Dubai indoors (kids)

Here's a list for entertaining kids indoors in Dubai. I really recommend however, to resort to these in summer months. In winters, please soak up the outdoors.

Ski Dubai: There's something ironic about frolicking in the snow in the middle of the desert, no? Ski Dubai has a couple of rides, and you can see penguins. For a handsome price, you can have a close encounter with the penguins as well. For me, the best part is warming up with a hot chocolate afterwards.

Aquarium at Atlantis: Pretty big, lots of fish. Easily kills 2-3 hours time. If you want to make a day of it, combine it with the Aquaventure water park and dolphin experience.

Aquarium at Dubai mall: Do either the one above or this.

Kidzania at Dubai mall: For 4 years and above. You can easily spend half a day here.

Ice skating at Dubai mall: There is a rink and you can hire skates, or even a lesson.

Hysteria Haunted house at Dubai Mall: I haven't been here but it sounds interesting for older kids.

Orbi: It's just more screen time really but in a high-tech educational way. Kids will see 5 D short films on nature and wild life. Some good special effects.

Flip Out: If your kids need to burn off some energy, this trampoline park may be fun.

Green planet: it's a kind of tropical jungle indoors with some animals. I guess it is educational in a way.

Dubai Creek park children's centre: This is one of the few inexpensive things to do with kids in Dubai. It has a science centre and a planetarium. Good for few hours of entertainment.

Dolphinarium: This is also at Creek park so can be combined with above. You can see dolphins and seals put up a show for you. You can also get up close to the dolphins, for a price.

IMG: Dubai has many amusement parks but this one is touted to be the biggest in the world. You could probably spend the entire day here.

Ferrari world: another amusement park, it's in Abu dhabi. Has a few good rides.  If going to Abu Dhabi for this, you might want to visit Zayed mosque.

Louvre: Also in Abu dhabi, this museum, a branch of the Paris one, has opened recently. It's very pretty, some of the photographs I have seen are astoundingly beautiful. There is a section for children.

Hub Zero: Rides and games. Many games involve screen, so not my favourite.

Adventure HQ: A climbing wall and high ropes course. Good for an hour or so, for getting kids some exercise and keeping away from screen.

Al Fahadi museum: Near the Bastakiya district, this museum gives a glimpse of Dubai's past and chronicles the story of its development from a fishing and pearling village to its present avatar. Kids may not find it very interesting.

Breakfast/lunch at SMCCU: Sheikh Mohammed centre for cultural understanding is an institution that attempts to demystify Arab culture and customs for the curious. You can buy a ticket to a group traditional breakfast experience, following which, the locals will answer any questions you have about Emirati/Aran society, culture and customs. Haven't been but heard good reviews. Good for older kids and adults.

Jam jar: if your little ones insists on painting, you can take them to Jam jar in Al quoz. For a price, they will get three canvases and there is a supply of painting paraphernalia. Good for a couple of hours.

Various Fun city/Chuck E Cheese outlets around the city: For mindless, predominantly screen based gaming, kids can be taken here.

I-fly: This is something most kids enjoy. The chance to fly in a powerful wind tunnel is thrilling to most kids except the very young ones. It is quite expensive though.

New things added since last year:

Qasr-al-watan: More for adults really. Fancy palace. Gives an insight into the lives of the royal family.

Dubai Frame: When travelling north on Sheikh Zayed Road, somewhere near Zabeel Park you notice a structure that looks like a really tall picture farme. This is the Dubai Frame. You go up by an elevator to enjoy a panoramic view of Dubai and on one side you see old Dubai and on the other, the new Dubai. There's a museum on top which has photographs of the evolution of Dubai.

Oli Oli: A children's play area/zone which is said to be interesting.

Warner Brothers amusement park: This is in Abu Dhabi. Requires a full day trip.

Rain Room: Located at Sharjah Arts Foundation, this is a different experience, where the rain doesn't hit you because of the sensors. Prior booking of tickets is a must, many people have rued being turned away otherwise.

