Country #48 - United Arab Emirates Day 1

The Mall and Fountain

After a long few days of travel, I’m so excited to be heading to Dubai, United Arab Emirates today! Dubai has been near the top of my travel bucket list for a long time and I’m so excited to have two whole days to explore it. I had a pretty early flight out of Almaty, Kazakhstan and luckily the immigration line took a lot less time this time through. I arrived around 10:00am and immigration and customs in Dubai (DXB) were a breeze. I found the metro easily in my terminal and took it to my hotel, Rove Hotel Trade Centre.

The metro was a very interesting experience because the front two cars are reserved specifically for women and children. I’d never seen this before but it was honestly really nice mainly because we usually had much more space than the guys did! The metro was also really cool in that it runs without a person driving it. I arrived at my metro stop in no time and had a ten-minute walk to my hotel - no big deal, right? Nope. It was so hot. Like, we’re talking 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit. With my luggage and still in warm clothes - it was killer.

I arrived way too out of breath where I was greeted by Maria, Yolisa, and Bohdan. They were all so cool, about my age, and from all over the world! It was great talking to them about my trip for a while when I arrived and then Bohdan helped me with my bags. I cannot thank Rove Hotel Trade Centre enough for an incredible stay - it was absolutely perfect from start to finish in every way! My room was so nice and I loved the aesthetic of the entire hotel. I especially loved the room decor and the floor to ceiling window that looked out over the city! Once in my room, I fell asleep for about an hour and it was much needed to help me get through the day.

After my quick nap, I set out to explore Dubai! Today my goal was to visit Dubai Mall, Dubai Fountain, and Burj Khalifa. I started by taking the metro (in now cooler clothes) to Dubai Mall. The walkway from the metro to the mall itself was over fifteen minutes of an elevated air-conditioned walkway. It seemed like it was never going to end but I wasn’t going to complain thanks to the air conditioning. When I arrived at the mall I found a map and planned out my visit.

I wanted to see all of the main points in the mall (the atriums, waterfall, designer section, the aquarium, etc.) and it would be no easy feat. The walk throughout the whole mall took about two hours and was exhausting. One of the coolest spots was the Apple store (of course) which was the only shop with a huge terrace overlooking the Dubai Fountain and Burj Khalifa. It took me forever to find a place to eat (which seems ironic but it was just because I was tired and therefore unnecessarily picky) but I eventually found an Italian spot with a view of the indoor waterfall.

After eating a much needed full meal I found a really cool spot for dessert - Syrian ice cream! It was so uniquely made (basically it was rolled up and then they put the roll in a cone) and it was so tasty. Who knew! Afterwards, I walked along the designer row which was pretty empty compared to the rest of the mall but really beautiful (in terms of malls). I then made my way outside to see Dubai Fountain! The fountain was designed by the same guy who designed the one at the Bellagio in Vegas and supposedly the fountain is visible from space.

I was absolutely blown away by the first show! It was just so cool - I’ll add a video below to help show just how amazing it was. I loved it and watched multiple times over the next few hours - it got even better once it gets dark outside and the lighting started! It happened every fifteen to thirty minutes and each time it was synched to a different song. It was so cool to see and if you ever visit Dubai it should be at the top of your list!

After watching multiple times I headed back into the mall to make my way up Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world! I had already seen the building tons today as it is situated right outside of Dubai Mall and is a backdrop for Dubai Fountain (and it’s obviously hard to miss) but it was really cool to visit the inside. What amazed me most was probably how fast the elevator was (it took under a minute to get to the top) and how much you can see that Dubai really is in the middle of nowhere (surrounded by water and desert). I also enjoyed learning about how Burj Khalifa was built and how many countries (including many U.S. companies) worked together to make it possible. My absolute favorite part, though, was seeing the fountain show from above! It was so cool to see it from such a unique perspective, especially after having seen it on the ground first.

After visiting Burj Khalifa I was entirely exhausted. I made my way back to the metro and back to the hotel where I promptly crashed. I now know that it is entirely possible to walk over ten miles visiting a mall because that’s what I did today. Totally worth it, though - the mall was nice to see but Dubai Fountain and Burj Khalifa alone have already made my time in Dubai amazing!

