For us Dubai is a word synonymous to comfort, inspiration, success, leisure and progress but for many… traffic!
Dubai is a place to live and to spend decades. When talking about the city people usually talk about the malls, hotels, parks and world achievements (The Palms, Burj Al Arab, Burj Dubai, Atlantis The Palm…). The more day to day things are overlooked which we plan to write about.
All the road signs in Dubai are written in English and Arabic which makes moving around in the city very convenient. The latest air conditioned bus stops also facilitate travelling in Dubai. The government has also introduced double-decker buses to help people travel between the cities of Dubai and Sharjah. So even if you are on a short visit to Dubai, you can drop into another emirate of the UAE.
There are paid parking lots all around the city. Usually the 1-hour-ticket is priced for 1 dirham but in busy areas it costs 2 dirhams. The price for a 2-hour-ticket is 5 dirhams and there is a similar increase for longer time periods. It is necessary to carry some coins on you; it speeds up the small transitory activities. Like purchasing a parking ticket, catching a drink or a chocolate bar from vending machines.
The weather in Dubai is usually hot and humid. Many days from November to March are foggy which changes the entire outlook of the city. The roads, trees and buildings look beautiful and encourage any resident to skip work and spend the early morning hours in a park. Yes, the fog lingers till 9 o clock in the morning and thereon, the sun attacks the sand harshly. The sad part of the foggy days is that many car accidents are reported on such mornings. Still, if you are in the city around this time of the year, make sure to go to the creek and spend some time there. It will make the most memorable moments of your trip.
If you travel in the city with a positive mind, you will be happy to see the ongoing construction of the Dubai Metro, roads, buildings and flyovers. The residents have had many inconvenient experiences because of the diversions in the city still they love it because the progress benefits them the most, in the long run. With developments in the road network, learning new roads becomes a tough job. It is helpful to go on strolls in your car to keep yourself at par with the progress.
Regarding communication in Dubai, all calls made to local land line numbers are free. That’s why many shops and malls have telephone sets in public access for convenience. It is really a kind consideration on behalf of the government. Same goes for all other emirates, if you make a local call within an emirate, you are not charged. A useful service provided all across the country is the telephonic directory which provides telephone numbers of all the tourist attractions, malls, parks and shops too. The service is made available by Etisalat, a telecommunication provider in the country. To use the service you will have to dial 181 and very soon an operator will attend your call.
Thinking about conversing in the city it is important to mention the dialling codes for very emirate. If you are in any emirate, you need to dial the following codes before dialling the local landline number you want to get through.
For contacting mobiles in the UAE, there are two codes 050 or 055 depending on the service provider. If the telephone number is provided by Etisalat, you need to dial 050 and if it is given by DU, you need to dial 055 before the dialling the number.
Shopping in Dubai is fun and bargaining is workable in many markets where the price is not displayed on the pieces and you have to ask the shopkeeper for every piece you pick. The shopkeepers state the price looking at your attire and so, giving you an opportunity to bargain. If the quoted price is below dirhams 50, you can safely get dirhams 5 off. If the quote is nearing 100 or above, you could request a discount of 10 dirhams; this is usually workable. Whatever your experience may be, even a discount of 5 dirhams encourages shopaholics.
An interesting fact is that many years ago the Indian Rupee was used in the UAE, as currency. It may happen with you that you hear shopkeepers saying rupee instead of dirhams. “It’s 18 rupees per metre” can be the dialogue you hear. People coming from Pakistan and India sometimes get tricked thinking the shopkeeper actually means rupees. This does affect their shopping budget as the exchange rate of dirham to rupee is at least 10 times.
That’s all for now, we may will add more information as it comes to the mind. Hope this was useful.