World of the Future at Expo 2020
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You know, sometimes you wake up, go to the shower, dry your head and rejoice at how beautifully the hair has settled down on your head. You call a taxi to the airport. The car has arrived. You take your backpacks, you go into the elevator. The doors close, the lights in the house turn off...
We got out of the elevator, which was stuck for ten seconds, with horrified hair that was so beautiful just a moment ago. Almost broke a very, very, very long-awaited trip. So that I once again sometime before the trip went into the elevator...
And now for the most interesting part: it happened! We visited Expo 2020, for which we have been preparing for many years. We planned a visit to the exhibition a long time ago, when on one of our trips we came across an advertising banner. It was just an idea back then. But the year 2020 was getting closer and one of the aircraft magazines once again came across an article about how in the Emirates a whole mini city is being built specifically for the Expo and about how much money they are investing in it. It was already not only curious to look, but also to live in such a city. We discussed how the exhibition will begin in a year and it will be necessary to fly, but as you know, in 2020, few plans come true for anyone. The exhibition has been postponed.
Tickets to the Emirates are constantly unreasonably expensive, and then a gift of fate happens - Vizeir launches flights to Abu Dhabi, and even at unprecedented prices. Even the Mau low-cost fare was at one time twice as expensive. Let's fly!
But for how many days do you have to fly? The reviews are very different, someone allegedly walked around everything in a day, and someone flew away for a whole month. Wizz offered a multiple of three days or a week. But given the road three days back to back. We took a week. It seems to me that we made a mistake, it was necessary to take it for ten days! And then I'm not sure that we would want to fly away even on the tenth day.
By the way, not only we, but also my parents were burning with the idea to visit the Expo. As a result, after a couple of days they bought tickets for themselves, and they fly off a week earlier than us. Then Wizz optimized the schedule and we had to move the dates, in the end we flew another week before my parents. And now our friends were inspired by the idea and also took tickets for March.
Intrigued? Let's fly! We received negative PCR, which means we can still fly tomorrow. But the worst thing is the test upon arrival, because it can delay the visit to the exhibition for 10 days, and even arrange a complete financial failure. A real test laboratory was set up at the Abu Dhabi airport. And most importantly, everything is prompt and with queues for a maximum of a couple of minutes. We were connected to the Abu Dhabi healthcare system.
While riding the bus to the city center, I received a text message. As it opened, I heard every beat of my heart. The wings of a flying fly made no more than one flap per second, the radioactive decay of isotopes did not emit radiation, and high-speed Japanese trains simply froze. “Bla-bla-bla-Negative-bla-bla-bla”. Phew passed! ! ! Time continued its course a little, but not too fast, since Dasha would receive an SMS at any second. Came in, the text on the preview was cut off right after “Bla-bla-bla”. Open soon! ! ! Well, time has stopped again. Also negative! We're going to the Expo! ! ! The one you dreamed about so much. It's a pity it's three in the morning and you need to sleep in the hotel before you go to Dubai.
Our application with Greenpause turned green and warned that we should pass the next test on the sixth day. Don't care! The main thing is that we will visit the exhibition anyway! To be honest, when we bought tickets, we carefully checked the entry rules and nowhere was there a word about PCR on the sixth day. But then it turned out that Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in terms of quarantine requirements, are two different “countries” with their own conditions.
We found out about the third PCR the day before departure, because on one forum someone got a lot of money because they had to urgently take the test right at the airport. And it was a great happiness that the police allowed to do so. I am very glad that at the time of buying tickets we did not know about the third PCR, since we could not risk it. And so, because of ignorance, they took it and now we will definitely visit the exhibition, regardless of what happens next.
By the way, plan B was that if we have a positive test and we can’t fly, then my parents will just bring me a laptop, since they fly on the same plane on which we should fly to Kyiv.
Morning! We urgently buy tickets for the Expo and book pavilions using the smart queue system, which will give us the opportunity to visit the pavilions without a queue at the specified time. Now let's hide a bottle with a hundred hryvnias for our parents and go. Those with Expo tickets can take a free shuttle bus from Abu Dhabi directly to the Expo. Moreover, the Expo employee is present at the exit of the Abu Dhabi airport and tells all this. We go. “Bunny, do you believe that we are going to that very exhibition? It happened! ”
Everything that we had previously experienced in the form of surprises and wow effects literally faded from what was the first effect of entering the exhibition area. This is a place where a robot can go about its business, a person passes to a meeting, not paying any attention to the robot, and all this happens to the classical music on the piano, which soars in the air and is played by a pianist. No, this is not an exaggeration, it really happened to us.
Mom and dad will probably have their first vivid memories when they just entered, my mother spoke to me via viber, and a robot drove up behind her to get to know each other. Expo is an ideal city without flaws. It is 15 minutes long brisk walk. There are five districts and even streets. Here, each country tries to show itself as the best, respectively, each building is a real work of art. There are countries that did not build their own buildings, but settled in pavilions that were located in buildings common to several countries. They were in the back of the streets. But the pavilions themselves are only part of the experience.
