When we checked in at Trivandrum airport
for our flight home we were told our flight to Dubai was delayed and
therefore we would miss our connection to Dusseldorf. As we were flying
Emirates this was nothing to worry about and we were confident things
would be arranged decently. And it was… We received our boarding
passes for the flight to Dusseldorf the next day and once in Dubai we
got vouchers for our hotel, meals and a phone call to rearrange our
taxi. Also our visa for Dubai was taken care off, all set! This is how
delays should be dealt with.
So as an unexpected bonus
to our holiday we had the opportunity to explore Dubai for a couple of
hours. We took the underground and went straight to the Burj Khalifa,
the tallest building in the world. Immediately we saw how clean Dubai
was. No dirt, no graffiti, nothing, we even had the feeling we could eat
from the floor in the Underground.
The first impression of the Burj Khalifa was massive. At over 828 metres and more than 160 stories it was not something one could miss. Whilst we walked over to the tower we also realised how artificial Dubai is. It almost breaths a clinical atmosphere. Though being in the middle of the dessert the grass is greener than at or place, no efforts or costs are saved to leave an immaculate impression.
Unfortunately we could not
get tickets to get into the Burj Khalifa so we decided to spend some
time at the Dubai Mall and were amazed by the luxury stores and some of
the decorations in place. A massive fish tank with sharks, rays and
large schools of tune, over three stories high. Also a waterfall with
sculptures of diving men in front of it. It was all overwhelming.
Overwhelming but also artificial and fake. A lot of money might have been spent in creating this world of superlatives but to be honest it was not our thing, rather had we spent some more time in India, a place that is so much more alive and appealing to us.
We returned to our hotel
and headed towards the Irish pub for a couple of well deserved beers.
Next morning we were brought to the airport, checked in again and not
much later were on our way home. Time to start thinking about our next
trip.