48 countries down, 148 to go.

Read about my second day in the United Arab Emirates here.

To learn more about Rove Hotel Trade Centre click here.

Country #47 - Kazakhstan

The Loft

My flight to Kazakhstan was uneventful and I arrived unfortunately too late to actually see any of Almaty.  It was a bummer but honestly I’m just going to keep blaming the flight schedule for Central Asia - it is so poorly set up it is almost comical. I took a taxi from the airport to Saraichik Hotel. It was a weird taxi ride as the driver stopped and picked up another rider along the way to make an extra fare, but I was not a fan of this because whenever you hear of a taxi robbery happening this is how it starts. However, the passenger was a young guy (probably fifteen) and he was dropped off about ten minutes later so it was never uncomfortable.

Thankfully there were no additional passengers the rest of the drive and my taxi driver was very nice even though he was unable to speak English. When I arrived at the hotel I checked into my room which I was very surprised to find had a loft in it. It was a different layout for sure and definitely not what I was expecting in Kazakhstan! I spent the rest of the day (it was about 7:00pm at this point) working on emails and blogs and just resting which was very nice. Amazingly enough I had really great wifi which I definitely wasn’t expecting. It was also pretty entertaining to flip through the TV channels - the only things in English were a few music video channels!

Of all of the Stans I think I am most disappointed to not be able to see more of Kazakhstan. But the good news is that, of all of them, it is the easiest to get to and the one I would be most likely to visit again in the future. I am very glad to be done with Central Asia for now and to be headed to a city that has been at the top of my bucket list for a long time tomorrow: Dubai!

47 countries down, 149 to go.

Country #46 - Uzbekistan

The Immigration Line

When I landed back in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan I had another layover, this time of three hours. Thankfully it was not as painfully long as my first layover here. It was pretty uneventful other than finding some snacks. I had to make one more connection before being done with travel for the night and I was getting painfully tired. Going on just a few hours of airplane sleep this was going to be my fourth flight of the day.

The flight was to Almaty, Kazakhstan which I will be headed back through tomorrow for longer than a layover. I fell asleep instantly and only woke up when the plane landed (which is a pretty startling feeling). I had two hours for this connection. The bus to take us to the airport took quite some time but then immigration was a breeze. I easily checked in my bag but then the real waiting began. The wait to go through immigration on my outbound flight was painfully slow. Like, over an hour of standing.

It was incredibly inefficient. Lines would open and close randomly and I always ended up stuck in the slow line no matter what. By this point, I was delusionally tired (I forgot what country I was in for a solid five minutes). The airport experience got no better when I paid for the most expensive airport food of my life. I literally just bought two bottles of water and a packaged Belgian waffle and it was the equivalent of $14. I feel like there is no need to explain how insane that is. I had no other option though as I forgot to take a protein bar out of my checked bag and I hadn’t eaten a meal all day. Funnily enough (but not so funny after I had just spent $14) they served a small meal on the flight which was much appreciated as I didn’t expect it on such a short flight.

I fell asleep for the remainder of the flight and awoke to the most depressing immigration experience of my entire life. I hope I never again encounter anything like immigration at Tashkent airport - it was madness. There are no lines so you are basically in a giant mess of people trying to work your way up to an immigration booth. There are only a few booths and it seems to take forever, especially when you’re exhausted. It was the absolute last thing that I needed. It took about an hour of being crowded around people to finally have my turn which was very quick. I can’t understand how they don’t have a better system - like literally just a line would save everyone a major headache. And it’s not like this was just a thing for my flight - I had read the horror stories beforehand and they definitely proved to be true.

Luckily I had booked a cab through my hotel so I didn’t have to worry about being scammed and the driver was waiting when I finally made it out. It was a long walk to the car but at that point I didn’t care - I just needed to get to the hotel. I stayed at Hotel Grand Art which was a safe inexpensive place for an overnight stay. I fell asleep almost instantly and am so glad I don’t have a red eye in the morning.

