Gail and John'sTravels: Dubai

We managed to get to Dubai through relatively calm seas with nary a pirate in sight ... so far. The weather forecast for today (Sunday) was for 95 F (35 C) and sunny. Unfortunately, yesterday Dubai was battered by a sand storm followed by a thunderstorm. As a result, today was cooler than expected with a thick haze in the air that was not fog but fine sand particles.

Dubai is a city of two million in an emirate of the same name. Dubai is the second largest of the seven emirates that make up the territory. Abu Dhabi, which is the largest making up about 85% of the territory, is also the emirate with all the oil. Dubai has the ports and access to the sea. It also has been undergoing a huge amount of construction, becoming a cosmopolitan, global city and business hub of the Middle East. Since Dubai no longer has any oil, its revenues now come from tourism, real estate and financial services. Everywhere you look, there is evidence of extreme wealth, with a very modern, even futuristic atmosphere. The human footprint is large in this area that was, only forty years ago, a small settlement where a river meets the ocean, and one of the poorest places on earth.

Gold covered entrance to subway system

Today there is an ultra modern elevated transportation system that winds through the city’s incredible buildings that are, themselves, works of art in architecture. In addition to the marvelous buildings, there are green spaces and flower gardens everywhere, watered through desalination. All the trees and bushes are carefully groomed, and there are even gardens beneath the elevated portions of an expressway.

Interesting architecture

Everything is absolutely clean. There is no graffiti and no broken down buildings anywhere. There is also full employment and education provided through to a university degree. Emirates pay no income tax.

We went on a tour of Dubai this morning and the architecture is spectacular, whenever you can see the buildings in the haze. We passed a shopping mall that has an indoor ski hill, another with a skating rink. Apparently there are several more malls of this type in the area. Our tour eventually took us to Burj Al Arab, an area with a lovely beach for foreigners and the only 7 star hotel in the region. This hotel contains only suites ranging from 100 to 700 square metres.

Gail with hotel in background ... note the sand haze

We then went to the Jumeirah mosque for a photo stop and then a brief tour of the Dubai Museum built inside an 18^th century British Fort.

Photo stop at the mosque

A well at the museum

. The highlight of the trip was an excursion in a dhow from one side of the Dubai river, in the rain, to the other side where the spice souk is. Here we walked through narrow alleys full of purveyors of spices. A short walk later we were at the gold souk, a covered market that had hundreds of shops selling gold and jewellery. Nothing has a price on it and you have to haggle. Gail purchased a pashmina, haggling the price down to less than half.

Crossing the river ... our boat was the ame

At the spice souk

Gail at the gold souk

Gold necklace anyone?

We then returned to the ship at the same time that new passengers were coming on board.

The second day in this remarkable place was bright and sunny – more like what one would expect to encounter in the desert. Gail escorted a tour that focused on local culture, including a meal in a typical Bedouin city home and a visit to a mosque. The guide through the cultural centre was a young woman, a university student, who spoke perfect English and was most engaging. She is from a Bedouin family and explained how many of the tribes began to gather in the area of Dubai when it was occupied by the Portuguese. She explained a great deal about the Muslim faith and was willing to answer all questions. It would seem that the Muslims of Dubai are more progressive than those in other areas. The women, for example, are expected to finish at least high school, and they are the majority of post secondary students.

Traditional clothing

The evolution of traditional dress of black coverings for women and white for men was also explained, and these “uniforms” were very much evident throughout the city. Apparently women are often elaborately dressed, wearing a great deal of jewellery beneath the covering, which keeps them clean and anonymous, though only a few cover their faces.