GLOBAL VILLAGE DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Before jumping in, I just want to say a few words.
First of all this was a totally unplanned trip. I did not intend to visit or make a blog on Global Village of Dubai. But many places in Dubai had always been in my mind for some amazing trip’s and that too not at this point in time. Usually before making a travel blog, I plan a lot, do online researches and collect maximum information about the place that I will be visiting. This time I had done nothing. So kindly excuse me if this blog is short and if i missed something from this trip. I have tried to bring out the best for this blog post based on whatever pictures that I have taken.
But any way let’s cut to the chase.
It All Started Here
It all started with a thursday evening facebook chat with Akhil Prasad (We call him Cindrella)
I usually come a bit early from office to my flat on Thursday evening’s as its weekend here in UAE. In weekends, I cook something special for supper. This time baked salmon with salad was in my menu. Therefore, after finishing cooking, I sat in front of the laptop and logged into Facebook as usual. Many people were online and suddenly Akhil’s message popped up. Akhil is one of my close friends from school and both of our parents know very well each other. We call him “Cindrella”, a nickname that he earned back in school. Recently Akhil launched a web designing Company based in Kollam (Our hometown in Kerala, India). He said that he need to discuss a few things with me regarding his newly launched business and cryptocurrency trading. Akhil invited me to Dubai and we decided to meet up in Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai on the next day.
The Meet up at Ibn Battuta Mall
I left for Dubai from Abu Dhabi early morning via bus. I took my camera also along with me.
When I reached Ibn Battuta Mall, I saw Akhil who was waiting for me there already. He was not alone and was accompanied by his wife, his cousin and two of his other friends. After having a friendly talk, all of us had food from inside a restaurant in the mall. During this time, Akhil gave me a brief idea of his new venture “Aitrex Technologies”.
A quick selfie by Akhil
We started roaming inside the mall and I started clicking pictures.
Akhil then came up with the idea of going to Global Village of Dubai since I had my camera with me. So we headed towards Global Village. I really had no clue what that place was.
Global Village – Dubai
Global Village is a carnival like destination that offers a great deal of entertainment for the visitors with shopping, cultural events, games, dining’s, thrill rides and lots more. It houses 30 different pavilions with each pavilion representing a different country and is designed based on the culture and tradition of that particular country.
Akhil went to the ticket counter to take tickets for all six of us. The Entry ticket for a single person as of now is 15 UAE Dirham (The rate may vary in future).
We walked inside Global Village and I felt as if there was like a big festival or something going on. There were so many people from different countries exploring the place. I saw lot of happy faces, laughter and joy. I mean everyone was enjoying.
We decided to split into two groups and reach back at the same spot near the entrance after two hours. Akhil, Pankaj and me decided to move along together, while the other guy’s (Akhil’s wife, his cousin and Abin – a friend of Akhil) set off to a different part of Global village.
As usual, I started clicking pictures.
In the meantime, Akhil took a selfie with all of us in frame.
The first pavilion we saw on the way was that of Turkey. I decided to move in and take some photos.
Unfortunately, it was very crowded and after a few snaps the security came to me and instructed to move along the crowd as I was blocking the way while taking photos.
I just took snaps of some Turkish plates, pots and other items kept for sale.
I was disappointed as the whole place was crowded and there was no chance of taking a good picture. We noticed that it was the same condition in every pavilion as we walked along. Therefore, I decided to take snaps that seem interesting.
On our way, we saw the pavilion of Egypt.
Pankaj said he would like to be photographed with the pyramids in background. I was really happy to click for him.
We saw pavilions of many other countries aswell.
Inside Pavilion of Russia
Pavilion of America
It was a mouthwatering sight to see grilled corns kept on the food stalls outside the pavilions.
We moved on and the next thing we saw was a group of kids performing live on stage. It is called the “Globo welcome Show”. We stood there and watched the kids dancing. I really loved the show, the kids performed very well.
There are lots of other shows in Global Village like the Monster stunt show (Car and Bike Stunts), the shaolin monks (a demonstration of Chinese martial arts), kids feast (a 21 day celebration at global village completely dedicated to kids), Roman Amphi Theatre Show and much more. Unfortunately, these shows are scheduled at different periods with a month / year. If any one wishes to see a particular show, go to global village official website and check for the events calendar and preplan your visit.
You can check the events calendar here
In the middle of all this chaos, we both were checking on where to go next.
The amusement park and games section was near to us, so walked to that part.
Akhil tried his hand on this ball game and won a small doll (he is good in sports; he was in basketball team back in our school, he also play’s cricket and football very well).
I think regardless of age, everyone love this car ride.
We saw a different kind of ride where the small kids are tied to a stretching type cable and pulled all the way down, then released to give an up and down motion. I really thought that the kid would cry loudly.
But to my surprise he was smiling all the time
We walked further and saw the pavilion of India. All of us were happy to see our home country also being represented in Global Village. However, we did not go inside it due to the huge crowd.
By now, time was around 8:15pm and we sat there for some time (all of us was feeling tired). Pankaj discussed with me on my camera, the Sony A6500. He took few snaps with it earlier and said he really loved the camera. Akhil later got a call from the other gang and we walked back to the spot where we agreed to meet with them. All of us had a great time in global village within a short period (Global village is huge it will take one full day to see all of it, I guess).
If you are having a bad weekend, let’s say due to job tension or whatsoever “Global Village” is the place you should hang out with your friends or family. Any one planning to visit Dubai, do check out Global Village, it is such a great place for relaxation and entertainment.
A special mention to my friend Akhil for bringing me here. Thanks man, I wish all success for you and “Aitrex technologies”.
Author: Aromal Anil