Dubai - A Lovely Stop over on way to India

A great idea and initiative, my wife took on, on our way to India. She decided to stop over at Dubai for 3 nights. This makes it a New Years in Dubai.

Visa
Carrying India Passport, we needed to apply for Visa before we landed in Dubai. The application process was just so convenient and easy. Basically you could do everything online. If everything is submitted properly, you will get your Visa to print in your Email. How cool is that! Note: There are specific size requirement for documents need to submit online when you apply. We opted for a fast delivery by paying $20 more. We got our Visa within a week. Our daughter, US passport holder, got her Visa upon Arrival.

NOTE: If Travelling in Emirates airline, their reservation page will guide you for Visa Application. Otherwise go to; http://dubaivisa.net/

Time
It's said Nov-Jan is a good time to visit. That means Hotel prices may be at their highest. But if reserved in advance you can find good deals. We got one at Holiday Inn very close to the Airport. You could get much better Hotels a little away for the airport.

Transportation
Dubai has a well controlled Cab services. You have choices among various cab companies. You can call for Cab from the hotel. They have a metro system too. But travelling from the USA, using the cab is very inexpensive. Note: Make sure you ask for the regular cab in the hotel lobby. They can talk you into taking the special cab service that is linked with the hotel which ends up to be more expensive. All regular cab services are control by the Government set prices, unlike the special service. Most Cabbies are from Asia and speak Hindi. The Government requires all cabbies to be able to speak in English. There are tough laws on Cab denying service.

Communication
It helps a lot to be able to make phone calls when you are in Dubai. Especially when you are shopping around for tours. If possible carry an unlocked phone. As soon as you get to the airport you can purchase a Sim Card at the airport. This is one thing we did not plan for. We had to get down to the front desk to make courtesy phone calls. Calls from the hotel room was pretty expensive, at the hotel we stayed. If you have nice internet speed, you could use VOIP calling. Same goes for data plan on the phone. Skype was handy.

Exchange
We exchanged dollars for Dirham at the airport.

Sight seeing
1. Burjh Kalifa - We reserved visiting tickets from USA for a specific time. This saves some money.
2. Plan for places to visit for each day. Half day for Desert Safari.
3. Keep enough time, atleast a day to travel to Abu Dabhi. That is where old history exists.
4. If into Indian jewelry shopping, ask for Meena Bazaar near the Dubai Museum.

You don't have to reserve tours from USA. You can easily do it when you land in Dubai and from the hotel. Plan to visit places on your own. That may turn out convenient and economical. If you need a guide then getting on one of the many tours would work. There are Bus tours, easy to reserve and be on. Using the Hotel agent may end up being expensive. Try to avoid that.