As promised we arrived in Dubai earlier than our scheduled time. What an amazing view it would be as we sailed in if wasn’t for the humidity and sand haze that blanketed the city giving it a ghostly feel. Amazing structures jutting out of the flat horizon, but it is the Burj Khalifa that dominates the skyline, the tallest building in the World…
Burj Al Arab with the Island of the World in front
So you are
left to the peril of negotiating with the greedy taxi drivers. Now I shouldn't tar them all with the same
brush, because on our return trip we had an excellent driver.
Another
port where a ticketing system was used to debark the ship due to a mandatory face to face. Having the morning to kill, we decided to
catch a taxi to the Dubai Mall as Brian wanted to visit the Aquarium, and we
thought it would be good for Carry and Brian to see the Burj Khalifa up close.
Telling the
taxi marshall where we wanted to go and that we wanted to pay with credit card,
he directed us to the next available taxi and suggested the fare would be around
$30USD/ 90 dirhams. As soon as the
driver shrugged off Garry suggestion that we wanted the meter turned on… the alarm
bells should have rung.
All the way
our driver tried to convince us that we should do a tour with him as there is
nothing to see at the mall. Any way when
we arrived he said that would $40 USD … “Oh, I thought” naively…. Went to give him my credit card and he pushed
for cash…. In a momentary lapse of good judgment, I complied. As soon as I walked into the mall… common sense prevailed and I realized I had
been done like a dinner. This was reinforced
on our return journey.
While the boys
visited the aquarium, us girls had a little retail therapy, well as much as our
budget would allow. After meeting with the boys we headed out for a close up of
the Burj.
Finding the
taxi pickup point, the nice gentleman that opened the door for us, did his best
to convince us that we would be better off with a private car that for a
guaranteed 120 dirhams would get us back to the ship… Hmm “but what about these taxi’s” I questioned
still feeling the sting from the morning…”oh Madam they could charge you anything
from 120 – 130 dirhams, the cars are guaranteed”
We took our
chances with the taxi… and well did it pay off, the polite driver got us safely
back to the terminal, for the grand metered cost of 62 dirhams ( about $25
AUSTRALIAN!) and he happily accepted credit card… He is obviously new, he even apologized
he could not chat as his English was not the best.
So if there
is any words of Wisdom that I could impart to you all, it would be, stand your ground,
make sure the meter is turned on before you leave the terminal, don’t let them
intimidate you…
Lovely pictures.
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