Oman? Oh, Man! Part IV: Winter in Dubai

Saturday February 20^th, 2010.   There were only two things on my agenda for Saturday: hitting the slopes of Ski Dubai and rendezvousing with John at the Burj Khalifa at 4PM.  Otherwise Mark had free reign to get me current on the profound changes in Dubai since my initial visit six years ago.  The first stop on his update tour was The Palms, the original artificial island.

The Palms was pretty much a pile of rocks offshore in 2004, but it is now an upscale retreat for the wealthy and home of the incredible Atlantis Hotel.  Exits on The Palms are a tad unusual and I was tickled seeing signs such as “Fronds I to P.” We walked around an undeveloped frond a bit, but declined visiting the interior of Atlantis, in spite of the ultra cool aquarium within.

Atlantis Hotel on The Palms – I was very frond of the exits

Then we headed to the Jumeirah Beach Residences (“JBR”) neighborhood for lunch.  I gathered this was where Western ex-pats lived in Dubai and it features a posh variety of shops and diners in addition to a decent beach.  We picked a Turkish restaurant for lunch and made phone contact with John, confirming he had successfully made it to Dubai last night.

Time to visit Ski Dubai!  This indoor ski facility located at the Mall of the Emirates is a one-of-a-kind experience that you have to sample should you get to Dubai.  They really have their act together and skiing couldn’t be easier.  Just walk in and swipe your credit card – for 200 Dhirams (roughly $65) you get a two-hour pass.  But the admission price includes a ski jacket, snow pants and equipment (your choice of snowboard or skis).

First time for downhill in fifteen years, thanks to Ski Dubai

We also got a locker, which I don't believe cost any extra, and quickly got ushered through lines to pick out boots and skis. A cool aspect is that they give you a plastic card for your ski pass, which you zip into the shoulder pocket of your jacket --- then you just have to 'swipe' it every time you enter the lift line...and the clock doesn't start ticking until the first time you swipe! Even cooler, each time you check through the lift line a video screen displays how much time you have remaining.

After a marvelous afternoon at Ski Dubai we bolted to the Burj Khalifa so we could hook up with John.  The rendezvous location had been selected so we could visit the Observation Deck of the world’s tallest building (by a long ways), but it had been mysteriously closed for undisclosed reasons two weeks ago and not re-opened yet.  Still a sight worth seeing and we had a cup of coffee to catch up.  John got to his hotel around 11PM last night, walked the streets of Dubai until 4AM, got up this morning to visit the Falcon Center and continued walking until now!

The Burj Khalifa, world’s tallest building

You might guess that nobody was game for a rousing night, so we opted to stroll about Dubai’s lovely old town, the Bastakiya District in Bur Dubai.  They have rebuilt or restored a lot of traditional buildings in this charming quarter and I love all the wind towers here (these are towers which capture the breeze from any direction and funnel into the household to provide cooling).  We needed to pick out a place for dinner and I proposed the Local House, a Bastakiya eatery which recently began serving camel burgers.  Mark had a spot on Dubai Creek he wanted to show us so we reserved the Local House for our return next week, but Mark surprised me by sharing he and Samia had taken me there for lunch six years ago!

After a pleasant dinner we returned John to his hotel.  The plan had been to enjoy a nightcap with him but there were a zillion cars in front and we couldn’t get close to parking.  Mark suspected they were hosting an Indian wedding and whatever the cause, we just dropped John off and returned to Sharjah for the night.  On to Muscat tomorrow!