Off to the Gulf - Dubai Trip Report, Part 1

It is shortly before 4 PM, somewhere in the Irish midlands, probably approaching Portlaoise, before I can even get started with this travel blog. My luggage is stowed, my weather blog updated with the latest forecasts, and I’m finally able to relax a bit. I’m finally on my way. This trip to Dubai has been a rather last-minute decision, with me only giving serious thought to it six weeks ago, and finally booking flights and hotel rooms two weeks ago. To be honest, I’m still surprised I got a decent offer for flights and rooms at such a short notice.

Anyway. The plan is as follows: Take the train from Cork to Dublin Heuston, and then take the Airlink from the station to the airport. From there, it’s an overnight flight with Emirates to Dubai, where I’ll stay for three nights. Then, it’s the whole thing in reverse, with an extra stay at a hotel in Dublin. I’ll be arriving in the evening, and I don’t think I’ll be in the mood for a three hour coach trip from Dublin to Cork straight after a seven hour flight.

As for the train ride, well, so far everything is on track as far as that is concerned. Boarding the train was a breeze at Cork, and while the trackbed leaves something to be desired, it has been comfortable enough. I had a quick bite to eat, the last food before clearing security at Dublin Airport probably. Oh, and I’ve made the mistake of ordering the coffee that Irish Rail offers their first class passengers. Whew,  I don’t remember it having that many RPMs. Sheesh that stuff is strong. The rest of the train ride is smooth as silk. Well, as much as can be expected, given the quality of the tracks here in Ireland. 

Somethings just have to be done, like the weather forecast for my colleagues. Some "brain food" from Irish Rail certainly helps! 

The train that brought me to Dublin. I like those Mk IV coaches.

In Dublin, the plan is simple. Charge the Leap Card, hop on the Airlink Bus to Dublin Airport. Well, things never seem to go as planned, do they? As I arrive at the ticket barrier, the reader takes my ticket, but does not let me out. Of course, no one from Irish Rail is anywhere nearby. Finally, after about ten minutes, I find someone to let me out after showing them my email ticket confirmation. I quickly top up my Leap Card, and am just about to head out to the bus when I get the next shock. The luggage tag on my suitcase appears to be empty, the slip containing name and address seems to have disappeared. After five minutes of searching that resemble the frantic activity of a one legged man in an ass-kicking contest, it turns out that the tag is okay, just the leather “flap” that covers the address is faulty. 

Then, it’s on to the Airlink. The bus fills up rapidly, unfortunately most of that is in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. Well, it could be worse. At least, there’s no hen or stag parties staggering onto the bus. One thing I do notice however is the fact that the concept of trolleys does not appear to resonate with many travellers. More than one person places their trolley wheels down into the luggage racks, with predictable results. The suitcases roll around like pinballs before finally toppling over, all watched in rapt fascination by passengers who seem to have frozen in place due to synaptic/intellectual overload by the spectacle. Once we arrive at the airport, it’s time for me to play human bowling ball. Most of the passengers on the bus hold boarding passes of Ryanair, Wizzair, and other low cost airlines. Typical Terminal 1 passengers, like I used to be. However, I need to get out at Terminal 2, as that is where Emirates Airlines operate their flights, and there’s about a dozen or so passengers between me and the exit. None of them show any inclination to move, even after multiple requests to do so, so it’s down to sheer brute force. 

Terminal 2 in Dublin, while certainly modern...

Turns out to be rather featureless on the outside ;) 

Emirates Check-In in Dublin. Luckily, I was able to skip to the front of that queue

I’ve never used Terminal 2, the hypermodern home of Aer Lingus at Dublin Airport, before. The terminal layout is “unqiue” to say the least, but more on that later. The Emirates counters are at the opposite end of the building. My heart initially sinks when I see the queue in front of the counter, but then I notice something. Everybody is queuing for the actual check-in. Well, I checked in online the night before, and I’ve already got my boarding pass on my iPhone, thanks to Passbook/Wallet. So, I just open up the app, and skip ahead of the queue to the luggage drop off, where only two people are ahead of me. Just three minutes later, my suitcase is sorted, my carry-on luggage is tagged, and I’m on my way to the security checkpoint. For whatever reason, that is located on Level 3 of the terminal, right underneath the roof, so it’s up a series of escalators to get there. I don’t know what the hell the architects were thinking when they designed this, and to be honest, I’m not sure I want to know. Anyway, my flight is the last one to depart from Terminal 2 for the night so, security is a breeze, especially given the good natured staff. I do however have to turn down their generous offer to remove my arm, so that my watch fits under the boarding pass scanner. The iPhone is scanned instead. 

