Yoga and life in the UAE — Sara Pikkarainen Yoga

To escape the long winter we did a little 5 day trip to the UAE last March. Here is a short post about our holiday as well as some tips on where to stay, eat and practice Yoga. Hope you find it helpful!

5 days in the UAE

The UAE is a very interesting place to visit, however, I feel like it’s one of those places in which one would greatly benefit from having a local guide, at least if your goal is to really explore and experience more than what’s on the surface. I was travelling with my husband but we were lucky to also have one of our Dubai based friends showing us around. During our trip we got to see 4 of the 7 emirates: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman.

We stayed at The Conrad in the Dubai Business District and we were really happy with that choice. The Business District is a bit far from the Marina, The Palm and the other more touristic areas but it is close to the Jumeira 1 district which, at least at the time of our visit, was a more up and coming neighbourhood. We chose this area because it was cheaper to stay there and in general, we prefer to avoid the tourist crowded spots so this worked for us perfectly!

In Dubai we did check out all the basics: The Burj Khalifa, The Mall, The Marina and we spent one very fun day at the Atlantis Water Park.

Instead of just staying in Dubai for the whole time, we decided to take day trips to the other emirates. We rented a car and we made a 2h road trip to the White Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which was totally worth it. We visited a local village in Sharjah where we saw the huge housing area that was built for the immigrants who work in construction and hospitality in Dubai. We also went to the city of Ajman which has a completely different vibe than Dubai or Abu Dhabi. However, our favourite day trip was to the desert with Platinum Heritage Safari. We took a camel tour that ended up in a beautiful camp where we learned about the bedouins, smoked shisha, drank camel milk and ate dates. That was an unforgettable experience!

Yoga:

Since we stayed in Dubai only for a couple of days I didn’t have that much time to check out the local Yoga scene. But here are some places I was able to visit:

Urban Yoga - The environment is very NYC meets Dubai. The industrial style studio is high up in a skyscraper. I really enjoyed taking classes here, the teachers were great and the receptionist was super helpful. The studio entrance can be a bit difficult to locate so make sure to have enough time to get there.

Life-n-one Yoga - A more hippie spot. They have lots of Kundalini on the schedule but also other styles such as hatha and Vinyasa. They also have an onsite concept store and a good plant based gluten free cafe which is always a plus!

Restaurants and cafes:

Comptoir 102 - This one is one of my favourite cafes in the whole world! It is just so pretty, the food is great and there is also a shop that sells amazing decorative items, furniture, clothes and accessories. This place is a must visit!

Wild & The Moon - Good Vegan spot.

Tom & Serg - Hipster vibes, good food.

What to pack:

Sunglasses

Sunscreen

Swimwear

Light layers to cover up the body (I just carried a large scarf with me everywhere I went)

Warm layers (it gets cold in the night, especially on the desert)

Many restaurants have a dress code (like no sandals or sneakers, long trousers for guys) so be prepared if you want to eat in a specific place

Before going to the UAE I wasn’t really sure about which clothes to bring and how much I needed to cover my body. So if you are thinking about the same here are some loose guidelines: In Dubai some tourists seem to wear almost whatever, short shorts and tank tops etc. In the other emirates I didn’t see that many other tourists. To be respectful of local customs I would try to cover the shoulders and/or the knees.