So here we find ourselves in Dubai. Located in one of seven regions that make up the United Arab Emirates, Dubai is by the Arabian Sea and, thanks to oil discovery, grew from a population of 59,000 in the 60s, to 1.2 million in 2008, but only 15% are born Emiratis the rest all expats. Built primarily on lease-hold land (fee simple is new), it has no income tax, which is especially attractive to foreigners, and for lower income naturalized citizens housing is free. It adheres to a strict Islamic culture to the point that there are absolutely no alcohol sales, not even in restaurants unless they are situated in a hotel only. Actually, expats (foreign residents) can buy from obscure back alley stores hidden behind warehouses, but they have to show a residency card and it is illegal to bootleg to tourists. So unless you brought your bottle in via Duty Free (which we didn't) you're stuck to hotels starting at $15 for a 5mm shot, beer and wine the same price. Needless to say it was a very dry week, but one night we decided to splurge and eat in a hotel just so that we could enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, and wouldn't you know it, an hour earlier they cut off alcohol sales for 24 hours in observance of Prophet Mohammed's birthday. Back to the juice bar we go.
At this time, Dubai is a city where millionaires are paupers. In my exhaustive research of hotels, I was unable to find anything for under $300 a night but an apartment goes for less than half the price so we took one across the street from the upscale Dubai Marina. The map showed a major road between us, with a cross road that would take us to the marina which is jam packed with hotel residences, skyscraping condos, eateries and shopping. Great we thought, all we'd have to do is walk over to all the action. Wrong! The road between us was a 12 lane freeway and the cross road was a yet to be finished rapid transit pedestrian walkway. To make things worse, the whole area is built around the ring-road one way concept, so for us to simply cross the freeway, was a 13k ride. 3ks to circle our development, 5ks down the freeway to the exit, then 5ks back tracking on the other side. All in a taxi, because that's the only way you get around, that is until rapid transit opens in the fall.
Our time here was pretty tame primarily because we were 25ks out of the city in a new area and Dubai isn't a walking destination so you're at the mercy of taxis unless you're in the old side of the city center. In hindsight, the old side called Diera, would have been the place for us to stay, but once again, following the online advice of other travelers, I avoided that area and went to the new part instead. I had prearranged a few tours, one was the hop-on hop-off city tour bus which we always take when in cities, that had a pick up point at a mall 20ks way. The bus took us all around the city, along swanky Jumeirah Beach home to the famous Burj Al Arab hotel that looks like a sail and the Al Qasr Hotel on a lovely waterway and onto The Palms, the man made development in the shape of a palm that juts out into the Indian Ocean. The main trunk of the palm from the mainland is 4ks long with about 8 rows of 'fronds' on either side. The center of each frond is a street with identical low rise houses on either side, all having ocean frontage. At the top end of the Palm is the mega resort Atlantis, a mind boggling structure in itself that includes an aquarium and a water park.
After being overwhelmed with the opulence and the construction (no less than 20 cranes outside our condo window) we got off the tour bus at the Mall of the Emirates which was a bit closer to the condo at 15ks. That mall deserves a couple of days visit on its own, with the Ski Dubai hill, aquarium, hotel, high end stores and quite excitedly, a food court! So yes, instead of a $100 nothing special meal with no wine, we decided on the food court, which in itself wasn't cheap by our standards – at $30 US. The one and only inexpensive shop I found was one called Le Carrefour, Dubai's spin on Walmart, and it was packed. Need I say where we shopped? But the highlight was when we went to catch the cab home. They've got a very organized taxi system at the mall, drop off at one place only and pick up at another part of the mall. When we got outside, we were in a covered valet roundabout where no less than 100 people were cued in 2 lines with a probably 200 cabs lined up waiting their turn. What was really fascinating though, was that while we were in the line, we watched with amazement the cars coming into the valet area. Rolls Royce, Masserati, Lamborghini, Bentley, Astin Martin and lots of high end SUVs (Infiniti FX & EX35 are really popular btw), with women and men in full Islamic dress jumping out of the drivers seats and passing the keys to the Valet. Hello, these people are going to the mall, not a ball! But we soon discovered that shopping is a major pastime of the oil rich Emiratis. Odd to see women in full dress, most even their face covered going into a clothing store, what could they possibly be buying? Turns out the traditional dress is for public appearances only, at home they become runway models wearing the latest and most expensive fashion. And the reason why all homes have 10 foot concrete walls around them is so that they can't be seen from the street when outside. But for the public appearances, they do love their designer bags (no knock-offs here) which is about all they can display.
