Ah, Dubai… What a fantasy land. Think of the Vegas Strip only much larger. The ruler of Dubai knows that the oil will run out in a few years so he is trying to build a tourism mecca (so to speak) by building a city of firsts: the world’s tallest building (Burj Dubai), the world’s first indoor ski slope in the world’s largest shopping mall, the worlds tallest hotel (the all-suite Burj Al Arab where a typical suite is1700 $US per night) , huge reclamation efforts, etc. You may have heard of the Palms, the palm tree shaped island built off the coast with rock, concrete, and sand. That’s just the beginning: two more are in the works, each larger than the one before. Some of the construction has slowed with the current economic conditions, but the sultan’s personal projects haven’t.
Burj Al Arab
The other interesting thing about Dubai is that 85-90% of the inhabitants are not Emeraties (native Arabs).and can never become citizens. One of our guides was born in Dubai, has lived here all his life, but has to renew his visa every three years and will have to leave when/if he retires. He is sponsoring his mother, whose vise has to be renewed every year. He also said that people avoid the retirement rule by starting a “small business” and doing just enough work to qualify.
Also of interest was the weather—it rained! Not just a passing shower but full-blown thunder storms. After we left we saw a picture on CNN (one of two TV stations we receive, the other being TCM) of lightening hitting the Burj Dubai and heard that they had a hail storm and finally a zero-visibility dust storm. The rain at least has been following us since Vanuatu.
We arrived in Dubai at noon after sailing through the Hormuz Strait. We went on an excursion that took us past most of the typical sights of excess. The only places we actually entered were the shopping mall/ski slope and the gold souk (market). For example, you cannot even cross the bridge to the Burj Al Arab unless you have some sort of reservation and even afternoon tea costs over a hundred dollars!
Ski Dubai
The second day we took an excursion to a neighboring emirate, Sharjah. Where as the Dubai ruler wants to make his emirate a tourist mecca, the Sharjah ruler wants to promote Arab culture. He has build numerous museums and art galleries, restored Al Hisn Fort near his early residence, and sponsored other cultural events and institutions. He also has to contend with having the bedroom of Dubai. Housing in Sharjah can cost half what it does in Dubai. But with that comes commuting traffic that is said to take two hours to drive the few miles. As a side note, Sharjah does not even have the minimal oil reserves that Dubai has. Consequently it has accepted money from Saudi Arabia, which has come with the strings of closer observance to the Saudi idea of Islam. Our tour ended at a very good Desert and & Wildlife Park.
Al Hisn Fort
Sultan' Statement
In the afternoon and evening of the second day, Janice and I went on a desert “safari.” Instead of boarding a bus ship-side, we went four to a four-wheel drive SUV and headed to the desert. At the first rest and refueling stop, we saw a rainbow, in the desert. At the appropriate spot we headed off road, circled the SUVs and let some air out of the tires. Then we went out through the sand dunes on a wild ride: up down and around.
Dune Ride
After a photo stop at a camel feeding pen, we went to the camp for a brief camel ride, some sand boarding, an Arabian BBQ, and a belly dancer.
Camel Ride
Luckily the rain held off until we were under cover eating dinner and stopped in time for the belly dancing. This was one of the best excursions so far.