Written by:  Farihah Saleem, LEED GA, Interior Designer, DBI Architects, Inc.

I took a 10-day vacation to the United Arab Emirates in March with my two brothers and a cousin.  We have family that has been living in the UAE for the past few years, they had everything planned out and were confident in showing us as much of UAE as possible.

We stayed in Dubai for half of the trip and in Fujairah, which is approximately forty-five minutes away from Dubai, for the other half.  March was the perfect time of year to go, the weather was just starting to get hot.  It was a bit much for the locals but perfect vacation temperature.  The United Arab Emirates has everything you can imagine to offer.  Within a 2-hour radius we got to see mountains, beaches, desserts, and the perfect city.  Dubai is a place where everything is the biggest, most expensive, and greatest.

Here are a few of the adventures we took and places we got to see:

The Palm, a hotel resort at Palm Jumeirah one of the man-made islands in Dubai.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jebel Hafeet, a mountain that is a historic landmark and tourist attraction in Al Ain a city in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Desert Safari, took off from Dubai included dune bashing, camel rides, watching the sunset, henna tattoos, belly dancing and a traditional dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jumeirah Mosque, Dubai’s most beautiful mosque.

 
Interior of a mosque in Dubai. Being a Muslim community Dubai has a law that no one should need to walk more than 1/3 of a mile to reach a mosque. Each and every mosque we walked into had an interior this detailed and elaborate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dubai Mall, part of the Burj Khalifa complex, it is the world’s biggest retail and entertainment center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jumeirah Beach Park, Dubai City.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Madinat Jumeirah Resort, Dubai

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burj Al-Arab, Dubai’s ‘seven star’ hotel standing on its own artificial island. It is one of the world’s tallest hotels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eiffel Tower, we made a quick stop in Paris to see the one and only.