Looking down onto the Check-In level from the Arrivals level.

And looking up to Departures. Who the hell decided that this layout was a good idea?

One last look at the landside eateries. I really should have dropped in there.

Once past security, Terminal 2 resembles a ghost town. Three food joints and the stores are still open, but not much is happening. I drop into the Slaney for a burger and a pint. I should have checked their reviews online beforehand. Totally overpriced, and the burgers are bland and tasteless. The crew of the Linen Weaver here in Cork do a better job on a bad day, and that’s saying something. Anyway, after that, it’s off to the DAA lounge to charge my notebook and my phone again before the flight. The lounge looks nice enough, but half of the power plugs don’t work. I finally find one to get the battery of my MacBook back up to 90%. At least the drinks are okay, and the brownies are positively addictive. The good thing is that the lounge actually has a good view of the ramp in front of Terminal 2, especially stand 400C, which is mostly utilised by Emirates. And, lo and behold, I can actually see my aircraft taxi in. Jesus, that thing is BIG. In fact, the Boeing 777-300ER used by Emirates is the largest aircraft to use Dublin on a regular basis. The turnaround takes significantly longer as a result. About 30 minutes before boarding, I make my way to the gate. Once again, the “ghost town” feeling is palpable within Terminal 2. The last arrivals have just come in, and our flight is the last one to leave the terminal. A few passengers are paged repeatedly, but they don’t seem to show up. Eventually, boarding starts, and I make my way onto the aircraft through the rear of the two jetways, with the front one being reserved for first and business class passengers.

Quite a nice lounge, if only the power points were working. 

Gate 410 appears to be the standard gate for Emirates departures.

Terminal 2 sure is a ghost town at this late hour.

Once aboard, I make my way all the way back to row 44, where I have my seat, 44A. Leg space is manageable, however the seats are a bit too narrow for my taste, not to mention my size. What’s more, the flight is pretty full, and it appears as if all seats in my row will be filled. Thankfully, the passenger next to me finds an empty seat to move to. The Aircraft, A6-ECR, is a Boeing 777-300ER, built in 2009, and bearing the Manufacturers Serial Number 35592. The 794th 777 to leave the assembly line, it was delivered straight to Emirates Airlines. it is configured in a three-class configuration, with Emirates “suites” available for first class passengers. Alas, my own seat was less luxurious, although the inflight entertainment system ICE definitely goes a long way to fixing that. Amenities are a bit basic, consisting of headphones, a pillow, and a blanket. 

I quickly chuck my backpack into the overhead bin, and fold myself into my seat, stuffing my own headphones into the seat back pocket. A few seconds later, I find the headphone jack, its in the armrest on this aircraft, and let out a few heartfelt but silent curses. They’re off the two-prong variety, so I need an aircraft adapter to use my Beoplay H8, and guess where that one is? No, you won’t get any brownie points for guessing correctly. The Emirates headphones turn out to be okay-ish. Not much trace of the noise isolation the press releases talked about when these things were announced about a year ago, but at least your ears aren’t bleeding after using them. Yes, American Airlines, I’m talking to YOU!

And there she is, my ride to Dubai.

A quick shot during boarding. I had really forgotten just how large a Boeing 777 can be!

