Boat trip along the Arabic Gulf Coast in Dubai

On my second full day in Dubai, I decided to have a relaxed, belly-friendly program… I indeed woke up with a “funky” digestion, if you know what I mean, and even didn’t know which food to blame… the Persian chicken rice dish from the Dubai Mall food court? The delicious shawarma I had with my nice Lebanese friend? Anyway, too late to think about it… And I shall get used to it! It might happen often… The joys of travelling, as they say! haha! I was just surprised because I didn’t expect to get sick in a city like Dubai. But although it looks futuristic, it is still in the Middle East, I guess..! A program with many toilets in a safe distance was thus welcome!

20190221_155315 (Mittel) — Toilet door entrance… A common view for a few days 😉

I heard about a ferry boat going from the Marina neighborhood to the old town of Dubai a few times a day, navigating along the coast passing by many famous Dubai landmarks. This is not a dedicated tourist boat but is run by the public transport company, and is quite cheap for the UAE. I thought it was a great way to discover the city (and they had toilets on board!)

The boat left from the Marina a few walking minutes away from my hostel. The ride took quite a while – about 2 hours! – but was super relaxing and a good way to discover the skyline from the sea side. It is also from the sea that the Burjs – read my previous article! – are the most impressive. The Burj Khalifa looks really huge and the Burj al Arab shows a quite interesting feature! The restaurant/bar is a horizontal building attached to the main building almost at the top, and from far, it looks like a Christian cross…! I suppose the architect is still been enjoying his life in some hidden desert prison… This reminded me of the Berlin TV tower which has a similar feature. On sunny days, the reflection of the sun on the windows of the tower sphere also looks like a cross, which was quite ironic in the communistic regime of the German Democratic Republic…

Here are a few impressions in pictures.

Leaving the Marina…