There are different ways to look at Dubai. Some say it’s a ‘fake city’ because it doesn’t have any historical sites (but it actually does!), some say that all these futuristic buildings are being constructed to attract wealthy tourists (after all, oil will run out sooner or later), while others say that ordinary mortals simply have nothing to do there with their modest salaries.
Opinions vary, opportunities vary, but everyone’s choices vary too)) Some people are willing to spend $100 on dinner for one person at the Atlantis the Palm hotel, for example, while others would choose to ‘just look around’ for the same $100)) I consider myself to be in the second category))
They sent me an e-ticket with the time and flight route and wrote that the flights depart from the police academy helipad and that I must bring my passport with me. That was all the information I had.
I don’t take taxis in Dubai) I found the metro station closest to the police academy — Mall of the Emirates (red line) — and showed the locals a photo of the academy on my phone when I got out of the metro. They showed me which way to go — it was about a 10-15 minute walk from the metro, almost in the shade.
I was right next to this metro station and decided to find out the way first to get an idea of the time and place, because I was very afraid of miscalculating the time. But when I approached the entrance to the Academy, the attendant immediately called me over and put me in a minibus that runs back and forth with other ‘helicopter tourists’ like me and told me not to pay attention to the time on my ticket. Well, if that’s the case… even better — I won’t have to come here twice. There were about five other people in the minibus, and we drove for about six or seven minutes through the beautiful grounds of the Academy to the right place.
The waiting room turned out to be surprisingly decent)) Of course, I wasn’t expecting anything, but I liked everything — strong air conditioning, coolers with free drinking water (some people even filled their bottles, and they weren’t my compatriots)), lots of rows of comfortable chairs.
They asked for my passport (you must have your passport with you!), filled out some forms and asked me to step on the scales)) These scales are to the left of the table. They weigh everyone. I only realised later why) To distribute the weight of the tourists evenly in the helicopter and prevent it from being overweight.
After all this, I waited for about 10 minutes, and then me and a few other people were invited into a room to watch a safety instruction film (no cameras allowed, but phones were OK).
After that, everyone’s extra belongings were taken to storage lockers, and we were each given a yellow life jacket to wear around our waists. We were then escorted to the airfield. I saw three helicopters there that day, two of which were taking tourists up for flights.
I was overjoyed and beamed like the northern lights because (as it turned out) my weight was close to that of a short, slim pilot, and I was seated next to him! The glass right in front of me offered a full view! Three girls were seated behind me, and we were all given headphones because during the flight, the pilot gave a brief description of the objects we were flying over.
Very gently, in a matter of seconds and almost imperceptibly, the helicopter rose to the required altitude.
I didn’t listen to the pilot at all, I couldn’t get the right shot because I wanted to see the city with my own eyes, not through my phone camera, and I turned my head so much I risked breaking my neck)) No one was scared at all — there were no screams or squeals from the back)) It wasn’t scary, it was incredibly interesting))
As you can see, the city is mostly low-rise and these low-rise buildings are all sand-coloured. There are only high-rise buildings in one place (there are also towers in Dubai Marina, but they weren’t visible from the helicopter))
We didn’t fly directly over the ‘palms’ (artificial islands), we only touched the ‘view from above’ on one side, but I would have liked to see more))
A minibus was already waiting on the street and took the ‘helicopter tourists’ back to the Academy gates)) I had a great adventure, incredible views opened up before my eyes during those 12 minutes, and I will probably remember the most vivid impressions for many, many years to come)) I definitely recommend it! And there is some truth in what the wise man said: ‘Don’t skimp on something that may never happen again’)) All the best to everyone!!
