Re Dubai, don't go via Ramadan, they shut all restaurants in malls, on the street for the whole day and it makes getting out for a full day difficult since you are not allowed to eat or drink in public. Not even water to not be offensive. Hotels will have limited restaurants open during the day for in house guests, though you will still eat behind a curtain or screen to be polite.
Burj al Arab is interesting, but there are better things to spend your money on in Dubai, all of them pretty contrived. We stayed for 5 days on the way to East Africa last August, we did have cocktails at the skybar at the top of the Tower ( $25 - $200 per drink) and dinner in the fine dining restaurant which you take a hokey simulated submarine trip to- around $US 700 for the dinner, it was good but I have had better and the wines were very very seriously overpriced. You MUST have a booking at Burj Al Arab and leave a deposit to go to dinner there, must wear a jacket and formal wear to fine dining dinner. Also I found it off putting that every person in the public areas and bar had a camera and was taking a picture of something. You can't enter the grounds unless you are a guest or have a booking at the restaurants or bars. I would say the bar was worth visiting to say you went there. The signing fountain is ok, same as the one in Santosa Island at Singapore.
Dubai is great if you love hot hot weather, the beaches are nice and there are some ok public parks, if you like speed then get out to the go kart racing near the grand prix track it goes 100kms an hour and they don't have any seat belts it was cool (and I am a 40 year old Mum), for a laugh go ski the ski tube, 150metres of ice, see how many times you can get through the turnstile, the shopping in Dubai is stellar if you are into that kind of thing. It's intersting to see all the construction going on, it really is going to be a huge city when it all comes on line in the next few years. There is also a big water park which we didn't visit that looked pretty good fun. My husband had the best game of golf he has ever had and he has played hundres of courses round the world. He played at the Dubai Yacht and Golf club in Deira where we were staying at the Park Hyatt which is a lovely small hotel in Dubai where there are some monsters, it's right on the creek so has a good vista.
It's very hot to tour around, if you can afford it go via taxi/driver or if not make sure you don't get on the open top bus... 40 deg - 50 deg c and you nearly die.
Sand dune driving is pretty good fun, touristy but good fun. You get to have a dinner out in the dessert and they sell you photos/videos of the trip. Note: I dont' think Dubai has much in the way of insurance for injury, we noticed a lack of safety instruction/practices and when sand dune riding we had cars with very small children sitting in parents laps unrestrained, with the go kart racing you basically sign a disclaimer, but I was on the track with guys going 100kms an hour with their brakes a red hot glow, they were racing around me... doing a moderate 80kms an hour, you have limited safety gear and you are at ground level or should I say gravel level.
Finally you can visit somem of the mosques - I didn't because I have seen a lot in other Muslim countries, but I do remember that you can only go on a certain day/time when they let non locals visit.
Ok, have fun.
Edited by Joannek (Mon Jun 25 2007 12:40 PM)
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