Viewing 40 posts - 81 through 120 (of 131 total)
  • Dubai at Christmas – Pros and Pitfalls?
  • nickc
    Full Member

    So, Las Vegas then?

    But that’s reasonably horrid as well…so I’m not sure that makes it better?

    zippykona
    Full Member

    The bad news ..the people in Dubai don’t like the flintstones.
    But the people in Abu Dhabi dooooo.

    tails
    Free Member

    Not sure if Madeira has been mentioned, warm enough for a t shirt but perhaps not pool. South Africa but prob getting a bit spendy due to distance.

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    Flaperon
    Full Member

    but if your moral compass completely defines where you’ll travel in the world you won’t be going very far afield.

    I holiday according to my moral compass and it causes no issues whatsoever.

    This gives you most of Europe, Japan, Vietnam, Bali (possibly), Australia, New Zealand, large chunks of South America, a tiny bit of Africa, Jordan, Oman, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Mexico, the Azores, the Canary Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka…

    I mean, if your caveat is just “doesn’t use slave labour” then you do get most of the world.

    nickjb
    Free Member

    We went to Madeira in November just before the pandemic. It was pleasant but not what I would call hot. Rained a bit too. South Africa would be high on my list. A bit expensive for flights but should be cheaper when you get there. Loads to see and do if you want a day or two away from the beach. Or Thailand, also expensive to get to but very cheap there. Lovely people, great food, really nice beaches (with good snorkeling) plus lots of culture and nature if you go looking.

    alpin
    Free Member

    This thread has really outed a few people who represent the worst aspects of Singletrack.

    Like those who holiday in countries with very questionable ethics?

    wzzzz
    Free Member

    I went there once by accident, I felt horribly uncomfortable. They have British pelican crossing buttons.

    I went up the burg khalifa and you realise its completely pointless.

    Up there with Las Vegas in my list of places never to visit again.

    Go to Maderia.

    toby1
    Full Member

    I went for a weekend on the way back from India. I really disliked it, but I hate hot places, expensive shops (unless the sell Ski or bike stuff), it was essentially Westfield with a big fish tank in and food poisoning (I had it on the plane on the way home). Walking is something they just don’t do so parks and ways of getting around on foot are just poor.

    They are built on slavery apparently, much like parts of the USA and UK I’m sure.

    Overall, would not recommend.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    much like parts of the USA and UK I’m sure.

    But then we have 200 years to allow for a bit of cognitive dissonance when you go for a wander around Liverpool waterfront.

    Subtly different from tacitly endorsing an ongoing problem.

    Philby
    Full Member

    A couple of suggestions:

    Jordan amazing place and lots to experience such as sleeping out in the desert at Wadi Rum or similar, floating in the Dead Sea, Petra (one of the two most stunning places I have visited) and lots of other historical sites, and diving or snorkelling in the Red Sea. Good beaches at Aqaba, and you can even cross over to Israel if your moral compass allows.

    The other is Cuba – again lots to see and do as its just such a unique society and culture, and if you’re going to do it, do it now before it becomes too Americanised. In the north there are some large resort hotels with beaches which would be great for a family. For the more adventurous touring around places like the Vinales national park, Bay of Pigs, or places where Che Guevara lived are worth doing.

    Tunisia might be another option – they will be desperate to get tourists back after the combined impact of the hotel attacks and Covid, but it may be difficult to persuade your wife to agree to going to somewhere which was the scene of a massacre in the not too distant past.

    I’ve never been to Dubai, and have no intention of going there, but a friend went before lockdown and was amazed at how expensive it was to eat out – can’t remember the exact amount but I remember him saying something like a burger, fries and a Coke were something like £25-30.

    skellnonch
    Free Member

    No desire to go to Dubai, shopping & lounging not my thing or mrs skell for that matter, we go away for christmas on riding holidays each year… Whilst i understand it may not be your other halve’s choice to go on a cycling holiday there are places where you can kill 2 birds as they say and maybe get a cheeky ride or 2 in…

    Tenerife sun, sea, sand & Lavatrax
    Capetown as above, plus great seafood, steak and iride africa
    Costa rica, fantastic place lots to do, very eco aware, any country whose motto is pura vida must be worth a visit

    LAT
    Full Member

    That said do you think all the nice hotels in the UK all pay minimum wage and treat their staff fairly and don’t rely on and exploit cheap foreign labour?

    it goes a little deeper than this. for example, the leader has imprisoned his own daughter

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    it goes a little deeper than this. for example, the leader has imprisoned his own daughter

    Has the UN asked for proof of life for all of Boris’s offspring?

