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Published: August 7th 2007
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42 DegC to be exact.
Welcome to Dubai, where there is no tax, crime is effectively zero, and the petrol is cheaper than the water.
We really didn't know what to expect from a middle eastern coutry like the UAE. But when money talks and unemployment is practically nonexistent everyone seems to be a bit more tolerant of western vices like alcohol, and a certain country's penchant for Navy caps, short shorts and white socks with sandals. Not to mention the ever present chav showing too much leg and arm, god forbid. (Or Allah forbid)
Dubai is a real melting pot (literally) of cultures and seems to be a pretty big hub for travellers from the Middle and Far East, and North Africa. Expats outnumber the Arabic populous by about 8 - 1, as a result it's fairly easy for the government of Dubai to look after its own. An Emirati who marries another Emirati gets something like 70,000 Dihram (about 10000 GBP) from the government as a sort of goodwill gesture for keeping the bloodline pure, and they also get a deal on the beachfront condo they can buy at a vastly discounted rate compared to what
it would cost us foreigners. We saw the Emirati version of these 'council houses' and I really wouldn't mind being on benefits in this country . Mind you if you've got the money and a passport anybody of any nationality can buy a 99 year lease on an apartment or house (Only an emirati can own land here).
Because of the incredible heat we had to resort to bus tourism as walking really is not an option (Adam attempted an heroic five minute walk around the corner from the B&B to go the post office and had to turn back due to hallucinations and dehydration).
Bus tour day 1 took us round the city centre, taking in the enormous shopping malls (the biggest of which is the same size as 50 football pitches), the souks, and the 'creek' around which Dubai has risen. The souks were much more tame than the bazaars in Istanbul, nowhere near as smelly/noisy/hassley or atmospheric, much more modern and sanitised. Nothing really historic to speak of apart from the fort and the old royal residence, which we missed as it meant leaving the air conditioned bus.
Bus tour day 2 took us
along the coast to the new developments that Dubai is so famous for. The "Jumeirah palm trees" and "world" islands were not much to look at from bus level. The famous Dhow sail tower Burj al Arab is pretty cool. What blew our minds is the "new city" that's being built at Dubai Marina. First, they have built a huge marina. As in, first it was just desert and a straight coastline. From that they have dug lots of channels and lagoons into the desert from the sea to make a massive landscaped marina. Now they are building the city. No kidding, it's like building Manhattan from scratch. All at once they are building a massive development of skyscrapers complete with shops, hotels, appartments, golf courses and all the infrastructure - roads, a high speed train link, hospitals, schools etc. 5 years ago it was just desert; at the moment it's the biggest building site we've ever seen, and in the next couple of years it will be a finished, inhabited city. There are apparently 20,000 contruction workers there and 20% of the world's earth moving equipment and cranes. The photos give you some idea but don't really do the
scale justice.
The World's biggest / most expensive / tallest of everything is here or soon will be. The World's tallest tower is nearly complete and they reckon it will be about 810m in height. The Burj al Arab is the World's only (self proclaimed) 7* hotel - all "rooms" are actually 2 storey suites complete with their own butler, and about 1000 sq m of gold leaf, setting you back about USD4000 a night. They have the world's largest desalination plant - 99% of Dubai's fresh water supply comes from the sea - hence water being more expensive than petrol.
And of course we couldn't sign off without mentioning the indoor ski slope with the World's only indoor real snow black run in the World's biggest shopping centre. We peeped through the window (way too expensive to go in). Special long ski jackets for ladies skiing in veils and gowns, and gents in the white gowns.
All in all, a mindblowing place. Don't know if we liked it as such, but glad to have seen it. Money is being spent on an incredible scale. And it's weird to see that level of capitalism and commercialism alongside
the Old and New traditional Islamic culture including the fully veiled women. There are generally nowhere near as many women around as men (although there were a lot of very modern, glamorous ones in the malls). The men were out and about playing Playstations on giant HD screens in the gadget shops, and even having a beer in the few hotel bars you could get alcohol.
We did of course find an Irish pub so we didn't go without a few pints of the black stuff!
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