Stopover in Dubai. All that Dubai screaming luxury and excess left me unimpressed, not exactly my type of entertainment. I did enjoy the observation deck at Burj Khalifa though.
Burj Khalifa
Inside the Dubai Mall
Didn’t expect to find Tim Hortons here 🙂 A piece of Canada with Middle Eastern flavor
Lunch time
Dubai Aquarium
Dubai skating rink
Burj Khalifa at night
Dubai fountains
View from the top
Mall of the Emirates
Ski Dubai
Local skiers
I didn’t ski but went for “Penguin encounters”, also part of the Ski Dubai attraction. For about 60 USD (basic package) you get to spend 35-40 min with the penguins in a group of 12 people. The price also includes a pair of “Ski Dubai” gloves. First you get to meet two Gentoo penguins, but you are not allowed to touch them, then the two King penguins that you can touch or even kiss. Each person gets about 1 minute with a penguin and the guides don’t like when you try to touch the other penguin outside of your time.
You are not allowed to bring your camera or cell phone inside “for safety of the birds”. You can put them in a locker for a fee. The introductory video they show before going in explains how to behave with the penguins and among other things tells you that “you don’t even have to bring a camera, our photographers will take plenty of pictures for you!”. This is very thoughtful of them, but the video forgets to mention the charge of about 35 USD per printed picture (!) or 120 USD for a CD with all the pictures, what a rip-off ! You get to review the pictures and pick the ones you want before you buy and none of them were good enough and and in focus. Totally regretted it.
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December 2012
