Dubai and Beyond

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Admittedly, we didn’t do too much research or really know what to expect of Dubai. What country is Dubai part of again? Right. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which as far as we could tell, is mostly known for their oil production. When flying into the city from our long overseas flight from Washington Dulles airport, Dubai appeared to be an oasis, surrounded by endless sand dunes.

Upon arriving, we were expecting the heat and the stink of a big Asian country. Dubai indeed had the heat, but not the stink or chaos. Very few motorbikes, no stray dogs, NO trash, no one living on the street. . . Lots of men in traditional garb, and lots of people in not so traditional garb from around the world. No alcohol in public (though our very seedy hotel bar not only had alcohol, but prostitutes).

The food was good, and even cheap in the right sections of town. However, most restaurants had ‘family sections’ (read: if you are a woman or a child, or want to eat with a woman or a child, please separate yourself into this little unventilated room and close the door behind you). Lots of yummy Indian and Middle Eastern foods—and always a spoonful of fennel seeds on the way out.

Despite this old world aspect, Phil describes Dubai as Logan’s Run (a 70’s sci movie that I’ve never heard of), because Dubai is a new age city that seems to want you to go outside. Dubai is only a pedestrian friendly city when one is walking above the city in various inside, air conditioned bridges that connected popular places. Walking outside wasn’t so easy, and certainly not encouraged. One can even ski without going outside at the Mall of the Emirates.

The last thing I will note about Dubai is all of the rules posted—how to ride the escalator, not to eat or drink in the subway (one would be fined), how to line up when wanting to board the subway; no horn honking allowed (unconfirmed, but there were eerily few horns); it’s even against the law to be homeless.

One of our more interesting cultural experiences was at the Dubai international airport and on our plane to Kathmandu. There were listings of all kinds cities presumably in the Middle East and Asia that I had never heard of. As we were settling into our seats at a gate, a very old woman is eating her evening meal. Of course she instantly offers Phil and I some of what she is eating (dried apricots). Upon accepting, she grabs another handful of the out of her pocket. I consider how far I’ve come as I pop them into my mouth not worrying about where her hands have been, or how long the grubby apricots have been in her pocket. They were quite good, actually.

On the plane to Kathmandu, Phil and I, perhaps the only westerners, were unlucky enough to have seats towards the back of the plane, close to the bathroom. At no point, were there ever less than 20 men in line for the bathroom. It was the most bizarre thing. As soon as we landed (before the seatbelt sign had been turned off) everyone was in the aisle, grabbing their bags and lining up to leave. Any flight attendant I’ve ever known would have been irate, but this seemed to be the norm on ‘Fly Dubai.’ And thus, we hopped off the plane into the cool air of Nepal, bracing ourselves for the chaos of Kathmandu before retreating to the mountains.

We head out for northern Nepal tomorrow—3 weeks of trekking around the border of Tibet and eating a whole lot of daal bhat. We can’t wait!

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Photos

Ski Dubai!
Um. . at the mall.