The Guards

I was so glad to be able to sleep last night it’s not even funny. After a whirlwind day and a half of traveling to five countries on very limited sleep, last night was much needed. After a good nights sleep I had a much better day filled with only one flight (thank goodness!). It started by meeting the sweet staff at Hotel Grand Art who wanted to take a picture with me. They called me a taxi and wished me good luck before I headed back to the airport. The thing that I noticed most about Uzbekistan, both last night and today, is the guards positioned outside of every building. It was very strange to see and I’m not quite sure what it’s about even after a Google search. But they were at every building all the way to and from the airport.

Immigration was annoying if only for the fact that my visa was so expensive for no reason. $160 and I had to use it on this exact set of dates (if you’re wondering why I’m suddenly in the Middle East, this is why). Actual immigration at the airport was fine, but I didn’t want to tell the nice lady that no, I wouldn’t be back until $160 gets me more than a one day visa to a country that could probably use any tourism it could get.

The most exciting part of my day (sadly) was finally eating a real meal for the first time in almost forty-eight hours. I had been eating but nothing substantial. I found a grilled chicken sandwich and was so excited for it. The girl at the restaurant was very sweet and helpful! After my meal I boarded my flight to Almaty, Kazakhstan where I would be spending the night.

46 countries down, 150 to go.

Country #45 - Tajikistan

The Running

This might actually be my shortest country visit by air ever (at least I hope so). I landed in Tajikistan with approximately an hour to clear immigration, get my bag, re-check my bag, go through security, and reboard the plane. It was not an easy feat, but somehow I did it! Upon arrival immigration was simple and did not take long. However, waiting for my luggage took a bit longer than I would have liked. Thankfully I was able to use the time to find my witnesses and have my picture taken.

I met a really cool woman from Germany who has traveled to so many countries. It was really cool to talk with her while waiting! Her bag arrived before mine and as she wished me luck I was really starting to worry. If I missed this flight it would cause loads of problems! About five minutes after most of the bags arrived mine finally showed up. I ran through customs, ran (thankfully just) around the corner to recheck my bag. I was obviously very late and the non English speaking gate agent just pointed to his watch. I left my luggage and hoped and prayed that it would make it through.

I had read horror stories about having to pay bribes when going through immigration and security at the Dushanbe airport but, thankfully, they don’t care for a bribe when you are about to miss your plane. So I had no problems whatsoever! As I was the only person going through security it was very quick and I made it to my gate about three minutes before boarding - so in plenty of time! I was amazed that I had made it. It was literally the exact same plane that I had just gotten off of (going to the exact same place I had just come from) so I’m sure that the flight attendants were a bit confused.

The flight back to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan was quick and painless and, the best news of all, my bag somehow made it! It truly was a miracle. It is silly how few flights there are in and out of these countries that make it to where I had to do such a quick turn around. I definitely didn’t enjoy it and only did it as it was my only option. I’m looking forward to not having to run through my next country in under an hour!

45 countries down, 151 to go.

Country #44 - Kyrgyzstan

The Airport

I landed in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on just a few hours of sleep on the flight from Turkey. I had a six-hour layover in Bishkek but thankfully there was something to keep me entertained. The Vanderbilt vs. Kansas State football game was on, and I found wifi at a cafe right after arrivals to eat breakfast and listen to the game (the wifi definitely wasn’t good enough to watch). Actively fist-pumping in the airport I’m sure people thought I was crazy but I was very excited for Vanderbilt to actually win a close game over a ranked team!

After a good start to my morning, it quickly set in how boring the next few hours would be. There was zero to do in the Bishkek airport. Luckily I was able to find wifi again after leaving the cafe. I found someone to take my picture with the airport sign, and I found witnesses who had been on my flight. After wandering around the airport (and the absurd bathroom where a few of the stalls literally just had holes in the ground instead of toilets?) I was finally able to check in for my flight and head to the equally as boring terminal. I was able to work for a little while on the slow wifi and also watched a little Netflix to pass the slow moving time.

I was definitely stressed for my next country because it would be the shortest turnaround time on a flight that I have seen (and hopefully ever will see) due to the horrible lack of flights in the Central Asia (Stans) region. I finally boarded my flight and hoped for the best for both me and my luggage on the super tight transfer to come in Tajikistan.

44 countries down, 152 to go.