Today was our last day in Dubai and time to experience some of the amazing things that put Dubai on the map. Our first stop was Ski Dubai – the indoor snow skiing experience that is part of the Emirates Mall. Throughout our stay in Dubai, many of us marveled at the ski slope as we drove by the mall. Many of my classmates had never been snow skiing before and some had never seen snow at all, so this activity was on the must do list for many of us. I guess for this activity we fell into the “build it and they will come” philosophy.
We also went back to the Souk Madinat and Gold Souk for some last minute souvenir shopping. Souk Madinat was developed to resemble a traditional souk but without the bartering and pressures that are found at the Gold Souk. We decided to venture back to the Gold Souk that evening before we departed Dubai, but it did not have the same appeal it did during the day. Though We felt reasonably safe, we did not allow the boys to get to far ahead of the girls and we came across many areas where the shipping boxes and garbage filled empty spaces between stores. Also, when it came time to leave multiple taxi drivers denied us transportation. This was something we had not experienced during our entire visit to Dubai.
After that we headed to the airport where we were surprised to be rechecked before boarding the plane and women were brought into a private room to be patted down. The trip home was a debacle and resulted in the trip home to Tampa taking over 50 hours due to delayed planes and mechanical errors. Which throughout the frustrations we asked ourselves multiple times why we flew United instead of Emirates!!
The trip was enlightening and made me wish Dubai was closer so that more American could experience the culture and uniqueness of the region. I have already reached out to Mr. Jerad Bachar from the Dubai Tourism and Convention Bureau who has put me in contact with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce External Networking department. I hope to make my way back to Dubai for both business and personal travel.
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