Dubai has a misunderstood reputation of being unsafe, all about the ‘bling’ and the rich, being soul-less and being intolerable to non-Islamist visitors. However this is a misconception and if you scratch the glittery surface you’ll find a culture, open-minded and warm city. More than a million Brits have holidays in Dubai each year, which is more than the total number of people who go skiing across the world. Dubai has risen from the sand in just 25 years and boats the biggest, tallest, fastest and most expensive of everything.
Dubai does enjoy having the biggest and best of everything and holds many records from the tallest building on Earth to the world’s biggest shopping centre.
If you want to remain in a resort then The Palm is the place to be; a man-made peninsular in the shape of a palm tree by a man-made lagoon with a spectacular hotel resort-cum-fantasy castle. It allows you to hop in a fish tank and be surrounded with 60,00 fish, hammerhead sharks and stingrays. There’s snorkel sessions at the aquarium among the sharks and stingrays which you can also feed. On the 42 acre site there are 2 lake-sized swimming pools, a water park and a beach. 23 restaurants offers you a huge range of places to eat offering a huge range of cuisines so you can eat in a different place each day.
Nearby to the resort there are other beaches and an array of restaurants as well as the Dubai Mall which is the biggest in the world and is larger than 50 football pitches. It is attached to the worlds tallest building the Burj Khalifa tower with an observation deck on the 124th floor. There is the Dubai aquarium and underwater zoo with amazing creatures from all over the world and an Olympic-sized ice rink and 22 screen cinema. Most hotels and public buildings also smell amazing due to perfumed air-con which just adds to the experience.
Its difficult to remember that most of Dubai is actually covered in sand but an evening desert safari will quickly remind you of this fact and after a camel ride and meal by an open fire you can spend the night in the desert under the stars.
Dubai offers luxury and glitz and glamour in every aspect you can think of and you definitely find ways to pamper yourself while you are there. On the flip-side there is also the tradition, culture and history of the region with traditional dancers and entertainment as well as museums to visit. Dubai is proud to be tolerant of all religions and races and has a variety of churches and temples as well as openly celebrating other religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter with decorations proudly put up and Christmas tunes playing in the shops. Female expats remark upon how safe they feel living here and the city is practically crime and violence free. It definitely has a lot more to offer than just being an adult Disneyland and is enjoyable for all ages. The temperatures do climb however and therefore winter-time is the preferable time of year to visit.
Even though Dubai is a bit further to travel to, it is still a viable travel destination if you have medical requirements, as companies such as Oxygen Worldwide now provide medical oxygen to Dubai as well as to the majority of countries around the world. It is mostly flat and with air-con in most buildings you can keep cool in the heat and with portable concentrators you can move around and explore and enjoy all of what Dubai has to offer.
References: http://www.dailymail.co.uk and www.mirror.co.uk and http://www.telegraph.co.uk
