People often compare Dubai to Las Vegas and I can see some of the similarities – the sprawling metropolis in the middle of the desert, everything on such a grand scale, wealthy businessmen and holidaymakers everywhere you turn…However, unlike Vegas (my favourite place on Earth, by the way, but that’s a different blog post!) Dubai is extremely conservative in the way it has fun. In Vegas, anything goes. In Dubai, anything goes…within the confines of your tourist-friendly hotel. Unlike Vegas, each of the extravagant hotels aren’t within walking distance of each other, but instead are a short taxi ride away, which would be made shorter if not for the Dubai traffic. And even then, unlike the cheap all-you-can-eat buffets of Sin City, fun in Dubai often comes at a costly price.
However, there are certain things that Dubai does REALLY well. Year-round good weather for one. Excellent service and hospitality for another. And last but by no means least – Shisha.
Having never been a smoker (you know, because of the whole dying thing and the fact that I also have asthma) I was a bit apprehensive about trying this after-dinner pastime that seems to be the norm in every bar and shopping mall in Dubai. I was assured by the waitress that it wasn’t in fact tobacco of the kind that you smoke, but instead something different, although whether that’s true I’ll let you decide. I opted for the apple flavour ‘tobacco’ and when the pipe arrived the girl even told me exactly how I should use it.
Needless to say, I was coughing and spluttering after a few inhales, but the scent reminded me of apple Hubba Bubba, so it wasn’t all bad! Even though I couldn’t enjoy it fully because I just couldn’t enjoy the smoky taste in my mouth, I was really glad I’d tried smoking shisha in Dubai and it was certainly one of the most memorable moments of my trip.
As for Dubai itself, I only spent a few days there so hardly even scratched the surface, but I’m sure I’ll return again one day. Maybe once I’ve made my millions and can afford to enjoy all of the city’s many luxuries.
Hi Julia,
I love travel and found your blog while trawling the internet for travel stories (as usual 🙂 ) The first thing I noticed about your blog is that we both started our travel blogs in January this year. I decided to comment on this post because I spent four days in Dubai 2 years ago, loved it and have written a post about it. I’d love to go back too, when I have lots more money to spend like you said in your post 😉