click here)
(xii) Honeymoon Series part 12 - Lake Titisee, Black Forest, Germany (click here)