Away from Dubai’s tourist trail with Peeta Planet

As Emiratis, Mohamed and Peyman Parham Al Awadhi thought they knew everything there was to know about their homeland.

Over the past two years, the brothers behind the hugely successful television series Peeta Planet have crisscrossed the globe and visited 24 countries on a mission to educate a wider audience about Arab culture and traditions.

So when the pair turned their attention closer to home for their latest show, they thought there was little that they were not familiar with, from the winding backstreets of Deira, where they grew up, to the beaches, skyscrapers and cosmopolitan culture formed from about 200 nationalities merging in one spot.

But they were in for a surprise. Thanks to some of the world’s most popular social media gurus, the brothers have had a chance to look at Dubai through fresh eyes.

In the past four weeks, they have been diving with sharks, flown in a seaplane over the Palm Jumeirah and the Dubai creek, and discovered a host of restaurants that they had never heard of.

The action-packed month was filmed for #MyDubaiTrip, a new TV series in which 12 of the world’s most popular social media personalities were flown in to experience the city’s highlights in itineraries drawn up by 12 local Instagram users – with the idea of digging deeper to show them attractions off the beaten track.

“There were quite a few things which I had not done,” says the 37-year-old Peyman. “I have been wanting to dive forever and never had an opportunity to do that. I had 10 sharks in the tank at the Dubai Aquarium passing three inches from my face. It was phenomenal.”

The 12-part series will be screened online next month as part of #MyDubai, a year-long initiative launched in January by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai.

Original article by Tahira Yaqoob

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Away from Dubai’s tourist trail with Peeta Planet