Jumeirah

I have a couple of friends who moved out to Dubai a few years ago and I was lucky enough to be able to catch up with them on Saturday afternoon. They have a different life to the guys I work with, with more of an emphasis on living longer-term within the local community and not just being there for the beers, the bling & the brunches. They picked me up from outside my hotel and took me down to the Jumeirah area of Dubai, one of the more affluent areas of the city with a couple of distinctive landmarks

 

Unfortunately you can't just turn up to the Burj Al-Arab and take a look around - you need to show advance bookings even to get to morning tea - so this is the closest you can get without a room or an appointment

Just down the road is the more accessible Madinat Jumeirah, which is an upmarket shopping mall and a couple of classy hotels built in the old style around a network of artificial canals

Overlooking the Burj Al-Arab of course

 

It's a strange place, part Souq

Part bar and restaurant complex

Part theatre (Dubai's only one)

 and part completely over the top hotel - rose petal covered pool, anyone?

If you're staying there then you get ferried around the waterways for free, but if you're a visitor you can still book a tour by 'Abra' (water taxi). It was very relaxing to drift around listening to evening birdsong and trying to peer into rich people's windows...

It was great to see the world outside Sheikh Zayed Rd, for the first time in a week, and better still to catch up with some old friends. Cheers guys!