Around the World in an Afternoon: Global Village Dubai

Vacation hangover was the only thing I could attribute to the miserable state I found myself in days after returning from my vacation in Egypt.

I was, at once, exhausted and restless.

Too exhausted to work in the office by day, and too restless to stay at home at night.

So I jumped at the idea of spending a Thursday after-work afternoon at Global Village, a leisure and entertainment multi-cultural theme park a few miles away from downtown Dubai.

What makes Global Village so interesting is that it only opens from November to April (the closest semblance to winter in the Middle East) and closes for the rest of the year, building up the excitement for the next season.

I have always wanted to go to Global ever since I first got here in mid-November 2015, but somehow the much-anticipated visit kept being pushed back to the next week and the week after that and the week after that until April finally came and temporarily closed down the winter wonderland.

Unlike the newly opened indoor theme parks IMG Worlds of Adventure and Dubai Parks and Resorts, Global Village is easy on the budget (at just AED15.00 per single-entry ticket).

And easily accessible by public transportation (the RTA has 2 bus routes starting from the Union Metro Bus Stop and Al Ghubaiba Bus Station).

Fortunately, one of our officemates had agreed to drive us to the place right after the 1 o’clock Thursday off-duty hour.

Unfortunately, Ana, Bernice, and Marby and I were at least a couple of hours too early for the 4 o’clock Global Village opening time.

We bought our way in from one of the smart machines dispensing tickets hassle-free.

So long as you had the exact amount in your pocket, you could by-pass the long queues that inevitably came with the person-manned ticket booths which, by the way, didn’t open until a few minutes before 4.

At exactly 4 o’clock, the cast and crew of Global Village welcomed us visitors with an enthusiastic greeting.

“Let’s go/Glooobal!” — Their annoying theme song

After scanning our tickets, the place was ours to wander to our heart’s content.

Coincidentally, to wander inside is not an overstatement.

Global Village, as the name implies, is a sprawling open-air “village” with elaborately-built pavilions of countries far and wide.

The pavilions themselves are paradise for the novelty shopper:

Matryoshka dolls from Russia

Colorful cloths from Pakistan 

Organic beauty products from Thailand

3D caricatures from China

And handicrafts and cosmetics from Africa

And even if you’re a little tight on the budget – as was our case when we came in the middle of January – there’s plenty of goods to suit your taste.

Setting my maximum shopping limit to just AED 100.00, I still came happily away with a Fatima’s Hand ear jacket, Little Prince necklace, and a pearl headband for AED 2.00 apiece from the Pakistan pavilion, sweet and spicy tamarind balls from Thailand, and matcha tea and a tulle skirt from China.

My proudest purchase was a Nazar (evil eye amulet) bracelet-and-ring set originally priced at AED45.00 but sold to me at AED30.00, all thanks to the haggling hacks I learned from Adam’s Mama in Egypt.

So yes, you may haggle with the shopkeepers in Global Village, but as a common courtesy, only haggle if you’re actually going to make the purchase.

— Take it from me, I haggled with a Chinese shopkeep for an 80-dirham panda hoodie-and-neck snuggie, brought the price down to 50 dirhams, and then walked away (mostly because I did not have 50 dirhams in my pocket to begin with).

Don’t haggle and walk away.

And don’t piggy back golden lion guardians either!

Some dancers were rehearsing outside the African Pavilion.

While the shopkeepers inside were busy peddling their beaded accessories and wooden carvings.

Ladies were also treated to a free sample of African beauty butter made from organic shea and cocoa —  a favorite natural moisturizer of Emirati women.

By sundown, all the pavilions lit up.

But none more so than the Indian Pavilion with its live musical performances.

And colorfully tempting shop merchandise (I very nearly bought a small Buddha figurine which would have exceeded my budget limit!)

There was a cultural show held outside the Egyptian Pavilion which drew visitors to it.

The exterior was made to look like the Temple of Abu Simbel

While the interior boasted of a giant obelisk “carved” with hieroglyphics.

The shopping scene was straight out of Khan El Khalili, complete with pharaoh miniatures, Cleopatra costumes, and clay pottery.

As early as 7:30 p.m., we were all ready to call it a night.

Despite not having explored the theme park rides (pay as you go starting from AED 20.00) and over 20 pavilions yet.

I think I’m coming back to Global Village especially for those.

If not this year, then perhaps the next.