Dubai is divided by a 15k creek the newer side called Bur Dubai and the old side Diera. To cross from one side to the other people take Abbras, which a little long boats that operate like bumper cars jockeying for dock space. The Diera side, where I read not to stay, is filled with old world charm, boutique hotels, merchants and open markets called Souks. Unfortunately my experience of shopping in Africa and the UAE isn't pleasant, I have no patience for the haggling and the in your face sales tactics. And forget about window shopping, if your eyes even glance sideways, you're taken as a buyer and not left alone.
But Dubai is suffering from the economical crisis. Tourism is down 35%, construction is almost at a grinding halt, many projects in progress have stopped because the banks aren't financing, even work on the awe inspiring Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building has stopped. It's a shame to see, they've built this mega city and suburbs with stretches of 100 story residential towers as far as the eye can see. But for whom? Many are empty, the rest unfinished, rents are dropping and with projects shutting down, laborers mostly from foreign countries are going back home. Even progress on The World islands has stopped as well as the planned Dubai World to rival Disneyland. At this rate it'll be a ghost town before long.
One evening we did a Desert Safari that included an under the stars buffet dinner and belly dancing out in the middle of the desert. I guess I didn't read the fine print, because what I thought was going to be a nice ride in the desert, was actually a white knuckling, hair raising dunes bashing ride to get to the venue. The 6 passenger 4 x 4 Land Cruiser that picked us up at the condo, went off road and did all the tricks you'd see of a dune buggy. At top speeds we rode along top the crests with barely 4 wheels touching, sometimes sliding down off the top onto the sides to the point I thought for sure we were going to tip, made sharp 90 degree turns diving down into gullies, and then blindly back up to the top where I prayed another vehicle wasn't doing the same on the other side. At one point we got really stuck in a gully and we all have to get out to push. It was good timing because one more turn and I was going to toss my cookies – partially from fear. Unfortunately, that death defying roller coaster ride on the Oregon coast aboard Shimmeron has left me with PTS, and as soon as my body senses a tipping movement, I go into panic mode. When we finally got to the dinner venue, it was all I could do to hold back the tears, that was until Roy asked how I was. Fortunately the return trip was going to be along the flat route taking into consideration we would have just eaten.
It was quite the Arabic spread they laid out within an open corral something out of the Arabian Nights. One corner even had a Hooka Pipe area, where much to my disappointment- Roy indulged himself after being 5 weeks smoke free. Hooka Pipes are common place, many restaurants have them for your use, and in the evening all the patrons are puffing away on the rock hard tobacco. After dinner and the crowd pleasing Belly Dancer, we did indeed take the flat road out of the very very dark desert. I was never so glad to hit the pavement.
Last tour we did was one to the Gulf of Oman on the east coast. We drove through Dubai along the coast through neighbouring city Sharjah where the majority of Dubai's labour force lives, crossed over inland through the Al Hajar Mountains over to Dibba on the east coast, where we stopped for lunch at an ocean side resort. Odd thing about this place, aside from being consumed by 'red tide', was that all the beach signs around the area were in Russian. I asked about this and apparently the Gulf of Oman is a huge vacation destination for the Eastern Block. From there, down the east coast to the city of Fujairah, checked out a couple of 15th century Portuguese forts, where at one, there was a small mosque at the base of it that had a sign that said "No Tourists". The guide explained that although mosques are generally open to the public, this one was closed because it would reek of alcohol after being visited by the heavy drinking Russian tourists!
All in all, it was great to have had the opportunity to visit Dubai because it worked with our northbound itinerary. But would we come back or recommend it as a vacation spot? No. Neither of us is fond of cities, but if it's constant sunshine you're after, like the exclusive beach resort lifestyle, love to shop and above all have very very deep pockets…… then Dubai just may be the place for you.
Next: Egypt
Til then
KnR
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