Can A Single Woman Travel To Dubai
Destination: Dubai On my Etihad flight to the United Arab Emirates, I had failed to consider the strangeness I would feel as a, no, the ONLY solo female traveler on a male-dominated plane full of Emiratis and a handful of foreign expats flying there at the same time. As if feeling self-conscious wasn’t bad enough, when I got up to go to the bathroom, I was asked if I was someone’s lost wife.
Oh no, I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision going to Dubai alone. Arriving in Abu Dhabi with an hour-long bus transfer to Dubai, I reached my couchsurfer’s front door at the prompt hour of 6am. Since there were very few female hosts in Dubai (and I was quite sure I would feel more comfortable with a female), I was quite fortunate to be accepted by M, a Malaysian expat who had been in Dubai for two years for work. Note #1: With so many misconceptions in the media, I can report that Dubai is a modern metropolis with more than 50% of its population being foreign expats from both Asian and Western regions. Women do not need to wear head scarfs (unless visiting religious landmarks) or succumb to long-sleeved tops and heavy long pants in 40-degree heat when out and about in the city.
Single Parents. It is possible to live in Dubai and sponsor your children as a single parent, even if you are a woman. There will, however, be a number of extra. Solo travel in Dubai is relatively easy but this glitzy city is more suited for a holiday than as part of a travelling route. Cover up in the city. In the city itself it’s a different story as women only account for a quarter of the population so acting like a lady in public is essential. Guest blog By Megan Claire – her Blog is Mapping Megan Megan Claire in Dubai – travelling alone as a single female in the United Arab Emirates. While I now travel with my husband, I have spent the last 7 years travelling alone, and as a woman I am a huge advocate for travelling solo.
The first thing M planned for me was to go out with her and a bunch of her friends on a trip crab-hunting at Umm Al-Qawain, on the outskirts of Dubai. It’s a brilliant and fun concept – a small tug boat takes a small group of visitors out to the Arabian Gulf to try their hand at stabbing crabs for dinner. Obviously this is only a novelty factor as most of the people on the boat (especially me) could only manage to catch one measly crab, which is not really a dinner-sized portion at all. Our guides expertly caught around 100 crabs in two hours, and we headed back to shore for a crab buffet by the beach. Note #2: Take a taxi. Is horrendous and if you find yourself there in the middle of summer like I did, you’ll want the taxi.
For a single female, taxis are cheap and safe, the drivers polite and respectful, and most importantly the cars are air-conditioned! For my next day in Dubai, images of me riding a camel into the sunset began to play in my head. I wanted to go on a desert safari, and managed to book an evening/night tour with a local company. M decided to join me after work. The tour started out very small and intimate -– six people to a Hummer (which were everywhere!). Our group consisted of the local driver, M and me, and three Frenchies.
Starting out with a long drive to the al-Badayer desert to do some ‘dune-bashing’ (basically driving vigorously up and down the dunes in the desert – not recommended for people with motion-sickness), our group then joined the other Hummers to another part of the desert where we each got to try sand-boarding. It was fun when sand didn’t get in my mouth.
After the deserts, we joined the other tour groups at a nearby camp site, where a big feast was prepared for us while we were entertained with henna-painting, camel rides, and belly-dancing. I had a fantastic time and made some new friends at the dining table. Interestingly, there are quite a number of things to do in Dubai should a lonely girl find herself there with no friends. It is not a city of subtlety. Rather, it is a city of extremes, providing everyone their own high in various forms of entertainment. Here is a list of some of my activities as a solo female traveler in Dubai, sometimes with M, mostly alone.
Gawk at giant stingrays and exotic sharks from the lobby of Atlantis Hotel. Sip fancy cocktails at the plethora of trendy bars and nightclubs around. Unfortunately I didn’t know a booking is required to have a drink at the Burj-al-Arab, so unlike me, I hope everyone else plans ahead. Visit Bur Dubai, the ‘historic’ part of Dubai, and wander around the Bakasiya Quarter. I spent an entire half-day there just taking awesome photos.
You can also hop on one of the agras (they ferry workers from one side of the river to the other) for the novelty factor at a price of only one dirham. I did feel slightly weird being the only female on board. Check out the ski resort at the Mall of the Emirates. They have a black run there, although I didn’t try it out. Note #3: Solo female travelers will not be intimidated or bored in this city. A word of caution – it’s not cheap to have fun in Dubai. However, a few days should be more than adequate to sample a bit of everything it has to offer.
Post-trip P.S.: Now that the Burj Khalifa is completed, it’s another must-see! I also missed out on a completed Palm Jumeirah and The World Jumeirah, all epic developments which were under construction at the time I was there. I would definitely go back again. This article was originally published on.
I have just returned from Dubai, a single woman alone. For anyone travelling alone - especially women, i offer the following advice. Dubai is a safe country for women to travel in unaccompanied but you must be cautious, as with any country.
Take the following precautions and all will be ok. Wear a ring on your right finger- so you look married. When travelling alone if blue eyed use dark sun glasses to prevent been harrased by mainly Indian and Pakistani voyuers- as well as if going to Jumeriah Beah, swim suited ladies be ready for unwanted attention and many photos been taken of you. Monday is 'Women only' day on Jumeriah Beach so you will get some relief from it. In shopping malls wear clothing that covers to the elbow and below the knee.
