Top 10 Unique and Unusual Things to See and Try in Dubai

Writing about my Dubai visit (November 2012) has been a lot of fun, and with each of my posts’ I have kind of revisited my entire vacation. However as all good things come to end, this is my last post for that particular Dubai trip. Though I am sure I will travel there again, but for now I couldn’t think of a better way to end this series than with a post on some of the unusual things to see and do in Dubai.

So do read on for my list of the most unusual things that you must see or do in Dubai –

• Try flavored / normal camel milk – We saw this in a department store and just had to try it. It was slightly salty, very filling and is apparently very healthy. Though I must admit that I can’t drink this everyday. 🙂

Try Camel Milk

• See Dates on an actual tree – We saw real date trees in many places in Dubai and some of them even loaded with date fruits. It was quite a sight.

This is a date tree

• See a Gold ATM – Dubai is so much in love with gold that they even have Gold ATMs. We saw one of these at the observation deck of Burj Khalifa and read the heading at least 3 times to believe it.

Gold ATM

the ATM screen

• Take a local bus from an AC bus stop – This is a desert city and it gets extremely hot in the day. Hence they have AC bus stops for all the passengers waiting for a bus to come by. We actually went in and saw that these ACs truly worked 🙂 I so hope that we have some of these soon in India too.

An A/C Bus Stop

• Try the dates here and if possible then do try the Bateel dates – I never liked dates before but one taste of the dates here and I am a convert. Bateel dates (these dates are not from Dubai but from Saudi Arabia) actually sells dates like chocolates in various varieties, options and flavors.

Bateel Dates

• Look for sand  – Even though it is a desert you will not see any sand in the city or city centre. We, after a lot of effort, finally saw some sand near the Ibn Batuta Mall and some far off views from the Burj Khalifa.

Finally some sand 🙂

• Buy some Itar – Leave all the perfumes in the high-end shops around here and try some of their local Itars. The fragrance of these Itars is very different, long-lasting and really unique.

• High Rise Construction and Greenery all around – Dubai has made a lot of effort to defy all rules of a desert. It has built some really tall buildings and successfully planted beautiful flowers and trees all around the city. Be sure to notice and appreciate it as to build or plant anything on a desert is nearly impossible.

The Dubai Skyline

• Check out the local abaya shops – The abayas here are clearly a fashion statement and a visit to some of the stores in the malls is a must to truly understand what I mean. I even saw some abayas studded with swarovskis 🙂

• Basement of the Wafi City Mall – Though this mall has lost many of its customers to various other newer malls, it is still one beautiful mall. And a visit to their souk in the basement is like an authentic trip in the day-to-day lives of Arabs of many lifetimes ago. A definite must visit.

Feel I have missed out anything, then please comment below or tweet at traveler_budget. 🙂