Dubai – extravagance to the power of 10

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In the summer time when it's too hot to go outside;
When you go for a stroll, sweat runs down you like a tide.
In the summer, you need AC in Dubai,
AC on the bus and in the Malls in Dubai.

Figuring that you shouldn't judge a place without visiting it we decided to turn a 2 hour transfer into a 3 day layover in Dubai on our way out to the Far East. In my mind before I even got here Dubai stood for everything I find obnoxious about this World of ours. Gross commercialism and opulence. The turning of a desert wilderness into a land of plenty without a thought for the environmental impact of all that concrete, water and electricity. The mass migration of millions of people from distant lands hoping to find well paid jobs but sacrificing family and home. And three days later I haven't seen anything to change my opinion!

Dubai is Hot. Seriously HOT. I know it's summer here but really, who thought it was a good idea to set up a city in an oven? No one apparently, and that is why they have spent billions and billions of pounds trying to turn this baked patch of sand into a habitable oasis. Everywhere has aircon, thank god! Honestly, I think if they could find a way they would aircondition the beaches and parks too, everything else is. Even the bus stops! Dubai is also surprisingly green, but then you look closer and realise that every single palm tree lining the beaches and 10 lane highways has its own life support sprinkler system encircling it. Inside the Malls (at least one for every neighbourhood), fountains and waterfalls provide a cooling, peaceful atmosphere. But where does all the water come from? And how much electricity does it cost to power all that aircon?

What makes Dubai is the people. Everyone we have encountered from toilet janitors, to bus drivers, to shop assistants has been impeccably polite and friendly and helpful. I have never been referred to as 'Ma'am' so many times in one day when all I've done is gone for a tinkle or bought a takeaway meal!
Dubai, however, is not backpacker friendly, as we found out pretty quickly.
Us: “We'd like to go to the souks, could you tell us which direction we should walk please?”
Hotel reception: “Oh no! You cannot walk! Firstly it is too hot! And secondly it is too far. You must get a taxi!”
Having set ourselves the deeply unrealistic budget of £50 for 3 days in Dubai (not including hotel B&B), after one short £5 taxi ride we were rapidly reassessing our situation and coverting the riches of all the other tourists around us. We walked in a heat induced daze around the thankfully shaded souks, shunning the calls of chirpy shop keepers to buy glittering gold, smell their exotic spices or look in the back of their shop for 'genuine-fake' designer bags. Usually I love souks but these were nothing on the scale of Marrakech's fantastic bazaars and our distinctly light purses made the shopping experience less enticing.

Emerging from the alleyways into the blinding midday light, across the road was a mirage of budget comfort...the Gold Souk Bus Station. The hotel receptionists and taxi drivers may have kept quiet about this gleaming gem but the extremely helpful staff at the beautifully air conditioned bus station were more than happy to reveal to us the secrets of cheap transport around Dubai. With the Dubai equivalent of the Oyster Card in our pockets we were waved in the direction of an equally blissfully cool aircon bus stop to wait just 3 minutes for our super clean and quiet bus to whisk us off in the direction of the beach. We even had our own designated 'ladies and families only' section of the bus and a view of all the tall buildings to rival that of the extortionately expensive Big Red Bus Tours. The fact that we had no idea where we were going or which buses to take was never an issue while we were here, all we had to do was flag down the first bus to pass and the driver would happily keep all his passengers waiting while he gave us detailed instructions for which bus number we actually needed.

As well as the souks and the beach, we did the obligatory photos in front of the world's tallest building - it really is pretty darn tall, wouldn't even squeeze into one photo - and then did like all Dubai tourists and locals alike, hit the shopping malls. Next to the big Burj is the Dubai Mall, a gleaming monstrosity of designer labels and expensive leisure activities. Here, in the desert, you can skate around an ice rink, dive in an aquarium, watch a thousand fountains dance to opera music or marvel at the waterfall art installation. That is, of course, if you are not too busy maxing out your husband's credit card in Jimmy Choo or Fendi, or sipping espressos with your girlfriends in the Armani Cafe. Han and I contented ourselves with wandering around this airconditioned Mecca in a daze for an hour or two before returning to our hotel for a siesta.

Actually sleeping is probably what we have done best in Dubai! And probably the only reason we stretched our budget not only over 3 days, but also to treating ourselves to a little spending spree on our last night in the shopping mall opposite our hotel. An overnight flight with no sleep is usually enough to make me feel fairly grumpy the next day, but usually the excitement of a new destination, or even going home, can keep me going on adrenallin for a few hours at least. When we arrived in Dubai on Wednesday though we were both dead on our feet. I think the emotional rollercoaster of leaving home for an unknown period of time and saying goodbye to so many people in one go was just too much for us to deal with straight away, so we hibernated! Seriously, I have never slept so long without being really sick as an incentive. By the time we woke up it was dark and all we could be bothered to do was roll over and sleep some more until the following morning. 20 hours of sleep later and we could just about face getting up!

So that was Dubai, and now we are waiting at the airport for our super efficient Emirates skyteam to whisk us away to Kuala Lumpur and the delights of South East Asia. I'm just hoping to survive the journey without being attacked...yes Frankie has taken the being eaten by weird insects to a new extreme and managed to get bitten by something nasty on the plane to Dubai (well I did fly from Birmingham so I guess it could've been something exotic from there!) and for the past two days my left knee has been a painful, red, swollen mess - how do I manage it?! Hopefully all the potions and pills in my first aid kit will do their job soon.

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Photos

The Burj - top half
The tallest building in the world, so big it wouldn't fit in one photo!

big horse and me...
...before anyone makes any jokes!

Dubai Mall
Han makes some new friends!

Dubai Trade Centre
So much building work still being done in Dubai

Comments

[Hannah]

Hi Frankie, Dubai sounds exactly how I expected - but at least you managed to get plenty of sleep, which always a good thing! Hope your knee's better soon, Hannah x