    LAT
    Full Member

    I holiday according to my moral compass and it causes no issues whatsoever.

    what if your moral compass directs you away from not burning a load of aviation fuel so that you can visit a far away place?

    grum
    Free Member

    Dubai, lol.

    qwerty
    Free Member

    Go Goa?

    LAT
    Full Member

    Has the UN asked for proof of life for all of Boris’s offspring?

    All if his children?

    kilo
    Full Member

    As mentioned above I was going to suggest Cape Town. Really liked it when we were there last, there’s some decent cycling guides based down there as well.

    convert
    Full Member

    Cape Verde?

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Long story short; if your personal morals would let you willing visit Dubai or UAE then the world would be a better place without you. HTH

    Awesome stw post.

    esselgruntfuttock
    Free Member

    Go Goa?

    Shush! We’re going (?) next Xmas for 3 weeks, was supposed to be Xmas just gone which we booked in Dec 2019. Don’t want to be bumping into any of you lot! 😉

    Yes wev’e been before.
    Yes we know we really shouldv’e gone in the 90’s before It was ruined by tourists.

    olly2097
    Free Member

    Cuba is fantastic. Couple of cans of bucanero and Cristal and you are sorted. Food is crap and it’s almost comical, but my god it’s a beautiful country. Also super safe. The people are lovely. Go to Havana for some culture then Cayo Coco for the beach.

    RustyNissanPrairie
    Full Member

    I was ‘lucky’ enough to be work overseas so got to see places on someone else’s expense account. I was on my own and usually bored so always ended up exploring or taken out by the clients.

    Oman was great – less developed and some great scenery, souks and cheap but good local restaurant. Dubai had better hotels but as mentioned above like the States you can’t walk anywhere, and there isn’t much to walk around apart from malls. The old town gold market and harbour area was okay but that was it.
    I wouldn’t go there on my own money.

    We’ve had some great holidays in Ibiza villas in the north of the island. I’m into electronica music so appreciate the history the islands position within that but we don’t go for the club’s (too old now!)

    mjrose
    Free Member

    1. Ethically I couldn’t do it
    2. As a holiday experience it appears to be a bland culture free flop ‘n drop.

    I guess if your stomach is strong enough to handle the former your palette might be banal enough to withstand the latter.

    Brutal character assisination of the typical Dubai holiday maker. Love it. Classic STW

    funkmasterp
    Full Member

    Has anybody mentioned that there is a chance you may bump in to an influencer or ninety percent of the cast of a god awful reality show? That’s reason enough not to go

    suburbanreuben
    Free Member

    How about Belize? Fantastic diving, warm sunny beaches, proper jungle ruins and mucho macho Indiana Jonesery, with Afternoon Tea on the Verandha!
    And everyone talks like pirates…

    Kuco
    Full Member

    I worked with a young lad who came from Belize. He use to say “Beautiful country but **** dangerous if you don’t know where you’re going” when people asked him what it was like.

    Some of the pictures he showed us of where he grew up did look nice to visit.

    mrmoofo
    Full Member

    I have been to Dubai a few times with work , and a couple of times on vacation ( I have friends based in Oman).

    I hate the place – but it doesn’t mean that you will. It is a very superficial place (But I know you are just going on holiday). Whilst it appears like a hedonistic destination to the footballers wives category, remember it is not a free and easy place. Topless sunbathing is a no-no, public drunkenness as big no-no and getting into a traffic accident could be a major drama.
    My issue is as a holiday destination is that there is really not a lot to do/ see other than desert and beaches. But the may be your thing. It is like going to Las Vegas – but with all the fun taken out, the booze limited and none of the showgirls.

    If I wanted winter sun, I would be off to the Cape Town area, despite it’s reputation. Love the place … but it is an 11 hour flight.
    Amazingly cheap when you get there !

    kilo
    Full Member

    Praio do Patacho in Brazil, great beaches and my brother runs a couple of cottages there 😉

    Cape Town is a long flight but it’s usually an overnighted and no jet lag. I always thought I’d hate RSA, probably due to all the saffers in sw London 🙂 , but it’s a great place. Stayed in Constantia in Cape Town and then up to Boschendal and Franschhoek a few times.

