A safari through Dubai

The 'City of Luxury' they call it, and truly so. Although the city has been hyped up by movie industries all over the world for its extravagant lifestyle, it still hasn't lost its old world charm.

My trip to Dubai was a last minute plan. Desperately wanting to get out of my very monotonous routine, I decided to go on a solo trip to Dubai.  This was my first international trip and it's a wonder that my parents let me travel all alone. But, I guess since my uncle and aunt reside there, my parents took comfort in that.

I departed from Bengaluru to Chennai and from Chennai I got on a flight to Sharjah. I decided to take this route as I wanted to ensure that this trip was as inexpensive as possible.

My plan was to stay in the Emirates for 10-12 days, and I intended to meet as many new people as possible, I wanted to be know their stories and be a part of new experiences.

Since I didn't want to make a huge dent in my bank account, I decided not to spend a lot of time and money on activities like visiting the Ferrari World or going to highest floor in Burj Khalifa.

Instead I wanted to travel and get to know the city. I mainly wanted to visit the old side of Dubai like Bur Dubai and The Creek, so for the first few days that is exactly what I did.

For someone like me who is into artistic and aesthetic surroundings, the older part of Dubai is the place to be. I absolutely fell in love with this area, the atmosphere was so different when compared to the rest of Dubai.

The next place on my list was the Gold Souk solely because after all that I had heard about the place, I really needed to see it for myself; and let me tell you I still haven't recovered from the amount of gold I saw that day.  I also visited the Spice Souk which ended up being one of my favourite places. The most incredible spices there excited the baker in me.

Taking a break from my solo adventures, the next day, I decided to take a trip down to the Global Village with my aunt and uncle. This as also became one of my favourite places.  Visiting the Global Village is like going on a trip around the world in the span of a day.

I also took a single ticket for a desert safari and ended up becoming friends with a group of Korean youngsters. At the end of the desert safari, I had become such good friends with one of the girls from the group called Char that it felt like we had known each other forever.

If you are is planning to make a solo trip to UAE anytime soon, I would recommend that your travel plans are done properly.  Travelling to any of the Emirates alone, especially if you're a young woman is extremely difficult, the security is bound to give you some trouble throughout the immigration process.

But irrespective of all this, this has still been one of my best trips ever.  From the old school charm of the various Emirates to the buzzing nightlife of Dubai, it has been one great experience.

As told to Asra Mavad