Arabian Nights
A desert stopover in the UAE takes this family back in time to the world of Scheherazade…
Long haul flights from Australia to Europe are grueling, particularly so when you have kids in tow. So on a recent flight from Sydney to Milan, my family and I decided to take advantage of our airline’s stopover in the Middle Eastern wonderland that is Dubai.
I’d heard all the stories of Dubai being an adult Disneyworld or Las Vegas (minus the casinos). However, what we were after was not the glitz and glamour of the mega shopping malls, indoor theme parks and pumping night life, but a couple of days of R and R, before the next leg of our flight. We therefore decided to skip the metropolis all together and opt instead for a low key resort in the desert, far away from all the bustle and bling of the big city.
On the flight to Dubai, I peruse the in-flight magazine and glance at the glossy photos of the indoor ski park, the artificial islands with marine parks and a futuristic metro that zips around the audacious skyscrapers like something out of ‘Blade Runner’ and think of how much our two daughters (aged 7 and 11) would love it. So I surreptitiously hide the magazine and talk to them instead about Arabic fairy tales – Aladdin and his magic carpet and Scheherazade and ‘1001 Arabian Nights’.
After disembarking and hiring our taxi bound for Bab Al Shams desert resort, any mid flight misgivings I had soon fade as we see Dubai in the distance, with its audacious cluster of skyscrapers, dominated by the famed ‘Burj Khalifa’ tower. I feel relieved we are not heading down the yellow brick road to the famed Emerald City. Instead we take the road less travelled into the sandy wilderness Slowly the landscape changes from skyscrapers to residential suburbs to barren sand lots. I feel a thrill of excitement as we venture further and further into the vast empty desert beyond. After a 50 minute drive we see our hotel – a beautiful terracotta oasis surrounded by date palms gently nestled in the desert.
Immediately we are entranced. The Bab Al Shams resort is designed to resemble an ancient Arabic fort and village built in and around an oasis. The scene is not far removed from the Arabic folktales that I had been weaving to my children.
Upon arrival, this tired, dry and dusty quartet are immediately greeted with cool drinks, mint tea and the most succulent dates I have ever tasted. The interiors are dark and cool with deep brown wooden fixtures and natural stone floors and the air is filled with musky scent of incense. The lobby and lounge nearby are adorned with Moroccan lamps, rich Persian carpets and scattered with intricately patterned Bedouin pillows creating a warm, relaxed and inviting ambience.
After checking in, the trick was finding our way to our rooms. The hotel is a complex of sixteen double storey buildings, each connected by a maze of shaded pathways, stone allays and secluded courtyards, delightfully picturesque but easy to get lost in. After several requests for directions, we finally came across our room, decorated with similar rustic interiors but with all the mod cons required for the contemporary traveller. The surprise was opening out the doors to a small quaint verandah with uninterrupted views of the desert beyond. This 360 degree vista of the endless undulating sand hills was so alluring, I could have sat out there all afternoon drinking mint tea.
But two whining children and a large infinity pool beckoned. The three pool areas were a wonder in themselves, vast in size and dotted with giant terracotta urns and shaded canopies to provide protection from the relentless sun. Overlooking the desert, it also featured cabanas for open air massages and siestas. Children could drop into the Sinbad kids club if they wanted more entertainment, but our two were more than happy to while away the hours engaging in water play. Wandering through nearby courtyards to escape from the heat, I find a myriad of tranquil courtyards with cool trickling fountains, luring you to sit and rest.
Bab Al Shams, which translates as ‘Gateway to the Sun’, was built in 2004 but underwent an upgrade in 2013. The secluded retreat was awarded the World’s Leading Desert Resort in the 2014 World Travel Awards. Now run by the international hotel group Meydan Hotels, it still possesses none of the generic feel of being part of a hotel chain.
The resort offers a whole range of activities for the energetic – including camel rides and horse riding in the desert, archery, falconry and dune buggy rides. These are best done well away from the scorching heat of the midday sun. In fact, the best times of day to explore the resort and its environs are early morning and dusk. Known for its sublime sunsets, we decide to embark on a short camel ride before dinner and are amply rewarded by the spectacular sight of the hot orange sun sinking into a sea of dunes. The snaps we took show our children shrieking with joy atop these elegant grumpy creatures, the only sign of their proximity to the resort being the wet swimsuits they were still wearing. We watched a young Bedouin man show off his skills in falconry, before a quick pit stop back at our room to shower and change for dinner.
The hotel offers a plethora of restaurants – from rooftop al fresco eating, lounging among the cushions to view the sunset and listen to the calming music of the Oud player, to intimate formal dining offering international, Indian and Italian cuisine.
Continuing our quest for the full Arabic experience, we choose the Al Hadheerhah Desert restaurant. Set amidst the sand dunes, we are treated to a feast of tastes and smells. The air is filled with mouth-watering aromas of the open cooking spits and wood fired ovens and we’re surrounded by sumptuous buffets of fruit, nuts, spices and Arabic delicacies. Once our bellies were sated, the entertainment commenced around glowing bonfires and a frenzy of belly dancers and whirling dervishes appeared. This all proved too much for our young one, who promptly fell asleep amongst all the noise and action.
Probably the highlight for me was waking at dawn the next day to the complete silence of the desert, apart from the gentle twittering of a few sparrows in the distance letting us know that the sun was up.
Sadly, it soon felt like our mini Oasis vacation was over before it began. We didn’t get to sample any more of the activities on offer or try out the award winning Satori spa, with its indulgent array of face and body treatments. Two days could have easily extended into a week. Yes, we know the Arabic theme is largely contrived for us tourists but the effect was intoxicating nevertheless. It provided our children with a memorable and magical experience. It also gave these jet lagged travellers a much needed 48 hours to replenish our energies for the last leg of our trip (armed with some ace camel shots for the photo album).
By Victoria Hynes