Museum of Illusions: Located at Al Seef, a new waterfront area which has been developed in the local architectural style, this is small but has received good reviews.

Jameel Art Centre: Only for kids seriously inclined towards arts.

Tashkeel Art Centre: They do a kids art camp in summer, worth checking out.

Dubai in winter

Since the cooler climes are here in Dubai, it makes sense to soak up as much of the outdoors as possible, given that one is cooped up indoors eight months of the year. Here is a list of outdoor activities, divided into the things I have done and the things I have not.

Things I have done:

1) Flamingo watching at Ras-al-khor: This is a bit of a drive, but well worth it. Incidentally this is one of the few free things you can do in this very expensive city. Ras-al-khor is a creek that is home to many flamingoes, and these can be watched through a 'hide' built for this purpose. Go at the feeding times. It's lovely and the photos and videos you get are National-geographic worthy.

2) Kite beach: This is a nice beach near Burj-Al-Arab. It does tend to get crowded. You can hire a kayak, banana boat or a stand up paddle board if you're in the mood for more than just lazing around. The main draw for my kids is the Wire world high ropes and zip line, which opens in the evening.

3) Aventura at Mushrif park: Also a bit of a drive, but if your kids are crazy about high ropes and zip lining, it's worth it. There are three courses, with lots of high ropes and zip lines. To go through the whole thing takes three hours. Tickets are expensive, so only go if you plan to spend the full three hours.

4) Global village: An evening here can be a pleasant outing. Global village is a bigger, fancier version of Delhi Haat, with pavilions of countries rather than states. There are plenty of rides for children, you can get some regional food and buy some regional trinkets. If you are lucky, some famous singer or band may be having an outdoor performance, which is included in the price of the tickets! They also do good fireworks on some days.

5) Glow garden at Zabeel park: Glow garden has two parts- one has models of dinosaurs which move a bit and bellow. The other part is just clever lighting of models of fruits, flowers, trees etc. It looks quite pretty in the night. There are rides for kids. They have added an ice sculpture display which I am looking forward to see this year.

6) Al Mamzar park, Sharjah: So technically, this is not Dubai, but so what? Al Mamzar park is worth a visit. Lovely to hang around and has a nice beach with clear waters.

7) Al Ain zoo: Again, technically not Dubai. It's about an hour away. Lovely zoo, you can easily spend the whole day in it, better to hire a golf cart to get around. For a price, kids can feed giraffes.

8) Emirates Zoo: If Al Ain is too far and too big for you, an abbreviated zoo version can be had at Emirates Zoo. It's much smaller and has far fewer animals. But you can feed the giraffes. Also, smaller kids tend to appreciate it as things are at their eye level, you don't need to hoist them up.

9) The ubiquitous desert safari: You can't come to Dubai and not go dune-bashing, can you? There are tonnes of companies which organise desert safaris. They will pick you up from wherever you are located and drop you back. The four wheel drive vehicles drive you out into the desert and then veer off the road and start driving in the sand, up and down the dunes. It's good for adrenalin rush, though personally I detest it. Kids seem to love it. After about 15 minutes of this, you are driven to a camp in the desert, where you can partake in some activities like sand-boarding, camel riding. You can get a henna tattoo, but beware, health hazards have been linked to the use of black henna, so I'd skip it. The evening culminates with a below-average tasting buffet dinner and a cheesy cultural performance. It's very touristy, but good for one time experience.

10) Miracle garden: My least favourite in this list, this garden is a testimony to Dubai's will power to make an oasis in the desert. Huge displays of flowers in various shapes- aeroplane etc. One does admire the tremendous effort that must go into the landscaping and gardening on a daily basis. If you are very fond of flowers, go.

11) Dolphin experience at Atlantis: this is normally a package deal with the aquarium at Atlantis and the Aqua venture water park. For a handsome price, you can get close up with the dolphins, kiss them or swim with them. Too commercial for my taste, but if you have kids who are dying to get close to dolphins, consider it.

