Day 17 9 May Delhi to Dubai 

Photo above - me finally on the plane ready to leave India. No other photos today as I have been in a hotel room, in an airport, or on a plane.

Leaving India?

Hopefully, all being well, leaving India today and flying to Dubai. Had a decent part night’s sleep in the airport hotel and a good breakfast so ready for the day.

In the morning, caught up with internet stuff since I had power and an internet connection. At just after 1pm, I said goodbye for a second time, to Michael my travelling companion, and got a cab over to the airport.

United Arab Emirates 

My flight should take off at 5pm. It is a 3.5hr 1370 mile flight to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, landing at 7pm due to the time difference.

United Arab Emirates is situated on the Persian Gulf, sitting opposite Iran and Qatar across the gulf, and bordering Oman to the East, and Saudi Arabia to the south.

Dubai is UAE’s second city after the capital, Abu Dhabi. It covers approximately 5% of the country’s land area, and has a population of about 4 million. Apparently in 2023, it was the third most visited city in the world, due to it’s development as a major global transportation hub.

At Delhi airport 

Arriving at the airport, there was a fair bit of security, but the airport itself was quite quiet. May be with lots of cancelled flights internally, and some people deciding not to fly, might be why. One of the famous monuments here in Delhi was evacuated earlier, and there was an air raid sirens test in Delhi apparently, but I did not hear it in the airport. About 30 minutes has been added to the arrival time in Dubai to allow for a flight route around Pakistan air space.

Flight to Dubai 

Thankfully the plane departed at 5pm as scheduled. It went due south towards Mumbai, then turned right to cross the Arabian Sea to the Middle East, avoiding Pakistan air space. Then we flew over the Gulf of Oman, and into UAE. It landed a bit earlier than the amended time and I got through security with no issues.

Arrival in Dubai

Got picked up by a guy who looked like an Arabian Boris Karloff and he was very nice. Very hot and sultry here. Delhi was hot but not so humid. I arrived in the dark so the drive to the hotel was just a few fleeting impressions, however, they have a lot of very tall buildings here, they like to light those buildings up, everyone has very flashy cars, the driving is less manic than in India, it all seems very clean.

I should have been here two days ago and done some exploring, but as it is, this is a flying overnight visit, as tomorrow I have to fly early to Baku in Azerbaijan!