10 Awesome things to do in DUBAI | Go Local | Cal McKinley

Okay, so today I'm going to see the world's tallest building, see the world's largest choreographed fountain show, and ski indoors. Not bad for one day. Welcome to Dubai. Number one is the Burj Khalifa, which is currently the tallest structure in the world at 2,722 feet. And get this, apparently it was built solely to diversify the country's economy and to help, quote, put Dubai on the map in terms of international travel. Dubai apparently borrowed over 80 billion US dollars, yes that's billion with a B, for construction projects at the time. Yeah, I think they nailed it. Currently the tower is made up mostly of residential office spaces and a hotel. There's also a nightclub on the 144th floor, which makes it the highest in the world. Honestly though, all I can think about is how expensive it must be. So it'll only cost you $35 from 8.30am to 4.30pm, and then from 7 till it closes. They do charge you a little bit extra for what they call prime hours, which is $54, and that's from 5pm to 6.30pm. Obviously you're going to want to reserve everything online beforehand because that's just so much easier. But after that, you're pretty much good to go. So for those of you who don't know, I'm terrified of heights, which means words cannot describe how afraid I feel right now. I'm like actually scared to go near the windows. At the base of the Burj Khalifa are the Dubai fountains, which are number two on the list. The fountain itself costs $218 million US dollars, and can throw up to 22,000 gallons of water into the air at any moment. That's two average-sized swimming pools, and the beam of light from the fountain can be seen from over 20 miles away. Performances here take place every 30 minutes from 6pm to 10pm on weekdays, and 6 to 11pm on weekends, which for Dubai is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Don't worry about trying to secure a seat on a rooftop bar or anything like that. You can just go up and see it. It's usually not that crowded. This is pretty crazy. I'm in the middle of the desert, and I'm about to go skiing. I don't know how I feel about this. Wow, that's cold. Rock and roll. First run. No, no, actually, it's like my third or fourth run, but, you know, about the counts. So not many people can say that they've skied in the middle of the desert, unless they've been to ski Dubai. I will say that the slopes here aren't amazing, the snow is obviously pretty fake, but it's really just the experience of it being over 100 degrees outside, and then stepping inside and skiing for two hours in below-freezing weather. It'll cost you 49 US dollars for two hours on the slope, or 84 for an entire day. Really two hours is all you need. It's actually really cold, so I recommend bringing a lot of layers, even though you won't think to because it's so hot outside. But other than that, it's exactly how it sounds. You get to ski indoors in a place that you probably wouldn't expect to. This is way faster than the lift, I think. So now I can check skiing in the middle of the desert off my list. It wasn't on there to begin with, but now it is. Ah, it's so stupid. So this is the Bastakiya Quarter of Dubai, which is formerly the fishing village, now the historic center of Dubai. You see behind me here, this is the Dubai Museum, which has a lot of the history of the area, which I think is kind of useful, getting to know the people that live here and the culture. But really, this area is just kind of cool to walk around in, and it's right next to the water. Not really much more to say. Number five is the Gold Souq, which is located in the business district of Dera. It's made up of over 300 gold and silver retailers, and it's open from 4 to 10 p.m. every day except for Friday when it's closed. You do need to be prepared to be bombarded by sales pitches as you walk through, because everyone there is trying to sell you something. So I just got done walking through the Gold Souq. None of the women in my family wear jewelry, with the exception of my mom, who compensates for all of them. But I'm not really interested in it either. However, it's a market that sells only gold jewelry, so I figured I had to check it out. If I'm being completely honest, though, this is the one place on the list that you could probably skip. It's not really that interesting. The spice market, however, I highly recommend right when you get off the ferry, so most people miss it. There's almost no tourists. It's almost all locals, and it's, in my opinion, way, way better than the Gold Souq. The spice market is also across the river, right next to the Gold Souq. And for 20 cents, you can get a ferry ride across. It's also open from 4 to 10 p.m., but it's a much more local market. The Palm Jumeirah is, of course, the man-made island shaped like a giant palm tree. It's a great place to go for a sunset walk along the water. There are also a couple of public beaches that are a good way to get away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the city. So, contrary to popular belief, Dubai isn't all excess. The part where you see the crazy cars and insane-looking buildings is just that one little section of downtown. The rest of the city is actually pretty normal, and they have some really awesome food spots if you get outside of the main areas. The main one being El Diefa Road, which is packed with tons of restaurants like Ravi, which has some of the best curry in the city, Sidra, which is mixed grill, and Par's Iranian Kitchen, which is fresh seafood. You really can't go wrong here. The Dubai Mall is absolutely massive, and even if you don't really like shopping like me, there's still a decent amount that you can do there, like checking out the aquarium or the ice skating rink. It's like a whole city within itself. That's the most fun part about the mall, I think, being able to slide on the floor in sandals. I have a slight problem, which is that I ran out of money. We are, and then hopefully I can get close enough to my Airbnb that I can walk back, but I don't know. I could have made number 10 off-roading the desert or skydiving, but I really think that it should just be walking around and talking to people. I met an astounding number of new friends here without even really trying, which just goes to show you how friendly the people are. Dubai is a city with some pretty insane contrast, from the downtown luxury cars and buildings to the awesome street food spots and people in the outer parts of the city. There's just so much to do here. It's hard to fit it all into one trip.