    DrJ
    Full Member

    Oman? Just a bit further and miles nicer. Better scenery, not so much of the overt slavery.

    grum
    Free Member

    Cape Town is awesome. Fantastic food scene there. You couldn’t pay me to go to Dubai – it’s like all of the worst things in the world concentrated together.

    scandal42
    Free Member

    Ahhhhhh Belize

    Some of the best travelling I’ve ever done there. An excellent little place. I would love to go back, especially as a 25 year old backpacker again 🙂

    whatyadoinsucka
    Free Member

    what about the carribean, i’ ve been a few times over winter December/January,

    Antigua or Barbados are cracking weather beutiful beaches and activities to do.

    morning flights out of UK take 7 hours land early evening, and evening flight home to get back to rainy britain 730am next day..

    think i’ll be going december , winter suns makes me happy

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    less than that and you have to drop miles away in the dessert.

    that’s not to be trifled with!

    johnx2
    Free Member

    Canaries aren’t blistering hot at that time, but okay for shorts/t-shirts and beach, especially on S coasts where the resorts generally are (which I avoid, obv). Loads to do depending on island, including nowt and old school SFA. Close and cheap, relatively speaking. I’ve been in December a couple of times and you do get a dose of sun. Just checked: sea temp is 20°C (cossies okay, shortie for surfing), air temps a bit over 20. Bugger it – tempted to book something now…

    thebibbles
    Full Member

    I have friends that have been arrested for being on the wrong side of an argument with a local and also know a guy through work who lived there and was told he had to leave the country in 24 hours and never come back as someone had reported him for saying something against the Sheikh and his family. It’s definitely not as tolerant as a lot of tourists think it is. The first time I took the family to Dubai was on boxing day and my youngest was about 3. We were standing in the passport queue and she looks over and starts saying very loudly – Daddy, why are they dressed as shepherds? We wondered what she was talking about then saw the border control guys all in traditional gear and being close to Christmas she’d been in her nursery nativity play. She kept going on about it all holiday. We’d be walking down the street and she’d be going 1, 2, 3, 4 I’m counting shepherds. Luckily I don’t think anyone noticed or we’d probably still be there in prison.

    doris5000
    Full Member

    I know a couple of people who’ve done time in Dubai. One was in about 2007, had some porn on his laptop. Was sentenced to many years but let out after 3 months. The other got into a Kafkaesque hell accused of stuff that simply wasn’t possible (unpaid school fees from before he was ever married or had kids). Spent a while in prison, and is still in Dubai now because the authorities won’t return his passport. A rum old place IMO.

    johndoh
    Free Member

    My brother in law once did a runner from a hotel as he couldn’t pay the drinks bill. Thankfully he didn’t get caught as I suspect he’d still be locked up now.

    hugo
    Free Member

    Living in the ME, I can see why you’d want to go to Dubai for Christmas. On paper you’d get winter sun, a slap up Xmas all you can booze brunch, and fancy hotels. It’s ok, but expensive and soulless. It’s shopping malls and trout pouts on the beach.

    It’s a nice part of the world to live in during “winter” but that’s because living means going to the park, your beach, camping in the desert, or just with a paddling pool in the garden. You’re also certainly not guaranteed the best weather. It rained today and is going to again tomorrow am. Check the weather forecast for Doha. We actually look forward to the rain.

    However….

    Most expats living in Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Doha /Kuwait, etc travel elsewhere at Xmas. Put it simply, they get away.

    Spend a bit longer on a plane and go to the southern hemisphere. Sri Lanka or Kerala would be my choice normally but with COVID I’d look at Vietnam. Also look at Zanzibar, South Africa, Bali and Palawan as a rogue option. Far, far nicer parts of the world to holiday in and you’d save a packet on hotels, although flights are more.

    go goa

    No, if you’re thinking of Goa then go to Kerela or Sri Lanka unless you’re on a gap year.

    (actually, go to Nepal but not at Xmas)

    ((I’ve been to, and enjoyed, them all, not idle speculation))

    konagirl
    Free Member

    I absolutely love Cape Town, and wider bits of Southern Africa I have been lucky enough to visit. But I wouldn’t necessarily advise it as a place to go if the OP’s wife wants to literally sit by a pool or beach all day and laze. The sea is cold all the way along that coast, but particularly around Cape Town. There are a handful of ‘resort’ type hotels like American brands with golf courses and there are many really good small guest houses / boutique hotels that will have a pool but, for Christmas week, they aren’t cheap and neither will flights be. I do agree it is nice doing overnight flights and having no jet lag. But I don’t think I would be able to settle by the pool with so much other stuff (activities, outdoors mountains and wildlife, and good food and wine in different places).

    Out of interest in Kerala and Sri Lanka where are the best beaches to avoid crowds? I guess in December you need to look at west/south Sri Lanka. I always fancied getting to Yala National Park.

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