Wednesday, February 08, 2017

La La Land of Excess and Land of Frankincense: Part I

Land of Excess

I had planned with CT to visit the Land of Frankincense for some months and we agreed we would make the visit over the Chinese New Year holidays. We also looked at visiting either Abu Dhabi or Dubai and finally agreed on Dubai. I then searched for flights and finally we bought tickets for RM2,002.50 each via Cochin (this despite having to clear the immigration, collect our bags and check in again for the next flight). Of course this entailed applying for an Indian tourist visa. Le sigh. I told CT to remind me to never again book a flight with a transit in India, ever. The visa fee costs RM189.60 (rounded up, not down) and processing fee costs RM21.20 (we actually applied for transit visa only to be told we had to apply for tourist visa as there’s no such thing as multiple entry transit visa). I refused to take new photos for the visa application and used previous photos (two colour photos on white background, size of 5 cm by 5 cm). I found filling in the visa application a tedious chore as you need to provide information of the last visa granted, the hotel you stayed at, reference, etc. We submitted our visa application forms and passports on Tuesday during lunch and they were ready on Friday afternoon, the day before our departure.

Saturday, 28 January 2017

I arrived at KLIA after 18:30 and went to check in at the Malindo counter. Our ETD was initially 21:05 but it was rescheduled for 21:35 and there was a gate change too. The food wasn’t bad and we had small cushions and blankets too. We landed in Cochin at 23:05 local time and had to fill in landing forms before clearing immigration. My bag came out late and once it came out, we went to check in for the IndiGo flight to Dubai. This airline is just like RyanAir and AirAsia. Seats are small and cramped. I can confidently say we were the only two non-Indian nationals on the flight. I couldn’t sleep as usual.

Sunday, 29 January 2017

We landed in Dubai, the Land of Excess, at 04:15. We had to take a train to the terminal building to clear immigration and collect our bags. We then went to the prayer room to wait for morning prayers. We stayed in the prayer room until after 07:00, after the sun had risen, before making our way to the metro station. After discussing, we decided to buy a one-day ticket for AED22 (AED1 is about RM1.215) and rode the metro to Deira City Centre station as we wanted to buy our night bus ticket to Muscat at Oman National Transport Company (ONTC) office. The office is opposite the road from a hypermarket. We arrived shortly after 08:00 and after assuring the Indian man behind the counter that we could get Omani visa on arrival, we paid AED55 each for the bus ticket.

We couldn’t, however, leave our bags at the office (no left luggage facility) so we had no choice but to drag them back to Deira City Centre. I suggested checking out the facilities of the City Centre Deira mall which is linked to the metro station and was happy to find prayer rooms in the mall directory. CT then noted there was left luggage facility provided so after asking for directions, we headed to the left luggage area which happened to share the same waiting room as the Big Bus Tours Dubai. We were told it would open at 09:00 and we sat waiting and waiting. I got fed up and went to check out the mall after a while. My, the prayer rooms were on the second floor and at the extreme end of the mall! Well, at least they were there. I then went to check the washrooms at three different locations and was happy and satisfied that they were clean and spacious.


Early morning in Dubai but already so bright! Navigating our way to ONTC

Two mall security officers came ten minutes before 10:00 and unlocked the left luggage area. We were told that the service was complimentary; however, we could only leave our bags for a maximum of three hours. We thought about it and decided to still avail of the service, reasoning that we could use my name first to deposit the bags, return within three hours and then used CT’s name. So it was after 10:00 when we finally rode the metro again, this time heading to Jumeirah Lake Towers. I didn’t expect the trip to take that long and we only emerged out about 45 minutes later. We walked down to the marina and walked around for about half an hour before returning to the metro station. We then rode to Mall of the Emirates station for some zoomed up photos of Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, it being too far and too hot to walk (and it was supposed to be ‘winter’!) plus we didn’t have the luxury of time.


Not close enough to Burj Al Arab Jumeirah but good enough


We returned back to the metro station and rode the train to Burj Khalifah/Dubai Mall station. Again, we only took photos from afar as we needed to rush back to City Centre Diera mall. A bit on the metro: there are carriages exclusive for women only and most men would studiously avoid stepping over the line literally. Women can ride the other carriages but you’d be lucky to be offered a seat. And this is where you’d meet the foreign workers besides the tourists (I don’t suppose the locals ride the metro?!).

We reached the left luggage waiting area just before 13:00 and stopped to rest after collecting our bags. I then went to the prayer room, but not before checking out shoes. I wasn’t wearing socks then as I didn’t want my feet to feel trapped and whereas I had done this before without any issue, this time, my feet were already developing blisters. So dang painful. I finally relented and wore socks and Alhamdulillah, it worked.

We left the mall after depositing the bags under CT’s name and rode the metro to Al Ras station. We then walked to the spice and gold souks. I felt this area was the authentic part of Dubai, rather than the glittering skyscrapers all crowding and jostling for space. Sure, progress and development is all fine and good but as a visitor, I also look for the history and culture of a place. We walked and walked and finally came to Dubai Creek. From here, we took an abra across the creek. The breeze, the water, the seagulls made it a very pleasant atmosphere although when you look around you, you’ll be forgiven for thinking you’re in India, Bangladesh or Pakistan, such is the concentration of foreign workers there!


On abra across Dubai Creek. See what I mean about the foreign workers who have settled there?

We wandered around before returning to the jetty to take an abra back across the creek. Then we rode the metro back to Deira City Centre station, collected our bags and rested.

We left the waiting area and went to the prayer room at 20:00. I changed in the washroom, applied body wipes and cleansed my face before performing prayers. Then we went to the food court for dinner. Nothing much appealed to me so I hurried over to Carrefour and bought some falafel and a bottle of water. We had each packed bottles of water for the trip as we had two long days before checking in to our accommodation in the next destination.

At 22:00, we left the mall and walked to the ONTC office (we were told to be there by 22:30) but the office was dark. We spotted the bus across the road and I went to confirm before we hauled our bags across. The bus was punctual; we departed exactly at 23:00. Goodbye, Land of Excess!


To be continued