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Published: March 19th 2008
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Dubai
a little falafel/shwarma restaurant Wednesday we skipped the conference altogether and had a leisurely morning getting breakfast at the hotel, hung out by the pool on the top of the annex building where there was a nice view of the city and the desert (despite the smog), and took our time getting motivated. We then caught a city tour bus to the old souks near the waterfront. First we stopped for lunch, since it was a sort of siesta time through the hottest hours of the afternoon anyway and most shops were closed. We found this little hole-in-the-wall falafel/shwarma place, which usually has the best food. The two tables inside were taken, and the guy running the place was going to make some locals get up in the middle of their meal so that we could sit down. But we said no, so he put us in the little ally beside the building at a tiny round table and plastic chairs. Strange, but fun. And the whole time we ate our chicken nuggets and mango shakes (falafel wasn’t available until after the siesta), the men hanging out at the little restaurant would poke their head around the corner to see what we were doing.
Dubai
employees at a small souk We wandered through the souks after that—a textile souk, a spice souk, a gold souk, and souks with cheap Chinese-made crap and inexpensive housewares for the locals. Bargaining was a big part of it, and everyone told us they were the only shop to carry something, or that theirs was the best quality. The spice souk was the most beautiful with all of the sacks of colors, but the gold souk was the most crowded (and where all the tourists were hanging out). There were also lots of women in hijab there, and men coming up to us saying they had nice imitation hand bags to sell. I bought a bottle of water from one man walking around with drinks on a tray for 2 dirhams, then realized later he had purchased it from a vending machine for 1 dirham so that he could make a profit.
We took the little abras (wooden boat) back across the creek and caught a taxi back to the hotel. We washed up and asked the concierge the best place to smoke sheesha (hookah) in Dubai, and he told us of a little local restaurant right down the block called Zyara. So we
Dubai
the spice souk went. So much fun! We sat outside on colorful, plushy chairs, smoked melon flavored sheesha (also known as hubbly bubbly), ordered a traditional Middle Eastern salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and dried pita pieces, had a dish called chicken saj that is boiled chicken rolled up in a pita, and then another chicken, yogurt, and chick pea dish. We also had chocolate and orange crepes for dessert. The place was filled with locals, some of them men in traditional dress (one of which was desperately trying to catch my eye in between sucks on the sheesha pipe and answering his cell phone). For most of the meal we were the only 2 women.
We ended up talking to a group of 3 men sitting next to us—2 Lebanese and 1 French—because we overheard them discussing how the Americans could have possibly re-elected Bush. They offered us a pot of Moroccan tea, and we shared our crepes. They all worked for a company that manufactures electricity meters. None of them were native to Dubai or the UAE, but love it. They then invited us to have drinks at a club at the Crown Plaza a few blocks down, in a
Dubai
outside the Jumeirah mosque bar called Zinc. So we dropped our leftovers at the hotel and walked back to meet them.
The club was about what I expected for a club in Dubai—techno/trance music, black lights, glowing bar, men dressed in trendy clothes, and the few women that were there were in tiny high heels and skimpy clothes. When we walked in around 11pm there were about 15 men to 1 woman, but as the night got later, more women arrived. According to our new friends, it is mostly airline stewardesses from Emirates Airways that go there. We drank a couple of screwdrivers and danced. Even the men went out on the floor and danced—they were just waiting for us to start. That’s one thing I like about men in other parts of the world—no qualms about getting out there and shaking it like men in the U.S. seem to have. They don’t stand on the edges of the dance floor and just eye the women up and down, or grind up on them when they get enough drinks in them. They want to have a good time as well.
The night ended abruptly when one of the Lebanese guys asked if
Bahrain
relaxing in the business class lounge after a small ticket fiasco we wanted to go back to his hotel room for wine (why he had a hotel room when he lives in Dubai, I’m not sure—probably in case of such occasions). I figured something like that would come eventually, but it was nice to talk to locals and find out some things we wouldn’t have learned otherwise—like the different kinds of sheesha, the best places to hang out in Dubai, etc.
Thursday we again took our time getting motivated, since it was our last day. We then took a taxi to the Jumeirah mosque, the largest and most well known in the city. Unfortunately, the tours are only at 10am, and there was no indication of this in any of the tour books. So we walked into one room in the ladies’ entrance and watched a woman sitting on the floor read from the Koran for a while 2 children teased each other and rolled around on the floor. On the main entrance side we watched some men praying outside—kneeling, touching their foreheads to the floor, getting back up—before entering the mosque.
We stopped for lunch at this cute little French place decked out in purple, red, and orange with amazing looking deserts. But after the huge lunch (including delicious fresh-squeezed kiwi juice), we had no room for it. We then wandered over to the beach, where we walked around for only about 20 minutes because the sun was so hot. So we took a taxi back to Madinat Jumeirah so that Dre could buy a couple of last minute things.
We spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hotel lobby and getting dinner at Wagamama back at the Crowne Plaza before heading back to the airport.
Dubai is a strange place. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in 10 or 20 years with so much of it being under construction right now. I suppose the UAE is making a good investment in their tourism industry in case the oil ever runs out, but right now all of the biggest, most expensive, most glamourous, first in the world, etc., etc. seems cheesy. But Dubai was on my “to see” list ever since Matt Laurer from the today show went there, so now I can check that off. It was a nice few days of relaxing though—everything was literally clean and sparkly. I even took 2 baths in the hotel room in the clean water, swam in the warm pool, and ate fresh fruit and salads!
The flight back was also a joy. Dubai to Bahrain was a full flight but uneventful. But upon arrival in Bahrain, they told us that they did not have a seat for us because we did not have boarding passes, even though we checked in back in Dubai. The guy at the counter started to say that we should get a hotel room and enjoy Bahrain for the evening, that Gulf Air would pay for it since they over booked the flight (by 45 people!). But since Dre only has a week in Kathmandu, we said no and insisted they find us a seat.
And it all worked out…they put us together in business class, which meant we could spend out 4 hour layover in the business class lounge, lounging on the couches, eating free food, drinking Coke Light, and taking advantage of the free internet. We even had hot showers, which was great since we had spent the day in the Dubai heat and had not had the opportunity to shower before leaving for the airport. The flight (once it finally took off) was also nice. Those business class seats put me right to sleep! I love Gulf Airlines—every time I fly them they upgrade me for free.
Now back in Kathmandu and taking Dre on a speed tour!
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Dylan
non-member comment
Not all men...
I must say, that not all of us american men just stand on the edge of the dance floor ogling women and getting more and more drunk and horny. some of us (particularly me) like to get out there and get down...but the women always run for fear of being molested. can't a guy just have fun dancing with other girls, or do they always have to think it's about sex? sheesh!