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LIVING THE DREAM: Relaxing in the desert

THE MYSTIC Radio team put on weekender break once a year, and because I hear so much about Dubai, I thought it would be a good idea to go and experience what everyone’s been talking about.

I didn’t do as much sightseeing as I would have liked, but I managed to get a glimpse of the famous Burj Khalifa and did a bit of shopping at the massive Dubai Mall, which is one of the biggest malls in the world. It’s too big to see it all, but I did get to see the massive aquarium which had sharks, jelly fish and all sorts of sea life in there. The mall is so big that they even have little electric taxi cars you can use to go around it.

In terms of food, I tried to play it safe out there. The group I was with was pretty much always recovering from events that took place the previous night, so a lot of the time we had the usual fast food options that we’re used to. Besides, we could practically order anything we wanted into our very nice and spacious four star hotel. We did visit an amazing African restaurant called Kiza. They had chefs from different parts of Africa and a chef of a country would cook up that particular country’s dishes – so if you ordered Ghanaian food, it was Ghanaian chef that cooked it, and so on. It seemed a very unique concept. The food was decent, too, and for Dubai, it was a reasonable price. I was surprised to find they had the African restaurant there, and at that price.

I hear there is also a Caribbean bar and restaurant out there too – called Miss Lily’s – but we never managed to find time to try it out, much to my disappointment.

THE SIGHTS: The Burj Al Arab hotel

Driving through Dubai at night and seeing the landscape illuminated was great – the evenings also meant that the temperature was comfortable, and you could wear a shirt and shorts at midnight, no problem.

The only thing is that Dubai was not made for walking, as there are hardly any pavements.

For me, the one moment I will truly remember from the quick break was driving through the desert, where the car acted like a rollercoaster as we slid and spun our way through the dunes. We quad biked and even rode camels, when we were supplied with free alcohol, which surprised me.

There was a little shack bar in the middle of the desert which had most of the liquor you find in any normal bar or club in the city.

At the end of that day, we were treated to a mini variety show. The antics of some of the locals did surprise me a little – let’s just say they know how to enjoy themselves.

The day was capped with a private yacht party until the early hours of the morning. All in all, this was the best day and night of the trip. Only in Dubai!

Everyone I have spoken to since I returned from the trip has said that it is a perfect three or four day break, and that even without the partying, there is so much to do, and restrictions are not as bad as you might think.

When it comes to money, it could be a little expensive if you wanted to eat out at a restaurant every night, but I would say it’s quite reasonable. I only initially changed £100 at the airport when I flew out on the Thursday and that pretty lasted me through until Sunday, when I changed a bit more cash. I flew with Emirates and didn’t have any issues with their service. The flight was long but calm – free drinks always help.

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