STA party in the UAE - Dubai

I was lucky enough to be eligible for the first STA Travel world wide awards weekend, which we were told of earlier on in the year that the top 30 from each country would be rewarded with, yet destination was unknown at the time. The location chosen was Dubai, I guess one of the most central locations for everyone from all worldwide STA Travel divisions to meet and party!

I said my final goodbyes to the family, met up with the Australian STA staff at the check in for our Emirates flight to Dubai… so long Melbourne. We were firstly shattered with the news that our tickets were non-upgradeable - being travel agents we expect upgrades - but hey, a free flight to Dubai, I wasn’t complaining sitting in cattle class. We were met on arrival by an STA representative and taken to our lush, over the top 5 star hotel – the Atlantis, located on the palm island in Jumeriah beach. This is a man made island that seen from the sky is in the actual shape of a palm tree. True story!

We checked in and after seeing our 2 day itinerary and working out that our free time was pretty much non-existent we decided to quickly head to the on-site water park for some waterslide joy, than spruce up for the actual awards dinner where we were taken to a private part of the beach that had been decked out extravagantly for our 5 course meal and awards. First award was awarded to yours truly for selling the most GAP tours in the Asia Pacific region - very unexpected and shocked. The night was ended after hours of dancing on the beach to the tunes of apparently Dubai’s elite DJ’s.

Day 2 – After breakfast, me and a few of the Melbourne crew snuck away to Dubai’s old town to get a real feel and sense of the life outside of the resort. Having been to Dubai a few years ago I remembered this amazing little café I ate at and, miraculously, I remembered how to navigate the taxi driver there. We relaxed in this amazing outdoor café and were treated to some actual local middle eastern style cuisine. I ordered an apple and cinnamon juice and shared a moist date cake with cardamom yoghurt. It was incredible. We decided to keep on with the consumption of food and found this area full of little art galleries and quirky little café’s. Lunch was some of the most amazing hummus I have ever eaten, with pita and the freshest smelling tabouleh ever experienced!

We were than taken out in a convoy of Jeeps to the sand dunes, an hour or so out of Dubai, for some dune bashing! After doing this last time I was in Dubai I thought these guys were a bit tame, yet still a fun experience. As the sun set over the sand dunes we arrived to our desert oasis thanks to STA: a Bedouin camp, complete with Arabian BBQ, belly dancer and even the chance to dress like a true Sheik!

Back to Dubai and ending the night at the hotel’s beach bar for the last drinks with the crew. Said my goodbyes early the next morning with hours left until I was to be reunited with my love at Muscat airport!!