The second part is the official shows, there are hundreds of them for every taste, and every day there are unique ones that take place at the exhibition only once and if you miss it, you will never see it again. For example, in today's schedule alone, at least four will be unique. Most events start after 4:00 pm. In parallel, two or three different shows are going on in different parts of the Expo. But you still need to somehow manage to get to the pavilions, and even such a trifle as to eat. Here, by the way, probably all the cuisines of the world are represented. But the prices are high. We decided that it would be best to try all the cuisines of the world directly in all countries. In the meantime, there is no time for food at all. Fortunately, there is Dominos on the territory where pizzas go in an endless conveyor like hamburgers at McDonald's and for 54 dirhams ($ 15) you can have a great and quick meal for two pizza and potatoes.
Water in the exhibition area is free. The third part of impressions is also a show, but not official. Many pavilions hold various performances for self-promotion purposes, such shows are not announced in the application, they can only be recognized in the pavilions themselves, and how many such performances and how to squeeze them into their plans is unknown. Here, even the robots have their own folk dances, which we got to purely by chance, while running from one pavilion to another. The fourth part of the emotions is the atmosphere on the streets of the city, where you can walk aimlessly and catch the aesthetic pleasure of beauty. There is even an analogue of Singapore trees.
And the final part of the experience is the central dome with its projections, music and atmosphere. This is a garden of a thousand electronic flowers that change lighting in waves in time with the theme of the dome. Here you can go to Mars and distant planets, here you can plunge into the dreams of a twelve-year-old girl and see her inner world, here you can literally meditate under free projections in dozens of ladybugs or flying birds.
Or just soak up the atmosphere while praying in the Arab world. The most spectacular shows take place under the dome. Most roads lead through the dome. And most often, attempts to get from one point of the Expo to another can end in failure, since you can’t just take and pass by the dome without stopping there. The exhibition streets themselves are also not empty. At times, a huge golden falcon “flies” there to thematic music.
Even with all the desire, you will not be able to see even a small part in a day. For example, on the first day we mastered only four pavilions and different shows. True, we started this day only at one in the afternoon. We were so imbued with the atmosphere of Dubai Expo that, probably for the first time in the history of our travels, we began to cancel the places we planned to visit in the Emirates, just to spend one more day in this wonder of the world. Every time it seemed that tomorrow we would take another day off here and it would be just right. But no, what do you think how many of the six free days we spent in the end at the exhibition? Almost a full six!
That is, we really were every day at the exhibition. We made trips twice in the evenings. Once on the Burj Khalifa with an aquarium and a fountain, then we went for a walk around the historical district of Al Fahidi. The second time we got out in the evening to walk around Dubai Marina. And the final feint: on the last day we arrived in the morning, passed the PCR, inspected the remaining planned pavilions, returned to the hotel, went on a safari to the desert, late in the evening we were returned to the hotel, and we again went to the Expo. The last memory of the exhibition is how we lie on the soft zone under the central dome, and a rocket flies into deep space overhead.
Various planets fly by, and at the end, an astronaut outside knocks on the dome. When we left the dome for the last time, I wanted to stop time so that the exhibition could continue. Usually, when traveling, you are always mentally ready to leave by the last day, and even accumulated fatigue can rake up on the last day. But not at this time. This was the world of my dreams. And it's cool when you set high requirements and expectations for a trip, and in return you get something many times greater than your fantasies.
Which pavilions you must visit:
Saudi Arabia
Japan - Bookings must be made every day at 9am
Pakistan - the atmosphere is over the top.
Sustainability.
Waterfall - at night.
Spain is the best film we saw at the Expo.
Full list of pavilions that we gave parents as recommended to visit (not ordered by rating):
Alif, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Sustainability, Waterfall, Central Dome, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Emirates, Kuwait, Malaysia, Thailand, UAE (looking for UAE booking), Opportunity, Finland, Poland, Korea, Women's Pavilion, France, Emirates Pavilion >), India, Luxembourg, Hungary, Oman, Paraguay, Peru, Azerbaijan, DP World.
We had a funny case with the UAE pavilion. We were very late and literally ran. But I was confused by the word in the name "University" And while we were running we were discussing that maybe it was about the universe or an anniversary, which sounds similar. When they ran it turned out to be the pavilion of the Emirati University. And the one we need in the search can only be found as UAE.
Of course, everyone can have their own impressions of the Expo and it all depends on their mood, but the rating on Google map shows a rating of 4.8 out of 5 and has more than 21.000 reviews, which really says a lot. Probably, many people liked life when you wake up in the Emirates, have lunch in Malaysia, and then have coffee in Australia, after which you "get on a plane" and go on a trip to 2070 and all this happens in a matter of hours (it was a small fragment from a typical day at the Expo). By the way, in six days we caught almost all the weather options and I want to say that the Expo was just as beautiful both on a cloudy day and on a very windy one. Our impressions of the exhibition were also warmed up by the fact that I planned to make this trip already working at a new job, but an unprecedented miracle happened and we were able to agree on new even more favorable working conditions in my current and favorite company, all the problems that I sorted out during travel time in Turkey, brought unprecedented results.
There will be additional questions about Expo 2020, be sure to write!
And this is a small cut from the shows we attended:
Travel Information:
Date of travel: 18.01. 2022-25.01. 2022
Trip difficulty: 4/10 (Below average)