12) Bastakiya walk, abra ride, Gold souq and spice souk: The side of Dubai that is not so often seen is the one at Bastakiya district. This is the old, traditional side of the city. Walking around here is a welcome break from the skyscrapers and the modern buildings. The gold souq has some jaw-dropping displays of jewellery. An afternoon at Bastakiya is hands down my favourite thing to do in Dubai, but kids may get bored.

13) Legoland: Dubai is chockfull of amusement parks, but since most of the rides of Legoland are outdoors, I'm told, it makes more sense to hit them in the winter.

14) Burj Khalifa and the musical fountains: One of the few things that's free in Dubai, is the musical fountain show at Burj Khalifa. Want to see water jets shooting high and swaying to the tune of various Arabic and Bollywood numbers? Head here. What is not free is the ticket to go to the top of Burj Khalifa and see Dubai from there. You can find discounted tickets on Groupon or Cobone.

15) Motiongate: An amusement park that is partly indoors, partly outdoors. It is inspired by cinema, and has as it themes various kids films. Incidentally, Legoland and Motiongate are a part of the same complex of parks but each requires a day in itself, so don't even think of buying a ticket that allows you to all parks in one day.

16) Sky-diving: This one is of course, not for kids. I am sure it's very thrilling and all, but I just don't see myself doing this, ever. Is fairly expensive, as expected.

17) La Mer: developed in 2018, this is a complex of restaurants in a beach side location. There is a play area for kids.

18) Al Seef: Newly developed near the creek, the restaurants and establishments here have a traditional Arab architecture. It put up a good show of fireworks during Diwali. Personally, I prefer this to La Mer as it has more character.

I am sure that there are many biking trails for biking enthusiasts, but since I am not a biker, I don't know anything about those. Most of the parks are good for walks, the one we frequent most often is Al Barsha. Jumeirah beach road has a good boardwalk for those who want to walk near the sea, as does Marina and Atlantis Palm.

Mleiha- Of all the excursions I've done in Dubai this year, Mleiha is hands down the best. We got lucky with the weather. It was windy and slightly cold and overcast. The desert was absolutely beautiful. The dune buggy ride to the ancient fossil rocks was super fun and the museum was interesting. The coffee shop at the Meliha Archaelogical centre was to die for. I can't wait for the weather to cool down, so I can go again and this time, I will make an overnight trip so I can star gaze in the desert.

Things I have not done, but intend to check out:

Camel fair/race: these are held on the highway going to Al Ain. As children, we heard horror stories of children being tied to the camels for races. It appears that nowadays, the camels are ridden by robots as jockeys. I need to visit to find out if this is fact or fiction.

Dubai safari: Did not hear very good reviews from the people who went last year, mainly to the tune of, 'too hot, disorganised, not too many animals'. Hopefully, they will have got their act together now that they've been around for one season.

The Quranic park: from the point of view of learning more about Islam

Turtle feeding at Madinat Jumeirah

Happy outdoors!

Beautiful Baku

When the long weekend loomed ahead at the end of November, we made a last minute decision to travel to Baku and in less than 24 hours, we were on the flight. Not many people have heard of Azerbaijan. I had first heard of it when in the early 2000s, I chanced upon a book called 'Ali and Nino' in a library. I was intrigued by the description on the jacket copy, 'Ali and Nino is one of literature's foundlings'. Foundling because the identity of the author is unclear and remains debated till date. It was published in 1940. So the book was a love story set in Baku, and that was the first time I heard of this little country which was located on the Caspian sea, and how it was plagued into turmoil because of the interest of Russia and England in its oil. Now after many years, I was travelling to the land of Ali and Nino.

Having travelled to neighbouring Georgia, I was a bit fearful that Azerbaijan might also be a poor country, with old people begging. I needn't have worried. Baku, at least, appears quite rich. Like Dubai. It is also extremely cosmopolitan. It is more European in appearance and character than Muslim, even though the majority population is Muslim. However, it appears to be one of the most secular countries in the Muslim world. Neither men, nor women, wear the hijabs and xxx that people in the middle east wear. They do not observe Friday as the weekly holiday. and I never heard any public calls for prayers as I do in Dubai.

