After yet another super breakfast in our hotel We spent the morning at the beach. We drove just 15 minutes to Al Mamzar Beach in Dubai. The entrance fee is 5 dirhams (about €1) per person. It's a very well-maintained beach with rentals of umbrellas, etc. If you arrive early enough, you can even snag one of the permanent seating areas with an umbrella. We immediately went into the pleasantly cool, clean water… a great refreshment!
Planespotting at DXB
After two swims and about two hours, we'd had enough sun and drove back to the hotel. After a short siesta, we got back into our "racing car" and took a roundabout route, since we wanted to do some geocaching, to the Dubai Outlet Mall. Thanks to a cache, we stopped at the Mildrif City Mall. It's located directly in the flight path of DXB. Awesome planespotting spot... we spent a few minutes there taking some great pictures.
Dubai Outlet Mall
We continued out into the desert. That's where the Dubai Outlet Mall was being built. According to the signs, a larger theme park, "Dubailand," is planned for this location. The entrance sign for Universal Studios was already there… but beyond the large gate, there was only desert. We would have liked to capture it in a photo, but the gate was guarded by a police patrol. We could have skipped the mall altogether. The shops weren't particularly impressive, and the prices weren't what we're used to in outlets. Nothing like American prices. Disappointed, we headed back and stopped at the Festival Mall. A few years ago, another enormous shopping complex, complete with an artificial river, was built there. From the terrace, we enjoyed the sunset over Dubai… unfortunately, it was too hazy to see the Burj Khalifa. But it was still very romantic!
On the way home, the low fuel warning light came on in our Chevrolet Spark… just in time for a gas station. So we pulled out and joined the queue. The good thing is, they fill it up for you here. A liter currently costs 1.78 dirhams (about €0.33). We filled up the little car for 60 AED (€11.84). Crazy, we really get ripped off in Germany….