Boarding is completed relatively quickly, given that this is a 400-seater. Refreshment wipes are handed out during pushback, and boy do they feel good after all the hubbub of boarding. By this time, I’ve already switched to the Airshow on the ICE system, more specifically to the front-facing camera. Nothing quite like getting a pilot’s eye view of the action! This is rudely interrupted by the safety briefing video, first in Arabic, and then in English. As usual, I follow that one quite closely. So should you, by the way. They aren’t just doing these for fun, you know. As soon as that is finished, the crew up on the flight deck start up the engine. Let me tell ya, there’s nothing quite like the sound of a GE90 engine revving up. There’s a raw power behind it that you just don’t get on an Airbus A320 or an Embraer. I spend the taxi out to Runway 10 browsing through the massive music collection of the ICE system, not really helped by a rather reticent touchscreen.

Taxiing out to Runway 10 in Dublin.

I really love the mood lighting on this aircraft! 

Speaking of mood lighting, there's this spiderweb of lights somewhere over the UK.

Dinner is coming!

Take-off is powerful, to say the least. Once again, the sound of the GE90 engines rattles you to the bone. Yet, even with all this power, the aircraft is strangely reluctant to part company with terra firma, the takeoff run is much longer than anything I experienced before. Finally, the nose comes up, and we shoot off into the pitch black, surely rattling more than just a few windows in the Malahide area. Climbout is par for the course, as we make our way out over the Irish Sea. The skies are clear way past Manchester, and I am mesmerised by that tenuous but ever present web of streetlights, those filaments of civilisation seemingly stretching into every corner of the land. By the time we reach the North Sea, cloud has spread underneath us, and the crew has begun passing out the menus for the inflight meal. Apart from a standardised starter and dessert, the choice is between chicken in a mushroom sauce with season’s vegetables and gnocchi and a lamb curry. My choice is clear, and turns out to be just the right one. That chicken is delicious, cooked to the point and tasty. I mean “Apple Hollyhill 4 Cafeteria on a good day” kind of tasty! The rest of the meal is great as well, from the starter, to the cheese and crackers to finish it off. All this is helped with a copious amount of drinks. However, the ICE system is much less of a success for me on this flight. The audio selection is impressive, but seems to channel Bruce Springsteen, in the sense of “57 channels and nothing on”. Thankfully, there’s a USB port to charge my iPhone, so I switch to that, and can finally get back to my beloved H8s. Only in this environment do these show just how good the noise cancelling on these headphones actually is. The roar of the engines is reduced to a mere whisper. With nothing but darkness surrounding our plane, and the cabin lighting for a night flight, I try to catch some sleep, as I’m planning to make the most of my time on the ground in Dubai.

Sorry for the blurry picture, but this is the seatback display on  the three-class 777-300ERs in the Emirates fleet. The headphone jack is in the armrest, which can be a bit awkward. That USB port was really worth its weight in gold, though.

Yeah, well you know how it is with the best-laid plans and so on. I toss and turn while we cross into Southeastern Europe and cross the Black Sea. By the time we cross into Turkish Airspace, I have given up on trying to sleep, and just try to relax as much as possible. Suddenly, I notice something outside. A thin red line stretching along the horizon, with very, very, faint hues of blue above them. The first harbinger of dawn, racing towards us in its ceaseless race around the planet. I quickly get my iPhone camera ready. I’ve already slept through sunrise above the clouds once, and I have no intention of repeating that mistake. When the sun finally catches up with us, it is over the mountains of Kurdistan, in western Iran. As the first wisps of coffee begin to drift through the cabin, I am mesmerised by the rugged peaks jutting out from a dense haze, the look seemingly belying the rugged, parched land below. This landscape, which is about to be blasted by a merciless sun as it has been for millennia, has given birth to a civilization which stood for over a millennium, and a nation that has endured for centuries. Individual humans, with their delusions of grandeur, seem tiny and inconsequential in the face of this rugged, wild country.

Sunrise over western Iran.

Morning mood.

