Destination Dubai

Time visited: October 2022

Time spent: Four nights

Dubai is the most crowded city in the UAE. It is well known for some of its unique features, like cops who have supercars and citizens who don’t have to pay taxes! The city is split by the Dubai Frame, which bridges modern Dubai and how it was when the city had just formed. Dubai is also one of the cleanest places I have ever been to. There is never any rubbish in sight, no matter where you are, and there is little to no pollution, making it one of the most eco-friendly cities in the world.

Day 1

Me, my dad and my granddad landed in Dubai at around 2:00 pm. As soon as we got out of the airport, the 35 degrees hit us hard. The taxi ride to our hotel, where we met with my cousins, took what seemed to me like a couple of hours. The taxi driver was extremely nice, like all the other people we met on this trip. When we got out of the car to head inside the hotel, several hotel staff came down to help us unload and even offered to carry our bags directly into our room. We were also greeted by complimentary refreshments when we entered, and the sweet smell of lavender. The check-in was easy.

Our hotel was more like an apartment, with four rooms and two bathrooms. We had an amazing view of the city and the beach. At night, you could feel how lively the city truly was.

In the evening, we went for dinner at a restaurant called The Cheesecake Factory. It was a really posh place, with crazy-expensive food that was worth every cent. We ordered burgers, which came in a plate dressed with different sauces. We also got chips, which were flavorful, unlike other normal chips. The restaurant was massive, with a spiral staircase going straight through each level and chandeliers everywhere! It was next to an arcade that was bigger than the restaurant itself. There were dozens of claw machines and rides, all brightly lit up. Across the road from the arcade was a club with Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis parked outside. I loved this because I’m a huge car fan. After dinner, we walked down the street, passing some shops. I found this experience nice because it was calm and different.

Later that night, we went to the Burj Khalifa for the Dubai Fountain Show. I was looking forward to this because the building was surrounded by a giant body of water. When the show started, the names of the sponsors were projected on the building. Then the fountain show began. There were lights shining underneath the water and they illuminated the bursts of water in a pattern. The show continues only for a few minutes, but it was the best thing I had witnessed in my life. It was so fun to watch because you didn’t know what was going to happen next.

Day 2

I was feeling energetic and excited about what today would bring. In the morning, we all got up, freshened up, and bathed ourselves in sunscreen before heading out.

We went to the Museum of the Future, one of the most iconic places in the world. The building is like a massive oval-shaped ring with Arabic calligraphy all over it. When you enter, you must scan your ticket from your phone and get a wristband with a barcode. The tickets for the museum were hard to get, so we had to book nearly a year back...well, almost!

When we got in, we had to wait in a massive line that took forever to move. I was thinking that this was just going to be another normal museum, but I was terribly wrong.

We went up each level in this really cool transparent capsule lift. The first level was an interactable solar system programme that would tell you about our solar system. We then went inside this giant steel capsule with a few other people. There were window-like screens showing Mars as if we were on a rover landing on Mars. I found this to be cool because it moved and vibrated with the sound of the rover landing. We then went to the next level, where there were loads of interactive and relaxing things to do - for example, a carpet that flowed where you stepped. Another part of this museum was this massive lit-up room with different insects and animals, some of them now extinct. This was by far my most favorite level in the whole museum.

The next level was what made the museum futuristic. There was this fully interactable robot that I had a lot of fun with. I tried to roast it but it kept either ignoring me or acting confused. What came after was really cool, and it was what made the museum the museum of the future. There were prototypes of electric three-wheeled cars and dogs!

Overall, the Museum of the Future was a really nice and fun experience. Coming here with my cousins made the whole experience way better because we had so much fun trying out everything. I would definitely come here again if I could.

Day 3

I woke up to an amazing rainy and foggy day. The view from our hotel was unreal. It was the perfect start to our day.

The first thing we did was go to the Quranic Park Botanical Garden. As soon as we entered, there was a nice smell of all the plants in the giant park. There were building-sized carved bushes in the shape of elephants and other things. Luckily, the fogginess had gone away and the sun's gaze was upon us. We went around and walked a couple of kilometers. This may seem like a long walk, but once you see where you are going, you don't mind the distance.

We sat in a plant-covered seating area for lunch, eating the cheesiest pizza ever! It was so good! Most of the food you can get here is from food trucks.

Later that day, we figured we had enough time to go to the desert side of Dubai. There were so many fun things to do. One of the first things we did was go quad biking. It was probably the most fun thing I have ever done in my life. This was because I’m such a big car fan, and driving a quad bike was like driving a car. We did that for about 30 minutes. Then we went for camel riding. The camel ride wasn’t as long as I would've liked. In fact, it was only a few steps. The heat was making all of us tired quickly, so we went to a room where the AC was on full blast. That was the best feeling in the world.

After resting there for a bit, we went back outside to look at all the mini-stands. There was a man with a bald eagle that looked dodgy, so we stayed away from him. There were other people selling things like bands and other accessories, which we didn’t pay too much attention to. After a while there, we went to do the final thing there was to do: the dune riding. It was basically where we went in a 4x4 SUV and rode across the dunes in the desert. I have motion sickness, but I was excited and just couldn’t miss out, until I realised I’m not missing out on anything. Turned out, one of the cars had broken down and it was blocking the entire part, so instead of 40 minutes we only got 5. I was pretty disappointed because I was really looking forward to it.

Day 4

I had a feeling that today was going to be the best day ever. I was going to a massive waterpark called Wild Wadi with my cousins for the whole day!

As soon as we got there, we realised we needed goggles, and I didn’t have any. So we were forced to buy basic yellow and white plastic goggles for $90. I was half-expecting them to have speakers or something for that price.

The water park had 15 different rides and god knows how many wave pools. The first one we did was a capsule ride. It was really high up, and it took us about 20 minutes just to climb up. I am really, really afraid of heights, so you can imagine how much convincing it took me to get up there. Once we were up, we had to stand in a capsule with our hands crossed over our chests. The automated voice began and the floor underneath us disappeared. It was a fun, yet scary experience, but I don’t think I’ll be doing it again.

We then went to the wave pool, but I underestimated how strong the waves were and nearly drowned. After that, I decided it was better we moved on to the next ride. We went to the biggest one in the whole park, it went for a solid 10 minutes and one part of the ride included going through a spiral dark tunnel where you couldn’t see anything.

After going through some of the other rides for a while, we went to have lunch. We had nachos and a slushie. The man made the slushie in a unique way. He manually crushed up the ice with a heavy metal rod and once crushed up enough, he poured it into a cup and added the flavouring.

Soon enough, the water park closed and we left. It had been a really good day, along with an excellent trip. Dubai was probably the best place I have ever been to and I hope to someday relive those memories.

About the Author

Harsh is a high school student, a tennis player, a car enthusiast, and an entrepreneur. He lives in Melbourne with his parents.