There are a lot of things to do in Dubai, one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates. It is the most populous city in all of the Emirates at over 3.6 million of which only 15% are UAE nationals the rest being expats mostly from Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines).

There is a lot of money here, starting with a big yacht near the port, where our guide Vinod picks us up for our tour of the city.

Fittingly called Dubai, this 400 million dollar super yacht at 162 metres, is owned by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Next we pass by the glass, steel and aluminum Dubai Frame. It towers at 150 metres and can be seen in many parts of the city. Part observatory, museum and monument, some of us (me, not hubby) wished we could have gone on its observation deck with its glass bottomed floors.

Instead, our guide suggests that we beat the crowds and go right away to the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest structure at 830 metres. Even though it is early morning, it takes us more than half an hour in the queue to reach the high-speed elevators that will shoot us up in less than 60 seconds to the 124 floor. The elevators themselves are entertaining as the walls and ceilings project a mini cinematic experience as though you are going to space.

You can feel the pressure in your ears but before we know it, the doors open and you are presented with an expansive view of the city below. We take the obligatory photos (with hubby staying well away from the glass) and walk up to the 125 floor for more views. You can also pay a premium and go to the SKY lounge on the 152-154 floors for a tour of the outdoor terrace or take a tea/coffee or glass of bubbly with canapés.

Getting down takes almost as long waiting in queue for the two elevators and as we exit, we see our guide was right as the waiting line is so long!

Vinod then drives us for a peek at the Sheikh’s Zabeel Palace. You are allowed only mid-way up the grand boulevard and we are alone except for a lone police car guarding intruders. Once we get back to our vehicle, a huge tour bus arrives disgorging other tourists. Thank you again Vinod!

Our next stop is for a abras (traditional ferry boats) crossing of the Dubai Creek, a 9 mile natural saltwater inlet that is used for trade and transport. The tickets are only AED1 which is about $0.27 USD! Vinod ensured we had one all to ourselves. We see many dhows (see the one with the blue top) stacked on the side of the creek and Vinod explains that these are taken to Iran, Iraq and India transporting goods.

Once we crossed over, we headed over for some shopping and tasting to the Gold and Spice Souk. Merchants vie for your attention to come in and browse their shop. Vinod comes in with us to help us get the best price for saffron which is horribly expensive at home but affordable here. We try the delicious dates covered in chocolate which all shops invite you to try. Some dates we sample are simply decadent. There is also a perfume souk and also a utensil souk. Yep, you read the last one right.

We pass by the Rosella Jewelry store and we set our eyes on the world’s largest gold ring. It’s called the Najmat Taiba and at 21-karat gold, it weighs a whopping 64 kilograms and is worth around US $3 million dollars.!

As we say goodbye to Vinod, we try our hand at haggling for gold. We come out victorious (or so we think), with a necklace and bracelet for this writer.

But we are not quite finished. Hubby is determined to try a bit of camel meat, so we head into a very very small restaurant (maybe 8 customers can fit in there) and we try the camel club sandwich at AED 50 (about US $13). Camel meat is very dark and a tad on the drier side but still delicious. Many apologies to the brethren of those we rode.

We haggle with the taxi driver who wanted AED60 for the ride back to the ship but I flat out tell him we are only paying AED25 as Vinod had told us and he agrees. So be prepared with your best haggling skills should you ever come to the souks of Dubai!

See you in the Seychelles!