In fact, I was strongly reminded of Paris by the buildings. Baku is, in fact, called the 'Paris of the East'. Dominating the skycape are the Flame towers- a trip of buildings that together look like flames. In the night, these are lit up like flickering flames on their LED facade. They are clearly meant to impress. As is the Haider Aliyev centre, which is built to resemble a rising sea wave. This building has the distinction of not having any straight lines!

But the modern is not what is most charming about Baku. The old city is charming. It's a fairly spread out, enclosed between impressive walls on three sides and Caspian sea on the fourth. The tallest structure here is a seventh century tower called 'Maiden tower'. It is austere and military-like in appearance. It's raison d'être is not definitely known- it was probably used for multiple purposes. Inside is a narrow stair case through which you can climb up to the top, from which you get great panoramic views of the city.

Outside the Maiden Tower is a small outdoor museum which has some intricately craved tombstones. You can trek up to the Shirvanshah palace and take a tour inside. There are some charming restaurants serving Azerbaijani cuisine inside the old city and lots of shops to pick up souvenirs and knick-knacks.

You can head out of Baku to a place called Gobustan. This is famous for mud volcanoes- tiny volcanoes that spew mud. They are not dangerous, at least the ones where the tourists are taken are not. Unlike what issues forth from geysers, the mud is cold. The volcanoes are gentle and quite fun. They sometimes emit a gentle rumbling noise, quite like the ones that come from your stomach. It's fun to watch for the bubbling mud that trickles through at regular intervals. Mud volcanoes are rare, they're found only in places that are rich in oil and gas, and 40% of the world's mud volcanoes are located right here in Azerbaijan, so they are a must see on your itinerary.

The other thing to see in Gobustan is a pre-historic settlement. This dates from 15000 to 40000 years ago, so we're really talking cavemen here. These are these rock formations which have been used as shelter by ancient humans and they have left some drawings carved on the rocks as souvenirs for us. The drawings are of a boat carrying people, which the guide explained is a funeral scene- dead bodies being taken out for burial at the sea, and of animals- bulls in particular. Quite fascinating.

There is also a museum full of artefacts at Gobustan.

Azerbaijan is not very expensive. Uber taxis, in fact, are shockingly cheap. Talking of taxis, beware that normal taxis plying on the road have to be bargained with and can cheat you, so if data permits, stick to Uber. The local food is tasty, and the fish is fresh. As Indians, we were always greeted with 'Raj Kapoor? Amitabh Bacchan?'. Old bollywood cinema certainly had a connect with people in Russi and CIS countries, new Bollywood needs to up its game to establish a connect like this.

To my delight, Ali and Nino do live on in Azerbaijan. There are famous cafes and bookshops with their names.

Baku is a must-visit for anyone living in Dubai.

Croatia

Remember how we used to play Name, place, animal, thing in school and how getting the letter ‘z’ was such a pain because of very few places starting with this letter? Now, thanks to my Croatia trip, I know one more place that starts with ‘z’- Zagreb- the capital of Croatia.

Zagreb was a great start to our holiday because of the cooler climes. The maximum temperature was a very pleasant 25 degrees. When you are arriving from Dubai, that means a lot. Another reason I liked this charming town was that it was not overcrowded. Although it's very much like other European cities, in terms of architecture, full of pretty buildings, I noticed some interesting sculptures built into some of the buildings- like bas-relief, which gave them a quirky touch.

Another thing that grabbed my attention was a 3 D map of the old town which brought to mind the credit images of the mega-popular HBO series Game of Thrones- unsurprising, as Croatia is GoT country.

Incidentally, Zagreb has some interestingly named museums- Museum of broken relationships, Museum of Illusions and incredibly- Museum of Torture! Needless to say- with the kids along, we didn't visit any of these.

