Dubai Day 8 - Palm Jumeirah & BurDubai

We had debated whether or not to make the journey over to Palm Jumeirah (the man-made palm-shaped island Dubai is known for). On the one hand, it's one of the earliest images of Dubai etched into my brain (nostalgia). It's also home to one of the iconic hotels I've long dreamed of staying at (Atlantis). In a way, the island represents so much of what Dubai represents to me. On the other hand, the island has been an environmental nightmare and impossible to see from a good angle (you can't see the palm-shape unless you're in a helicopter). I also ditched our plans of staying there once night once I realized we'd need about $1600 for two rooms there.

After chatting the issue over with my father, we decided that since we'd traveled that far (and are unlikely to go back due anytime soon), why not go for it anyway? No regrets.

So off we went- a short walk to the metro and a ride to downtown, then a transfer to a tram that took you closer to the island, and a 1/2 mile walk from there over to the pricey (privately-owned) monorail that runs the length of the island along the 'stump.' I think it cost us about $35 just to ride the short, 2-min ride each way on the monorail. It was a little irksome to pay that much, but it was the best way (you could also go by taxi with no view at all) to see the island from the monorail's elevated tracks.

It was a very hazy day with high winds kicking up the desert sand. I kept getting blinded by the sand whipping into my eyes, but the upside is that I got a free facial exfoliation/microdermabrasion session. ;-)

I did not fly over Palm Jumeirah (though I wish I did), nor could I locate a tall enough building nearby to view it in all it's glory (there just aren't any). So I have zero decent images of the island. Photo credit for this image: World's Ultimate Luxury Travels.com

We managed to nab front row seats both ways for great views of the island and hotel.

In this not very good photo, you can see one of the curved palm leaf-inlets that we passed along the route.

The monorail ends at the Atlantis, which is perched at the very tip of the palm-tree.

I'd mentioned that initially, I'd hoped we could spend the night there (largely so we go to their cool water park). However, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun since the park was under renovation when we were there. And also, the rooms I really fell in love with were the 'underwater' ones fronting the massive aquarium, and those would've been many more thousands more per night.

See what I mean? Heaven.
Photo credit: Atlantis Resort Dubai

The hotel does a great job of keeping the riff raff out (i.e.- us). All we and other visitors were able to do was walk around the perimeter of the resort and though one of the wings (the one with the aquarium and water park). There really wasn't much to see at the hotel- pulling up to it in the monorail was more fun than actually walking around it.

Toward the back of the resort, where the island ended, we were able to walk along a pretty boardwalk with food trucks and Rich and Ryan were able to dip their toes in the Persian Gulf. I would've liked to have spent more time on the boardwalk, but it was hot, the winds were kicking up too much sand and no woman on Earth appreciates clogged, sticky pores...so off we went back to the monorail.

See what I mean about the haze that day? Awful visibility. 

A few of the multi-million dollar homes on Palm Island...the island faced so many difficulties being built, and created so many environmental nightmares that the island did not exactly 'sell out' quickly as anticipated.

This shot best captures the haze and dusty-winds of the day. It's easy to forget you're in a desert at times until the wind picks up and whips all that sand around.

Since we still had a few hours left in our day to do something, we hopped back on the metro and headed up to BurDubai (old Dubai) again. The next two shots were of the metro station there, and clearly demonstrate how spacious, tidy and beautiful the stations were. We figured we'd amble along there soaking up the area for a few hours since it was right near our hotel apartment.

Outside the BurDubai Metro

While perusing 'Hindi Lane,' we stumbled across them most amazing store, owned by a very friendly Persian man from Iran. He let us sample a few of his delicious imported nuts and candies and we LOADED. UP. Everything was very reasonably priced, and there was every dried fruit/nut/spice you could ever imagine...even dried watermelon.

 

I bought 5-6 boxes of freshly-made baklava to bring back for family/friends (that were all smashed to smithereens on the return flight, but still edible).

From there, we returned to the textile market for Ryan to get a jar of desert sand art that he'd wanted. We overpaid a bit, but the artist allowed Ryan to customize the colors he wanted for his background and was very personable (sadly, this too was compromised during transit, and his camel is now a headless, unidentifiable brown blob). Ah well, the memory is etched in our minds, and it was fascinating watching how they're made.

We never tired walking along Dubai Creek and checking out all the wooden ships at dock.

We finally found, but did not enter (it was about to close) the Dubai Museum...one of the oldest buildings in the city.

We ended our day with one of the best dinners of the trip- my mom made a Middle Eastern-inspired noodle stir fry with fresh vegetables from I think, Syria or Afghanistan? I remember reading where the veggies were from and stifling a laugh, as we typically only see produce here from S. America or Mexico...but never middle Eastern countries. Our desert was a semi-sweet nougat-tasting desert with pistachios and gelled fruit from Iran. We liked it so much that we asked her to cook it again on our last night there. :-)