In a place of superlatives - highest, biggest, priciest - why settle for simple pleasures? Dubai has long been seen as a fun-loving, unabashedly ambitious city, often overshadowing the UAE's more seriousminded capital of Abu Dhabi. It's a place where you can swim above clouds in 360-degree infinity pools or quaff cocktails in billowing beach cabanas, and it's this 'City of Gold' most travellers come for. A winter sun utopia, it dazzles with opulence and novelty, from the soaring architecture and dancing fountains of Downtown to Jumeirah's luxury hotels and the Marina's million-pound yachts.
It may seem like it all rose fully formed, mirage-like, from the surrounding dunes; indeed, it only took a generation for this improbable desert metropolis to spring from the ground after the 1960s a feat fuelled by new oil-funded wealth. But the city's roots stretch deeper, and to far humbler beginnings.
Sipping chai from a street vendor's vat and inhaling spices in a warren of souks: these are the joys of 'Old Dubai', in its northernmost reaches. In the 16th century, this once impoverished port became a pearl-trading hub and attracted a global diaspora around its Creek, a natural harbour splicing the disticts of Deira and Bur Dubai. Merchants from across the Middle East and beyond brought recipes and traditions to this medley of markets and mosques. Today, the scent of slow-roasted lamb still wafts from Afghani restaurants, sewing machines thrum in Pakistani tailor shops and heaps of Omani frankincense are swapped for a few dirhams - the deal sealed with a shukran, the Arabic for 'thank you'.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2024 من National Geographic Traveller (UK).
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2024 من National Geographic Traveller (UK).
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
HOW I GOT THE SHOT
PHOTOGRAPHER MATT DUTILE ON SNAPPING THE FROZEN CONTINENT'S CHARISMATIC WILDLIFE FOR OUR MAY ISSUE
THE EVOLVING GAP YEAR
FROM ENHANCING A CV TO BENEFITTING A LOCAL COMMUNITY OR TRAVELLING WITH PURPOSE, THE MOTIVES FOR STUDENTS TO TAKE A GAP YEAR ARE INCREASINGLY NUANCED.
VALLETTA
In Malta’s harbour-framed capital, a rich and evolving art scene unfolds among honeyed baroque facades, echoing the global influences that have shaped the city over the centuries
A timeless city
Wander through artistic alleyways and along modern beachfronts in South Korea’s second city — a place where tradition and innovationgo hand in hand.
SANDS OF TIME
COVERING AROUND 800,000 SQUARE MILES, ALGERIA'S SHARE OF THE SAHARA TAKES UP OVER 80% OF THE COUNTRY - THE VOLCANIC PEAKS, CANYONS AND VAST SAND SEAS FORM A STRIKING BACKDROP TO OASIS CITIES AND UNIQUE NORTH AFRICAN CULTURES
Sumitra Acharya
THE HIMALAYAN TREKKING LEADER IS PART OF A NEW GENERATION OF NEPALESE WOMEN CLAIMING THEIR SPACE AMID SOME OF THE WORLD'S HIGHEST PEAKS
WHERE TO STAY ADELAIDE
A clutch of new design-led hotels pays tribute to the South Australian capital's landmarks
MUMBAI
Inventive chefs are sharing their stories through food in India's ever-evolving west coast metropolis, but the city's appetite for street food, thalis and Parsi dishes remains a comforting constant
FLINTSHIRE
Visit this North Wales county to sleep on a former prime minister's country estate, hike mountains and go foraging or wild swimming
Scandi cool
EXPLORE THE NORWEGIAN COASTLINE’S NEW OPENINGS AND CULTURAL EVENTS UNDER THIS SUMMER'S MIDNIGHT SUN