Croatia should be called Castelly-Croatia. There are so many castles and forts, that my boys invented a new verb- 'forting'. From our second day till the last, seeing the castles and forts always involved walking and climbing, which resulted in us clocking in a full 58.5 kms in the ten days of our trip, according to my iPhone pedometer. The first few days we climbed gamely and after that the boys felt the need to invent the verb so they could say 'we don't want to go forting anymore '.

Trakoscan castle outside Zagreb was beautifully preserved- with all furnishings and décor intact, to give an idea of the rich lived. Reaching here involved driving past pumpkin patches in the green countryside.

The next stop, Plitvic Lakes/National park was a highly anticipated destination for us. But the enthusiasm palled somewhat when, upon reaching, we found out that there were three different trails- of which the shortest was 5 kms! We took the shortest one but ended up walking 7 kms anyway because of a wrong turn we took. Plitvic is made up of lakes which are interconnected and cascade into each other through waterfalls. The waters are extraordinarily clear and a brilliant turquoise blue. It is a very picturesque place. What is lacking is a diversity of fauna. Hardly any birds and only a few varieties of fish could be seen.

We drove south and the weather kept getting warmer. After a long drive down twisting and turning hilly roads, past a lovely green countryside, we reached the Dalmatian coastal city of Split. This was overrun with tourists and way more expensive than Zagreb.

Split has many beaches- which are pretty enough but lack the loads of lovely, soft, walkable sands which make a beach, a great beach, for me, at least. Dalmatian beaches are either pebbly or have smallish amounts of clayey sand. And they're crowded. But on the positive side, you see women of all shapes and sizes sun bathing in two piece costumes on them- yay for positive body imaging. The water of the Adriatic sea is extraordinarily clean and blue- given the crowds. And the seafood is good, I'm told.

The first fortress we visited in this region was Klis, which has served as the filming location of Mereen- where Dany practises her queening skills.

The temperature was over 30 degrees in Split, which made it that much harder to tramp around Diocletian palace- incredibly well preserved for its age. This was built by a Roman emperor who decided to retire here, in the fourth century AD, instead of his home country. Italy is just across the Adriatic sea, which explains why there is a strong influence of Italian cuisine on Croatia. All the restaurants invariably feature pizza, pasta and risotto on the menu, and they’re good. Stay away from the gelato, though. It is decidedly fake. Diocletian palace is where Dany locked her dragons in the dungeons in GoT when they got naughty.

Do not however think that fortresses is all this region has to offer. You can always cool off by taking boat tours, island hopping and for the adrenalin junkies, there is snorkeling, and diving off cliffs into the sea. There are no corals but you can see fish and other underwater life forms. It would be advisable to wear rubber sandals to avoid getting your feet cut on the sharp pebbles on the island beaches though.

Hvar is an island we drove to from Split, taking ferry part of the way. It's supposed to be the party town of Croatia, and obviously that aspect was completely irrelevant to us, so we left quickly.

After many hours of driving, we finally reached our last destination- Dubrovnik. Interestingly, you have to enter Bosnia and drive through it for fifteen minutes en route to Dubrovnik. Fortunately, no separate visa is required and the passport control at  the border is short and simple.

The highlight of Dubrovnik is the old town, where the majority of the King’s Landing scenes in GoT have been shot. For die hard Game of Thrones fans, the old town is an absolute must -visit, but even if you belong to the minority who has no clue about GoT, the old town will not disappoint you- it is that gorgeous.

The old town deserves to be seen from three vantage points-first is by walking inside in it, secondly from the sea, by entering the harbour by boat and thirdly- from the top of the castle walls. All three views have their own charm. Climbing up the castle walls and circum-ambulating them is arduous but the views from the top make it totally worth it.

Bear in mind, that while you will be able to identify the locations of GoT filming, it will take a bit of work, because there are computer-generated images superimposed on the shots we see on the screen. Best to take a guided tour or do a thorough homework on internet, if the GoT pilgrimage is your chief reason for going.

After this, we drove long and hard along a lovely coastal road back to Zagreb to catch our flight back home. Goodbye Croatia. You were tiring but absolutely worth it.