DUBAI and ABU DHABI: Guest Post by Ann Stalcup

Courtyard of Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

My friend and fellow children’s book writer Ann Stalcup and her husband Ed love to travel. In June 2014 they went on a trip to the United Arab Emirates and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Here are some photos and a report of their visit to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Three story tall aquarium in Dubai mall.

Dubai: In June 2014 we had a fabulous trip to Dubai, the Maldives, and Abu Dhabi. Dubai’s sand-colored architecture is incredible. The most interesting architecture is found inside the immense shopping centers (we didn’t shop). There’s a ski slope, an ice skating rink, the largest supermarkets we’d ever seen, a three-story aquarium where you can rent scuba equipment and dive, plus two gorgeous shopping areas built in the style of the ancient souks.

Spices in supermarket

In the supermarkets we saw huge containers of spices, sold by the kilogram.

Burj Kalifa, Dubai

From the observation deck (124th floor) of the Burj Kalifa, until recently the world’s tallest building, one is stunned by the size of the desert, and the tremendous amount of construction still going on. We went from place to place by “hop on hop off” buses. The shopping areas were chilly but outside temps were over 120 degrees. They predicted 140 for the following week!

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi is much smaller than Dubai, but there is water everywhere and most hotels could claim having a beach and pool. The water was practically hot! A lady taxi driver from the Philippines drove us between cities. She was wearing Arab clothing and had a pink taxi to indicate that the driver was a woman. The men were terrifying drivers - VERY fast - so we were happy to find her.

Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

Some of the architecture in Abu Dhabi was even more lavish than in Dubai with palaces and an enormous snow-white mosque which by comparison made the Taj Majal seem very ordinary. They dressed me from head to toe in a black burka - too long, too wide, with a large hood. At 120 degrees plus, I thought I would melt into a puddle inside it.

View of Abu Dhabi from one of its tall buildings

Our hotel in Dubai had been very quiet and our room large; suddenly in Abu Dhabi, in contrast to the surrounding incredible luxury, our inexpensive room was dark and the size of a closet with a view of a wall two feet away. Again, the shopping centers were amazing and we did all of our eating in their food courts. Our hotel had seven restaurants - but no visible menus so we didn’t dare use any of them. Once again, hop on hop off buses took us from place to place.