My musings are interrupted by the breakfast trolley making its way down the aisle. The breakfast itself seems small, a danish pastry, and a fruit salad, but then again, that’s all I need at the moment. Especially when it’s accompanied by coffee and orange juice. While I sit back and enjoy my breakfast, the rugged landscape below me keeps rolling by, and for the first time, I realise where I actually am. Somewhere off our right wingtip is the Persian Gulf, or Arabian Gulf, as the preferred nomenclature is along its southern shores, where US and Iranian warships regularly get too close for comfort, while the country we passed on our right just before sunrise was Iraq, torn apart by strife and a war so brutal that none of us westerners can even begin to understand. It really drives home just how small this region is. 

No sooner do we cross the Iranian coast near Kish Island than we begin our descent into Dubai. It takes just a paltry 25 minutes to cross the Gulf, and we’re not even crossing it at a particularly narrow spot. It really makes you wonder just how the Americans can send one of their prized aircraft carriers into such a narrow body of water on a regular basis. My flight makes landfall close to the border between Dubai and Sharjah, one of Dubais smaller and more conservative neighbours. 

That's Sharjah down there, a little sister of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. 

Okay, who's been playing Cities: Skylines down there?

Anyone order des(s)ert?

One of the small desert towns of Dubai Emirate, Al Awir is base for a number of desert excursion companies. Oh, those tarmac lines on the left hand side of the image are a private airfield.

One thing is clear, even with all the heat haze obscuring the scenery even at this early time of the day: Forget all that you thought you knew about cities and urban development. This country makes its own rules. Seriously. The roads rarely follow geographical features, except maybe the occasional wadi. Instead, they look like they’ve been dragged and dropped onto the desert ground with a mouse pointer. Seriously, even the more scaled down emirate of Sharjah looks like it was designed in Cities Skylines. And let me tell you, those guys have some serious issues with object repetition, given how many buildings look basically the same. As our aircraft flies one final turn onto Runway 30L at Dubai International Airport, I catch sight of houses, roads and even the sparse tree cover petering out into a seemingly endless sea of sand that merges with the haze into a featureless murk. You wanted desert, Thomas? Well there it is!

Some serious building repetition issues here...

Suburbia...

...Dubai style!

Final approach into Dubai is a bit bumpy, but otherwise fine. For the last few minutes of the flight, we make our way over seemingly endless uniform housing complexes and “suburbs”, only the odd mosque breaks the monotony. As we cross yet another highway, low enough for us to drive the rest of the way to the airport, a series of large, low warehouses makes way for one huge hangar complex. Seconds later, we touch down and begin our lengthy landing run. I honestly don’t remember whether our pilot ever even applied reverse thrust, or just used the wheel brakes, anyway. We take what seems like one of the last taxiways off the active runway, and taxi back towards our assigned stand A7 at Terminal 3, Concourse A. We arrive there ahead of schedule, so far ahead in fact, that our ground handling crew wasn’t even expecting us. It takes a while to get the jetways into position so we can disembark. 

Welcome to Dubai!

I have on occasion complained about long walks from the aircraft to the baggage claim areas, especially at Frankfurt Airport, which is prone to this. However, that is nothing compared to Dubai Terminal 3. After disembarking, you first make your way to a bank of elevators to take you down to the transfer level. Every one of those elevators is as large as my apartment, and there are 4 of those next to each other. Then, its down three levels to the transfer level, which is underground. Here, a transfer train will take you from Concourse A to the central part of Terminal 3. That ride takes 2-3 minutes. There, you are first directed to a maze of immigration counters to have your visas either checked or granted. In my case, my “visa” consisted of a stamp in my passport. It’s been a while since I had one of those, the last one was back during my trip to New York in my old passport. Then, it’s on to the baggage claim area. This is big, and I mean BIG! What seems like dozens of baggage belts in a large hall that appears to be at least 20 meters high. Seriously, it’s big. With such a huge facility, you might expect me to spend much of my short hop to Dubai just waiting for my bag. Not here, though. Within 15 minutes of clearing immigration, I’m out of the baggage claim area with my suitcase, and in the arrivals hall. I’ve arrived in Dubai.

Arrivals Hall, Terminal 3, Dubai International Airport. It's even more massive in real life!
By DearEdward from New York, NY, USA (Arrivals hall in DXB Terminal 3) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Part 2 is right this way...