Still be assured you will see people wearing far less but to avoid attention from sex starved emirates who are 3 men to one women. They will approach you especially if like me you are fair skinned and blue eyed and have fair hair. Many marriage proposals may come your way. In taxis try not to engage in what we would call friendly chit chat- I did and was in a very scary situation where the driver refused to let me out of the cab- because he thought 'NO' meant yes.
English girls have bad reputation so keep your legs crossed. On going out especially at night use taxis- citycabs and try not to walk or accept lifts this is highly dangerous and could result in you been killed in road crossing or druged and raped. I went night clubbing myself and dont be surprised if your taken as a prostitute you will see many around normally two to one man.
Photos again will be taken by expats and arabs. In Deira and Burj dubai- please wear modest clothing - to keep you safe. Follow this and all will be well- i wish my fellow lady travellers a happy experience. 2 months ago i was in dubai. I went to the deira city centre and a lady was asking if i was a tourist i said yes and then she told me that they are selling hop on hop off buss tickets.
So i bought a ticket and it was 48 hours validity. I must say the ticket is very expensieve. There were two different kind of place modern dubai/historic dubai first of all dont enter the museums when its too hot coz some of the museums dont have a ac. And anyway the museums r really boring. Dhow cruise is the best a wonderfull experience. And modern dubai is much better then the historic dubai.
Coz in modern dubai u get to see the jumeirah beach,emirates mall, and a lot of shopping centres. My suggestion to you all is go by a taxi much cheaper. And if u want to take a bus then visit modern dubai its worth it. And the best thing to do in dubai is desert safari its about 180 or 200 dhm per person includes dinner,sheesha,drinks(alcohol but you have to pay for it) henna, and belly dance. Unless you have the Onassis fortune in order to pay the tab, there are better places to spend your time. The luxe places in Dubai were within the MANY indoor shopping malls. The food was fabulous, just pick either the 'poor' section with endless American fast food, or the 'rich' section with 4 star melt-in-your mouth foods.
Away from the shopping malls, the Desert 4x4 tours were amazing. The desert was breathtaking and the views endless. I wish they had room-service there!
The double-decker bus tours were wonderful for the city tour, that also extended out to the beach, Palm Island and Burj Al Arab hotel. Go early, and you use this for your 'ride' to the beach and the Atlantis Hotel/Aquarium.
The river in Bur Dubai was a source of entertainment on Thursday and Friday nights. A sea of off-duty workers hanging out, sending money home, taking some time to shop for the week. The boat ride across the river is like taking the bumper boats as the other boats ram one another to try to dock to take more paying passengers. If leaving your hotel on a Thursday or Friday, have your hotel call ahead for a taxi - otherwise forget picking up a ride on your own. Taxis are fairly cheap. Buses are plentiful.
Take comfortable shoes for walking, construction will put in your major detours around where you truly want to go. If you're not going to downhill ski, at least at a bite to eat at the base of ski slope. It makes for quite a dining experience. What to Wear - you can pretty much wear anything running around. But when your itinerary plans go indoors or to museums - women should plan on covering their shoulders or legs; men same rules.
As a woman, I carried a cheap scarf around to cover up with when it was warranted. Hubby wore jeans and flip flops more of the trip. Weather in November was nice, 90 F. And low, almost no humidity. Buy your own water in the small grocery stores, otherwise the usual tourist traps will gouge you 4x the price for a small bottle of water. Wait for another 10 years before visiting Dubai, that way the construction boom will have slowed down.
A Single Woman Movie
There is not a lot of history since they were established in 1971, known for the BIGGEST and WORLDS GREATEST, etc. Overall, we ate well no matter where we went.
The value for the money was great. Everyone speaks english well. Would plan a Desert Resort for next time we pass through Dubai. The mass of construction, disarray, and chaos went traveling from place to place was just too overwhelming. Dubai is a waste of money. Historic sites?! There are any historic sites and tour guides there will tell you.
What Can A Single Women Do For Fun
The only 'touristy' thing to do is smoke a hookah and ride a camel. Dubai is less than 50 years old. There isn't anything historic about it!!! They have a million malls because there is nothing to do there other than shop. If you're not staying at the Burj Al Arab or the Jumeriah Resort, you will not have access to the beach.
The nice part of dubai is pretty much that one strip of road with the hotels and past that is like the ghetto. Their advertising is pure propaganda. And those homes on the Palm Island. Imagine people aren't allow to water their lawns because since everything there is built on sand, it will sink!!!!
Magix music maker 2015 premium download. I have sooo much more I can tell you but, one thing I WILL tell you now is. IT WAS A WASTE OF MONEY!! DON'T DO IT!!!!!! Just came back from one week of shopping extravaganza, or should I say window shopping. Sheer eye candy in terms of the kind of people, beats New York or any other multi-cultural city hands down.
It truly is the cultural melting pot. My first visit to an Islamic country, but did not feel like I was in one, except for seeing those beautiful middle eastern women in their abayas and the locals in their long white robes.
Night life is rocking, be it in a pub or in the street cafes at the heritage village along the creek. The abras(boats) running all through the night.
In the morning the city is buzzing, men, women and children, locals,tourists and expats. It is the middle of the desert but October was just like being in Bombay with 34 C. Overall a great city.
