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Published: November 21st 2007
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Dubai
This is the skating rink attached to our hotel November 19th - Dubai
Well we finally arrived in Dubai, I say finally since Indian beauracry did its best to delay us. The airport in Agra has 2 classifications for non-military aircraft, charter and commercial. Indian charter flights fly based on visibility while commercial flights have superior instruments and trained crews. Our plane a 757, a 200 seat plane and is the largest commercial plane to fly into Agra in the past year, but because it was chartered by Travel Guild it was classified as a chartered plane and therefore subjected to visibility restrictions. There is smog 24 hours a day in Agra and reduced visibility, so naturally they were unable to see beyond the regulations, fortunately they only held us up for just over 2 hours on the tarmac. India has produced a tremendous number of very bright people, however my brief visit would indicate that they have more than their share of people who are incapable of thinking beyond whatever the book says. The overall impression of India, within our group was a negative experience with the exception of one couple the likelihood is that none of the other passengers will return to India.
Talk about contrasts we
Dubai Boat cruise
Enjoying a drink and companionship on the boat cruising the Dubai Creek. leave one of the poorest dirtiest countries and in a few hours we are in one of the wealthiest and cleanest; Dubai. Our hotel is the Hyatt Regency Dubai. Tonight we had a dinner cruise on Dubai Creek, the food and beverages were great. When we left Agra 2 of our group had to be taken to the aircraft in wheelchairs and a number of other people were sick. It was great to be somewhere where you didn’t have to worry about what you drank or ate.
The pictures I have added are some of our flight crew dressed in Indian clothing.
November 20th - 21st ----Dubai
Dubai is unique, outside our window we can look out on the construction of the one of the largest landfills; Dubai is constructing a man-made island in the form of a palm tree. How does one describe Dubai, one description would be the land of cranes and construction. Everywhere you look there are cranes and construction under way, another description would the land of beautiful buildings. If you were a run-of-the-mill architect this is not country for you. The buildings are unique and not the familiar box structures that we have
Belly Dancing in the desert
We were entertained by a belly dancer. at home. A simple example is the Port Authority buildings they look like two huge ships side-by-side. The other obvious description is everything bigger and more luxurious than anywhere else. There are about 600,000 Dubai citizens and over 2 million guest workers. Dubai issues all non-citizens a 3 year work-permit, which must be renewed every 3 years. If you do not have a work permit you are kicked out of the country regardless of how many years you have been in the country. The country is a perfect example of the benefits of a benevolent dictatorship. Dubai does not have oil or many natural resources yet it has become in a couple of generations one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It is the financial center for the Middle East and a major shipping center. It just shows what can happen when you have a ruling family who are capable of thinking outside the box. When the Sheik wants something to happen it happens. Our guide today is Dutch and acted as the interpreter for the new ambassador from the Netherlands when he made his introduction to the Sheik. The Sheik asked the Ambassador how long it took the
Mare and the Falcon
The falcon and Mare were fine. Netherlands to complete their last major reclamation of land from the sea and was told that it took the 30 years from discussion to completion. The Sheik asked the ambassador how long he thought it would take Dubai for a similar size project. The guess was 10 years. The Sheik responded that it would be done in 5 years since this was not a democracy and that he did not have to deal with any green parties.
The evening of our arrival a boat cruise was organized for us on Dubai Creek, the food was delicious and since we had some trouble with food in India it appeared even more so. The next day we were on our own and wandered down to a local shopping area. I don’t know what the average number of cell phones that people have here, but we passed store after store with boxes upon boxes of cell phones. It was nice not to be hassled by people trying to sell us things. Because of the heat we wandered back to the hotel and lounged around the pool for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening everyone was picked up in new Toyota
Camel Riding
The 2 moments of excitement are when the camel gets up and then when it gets down. 4 wheel drive SUV’s and driven about 45 minutes out into the desert to a Bedouin campsite. The final kilometer was really fun. We were off-road and in the sand and all of the drivers floored their vehicles with result that we were sliding and fish-tailing all the way. Once there Mare held a falcon on her arm, we went for a camel ride and were served local dishes. The beer and wine also flowed such that I think a few people might have suffered from some headaches today the 21st. Yesterday Fred and Sharon were fortunate enough to get a reservation for lunch at the Sail Hotel for 4 and we quickly agreed to join them. The plan for the day was originally some sight seeing and then being dropped off at the Mall of the Emirates at 1 pm which would have given us time to depart the Mall and keep our luncheon appointment. On some occasions plans do not work out and today was one of them so after our visit to the gold souks we stopped at our hotel and got a taxi to the Sail Hotel. The only description is everything is over the top.
Dinner companions
Our meal was served in a traditionsl tent with us sitting on cushions. You cannot get into the hotel unless you are guest or have a reservation. The restaurant is 5 star and our lunch plus a bottle of wine split between 2 couples cost about $500. Oh well this is coming from our girls inheritance (partially kidding)
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Colin Webster
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Dubai
My brother in law is the CNN corresponsent in Dubai. You might see him on TV. His name is Wilf Dinnick.