Nothing Beats the Heat like Sheikhs on the Beach

Middle East » United Arab Emirates » Dubai
February 23rd 2008

Published: April 2nd 2008

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Andy and Christine

Deira City Center, Dubai

Hookah pipes for sale

As predicted, when we arrived in Dubai on Feb. 18th, we were in for quite severe culture shock. How could we not be, coming from a place like India, to this. The huge luxury hotels, an indoor ski slope, the massive, modern shopping malls, all situated near the blue waters of the Persian Gulf. Dubai seemed to be the place that everyone has heard of, but few know more than these details before visiting the city.

Though we hadn't had a wink of sleep all night, we couldn't help but notice how clean, modern, and nice the Dubai International Airport was, in comparison to Delhi's. Everything suddenly seemed so normal again. It was quiet and peaceful, almost like India was all some strange dream. All we knew was that we were there in Dubai for a week, in search of much needed R & R, but first we had to find a hotel.

Jumping on a bus from the airport, we were again shocked by how new, modern and clean the bus itself seemed. It took about an hour to reach Deira, even though it was only a few kilometers from the airport, since traffic was so heavy. There

Umm Suqeim Beach, Dubai

Sheikhs enjoying some beach action

we would try and find a hotel, since the cheaper hotels in Deira, a neighbourhood of Dubai, didn't seem to take reservations (and trust us, we tried).

So on foot, carrying our packs, we probably checked around twenty different hotels, not something that we wanted to do after having had a long, sleepless night. All were either full, or too expensive, and the cheapest hotels wouldn't allow us to stay there. When we asked why, they said that it wasn't for couples. We still didn't understand, until they said no 'families', which we understood to mean that they were prostitute hotels, and surprisingly nice ones at that.

We finally did find one that was cheaper (for Dubai) and also discovered the reason for the lack of available rooms. We had arrived during the DSF, the Dubai Shopping Festival, which is a month long period when people come from all over to stock up on goods such as gold, textiles, electronics and clothing. Almost every shop has major discount sales! Well, we were in for an interesting week, since the city was buzzing with shoppers from India, Africa, Asia and Europe. We settled in to our room, which was

Dubai Creek

The creek, the boats, and the buildings

quite comfortable and clean, with a TV, and shortly fell asleep for a few hours. It was really hard to wake up, we weren't used to staying in such soft beds. It had been a while, and we were loving it.

Waking refreshed, we ventured out into the streets. They seemed very clean and quiet, although busy. No honking horns, no cows wandering about, and no one paying any attention to us. It was a welcome change, although it felt very strange. The weather was also warmer than in India, and we could wear t-shirts for the first time since leaving Thailand. We awoke early every morning to the sounds from the mosque across the street, just like in Melaka, where they would announce the call to prayer over loud speakers around five am. The sound of it was great though, it would almost put us into a sort of trance.

We wandered over to the Gold souq, which is a huge market, housing over 300 individual gold shops. We browsed with our mouths hanging open, amazed by the ornate yellow gold jewelry, which is often worn at weddings, along with ultra modern designs of white gold and

Burj Al Arab, Dubai

Seven star guy with a seven star hotel in the background

platinum. Cut gems and diamonds sparkled from shining settings, it was incredible.

It was now time to try Dubai's culinary claim to fame. The shawarma. It is much like the Greek gyros or donair. The meat, either chicken or lamb (no pork, as the majority of the population is Muslim), is slow cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off per order. It is then wrapped in a pita with a garlic sauce and some veg, and served with pickled carrots, hot chili peppers and white radish. Delicious and cheap, there were shawarma stands on every block. Fresh fruit juices were available, and our favorite by far was a fresh squeezed mango juice, blended and tasting like a mango smoothie. We soon found a favorite shawarma stand, which we visited daily.

One thing we did notice was the traditional dress of the men and women in Dubai. Many men wore long, white, comfortable looking cloak/robes called kanduras, as well as white, or red and white checked head scarves called guthras, which covered their heads and the back of their necks. Many women wore long black gowns, called abayas, over the top of their clothing, which was often western.

Dubai Creek

The beautifully blue Dubai Creek

The abaya is sometimes decorated with glass jewels, sequins, and other ornaments. It is worn for modesty, to cover all visible skin. The women also wore shelas, usually black, to cover their heads. Very rarely would we see a woman, usually older, wearing a burqa, which is a black piece of material with a slit for the eyes, and a metal plate covering their face. It was really fascinating to see these women covered head to toe in black, with incredible dark make-up on their eyes, carrying designer purses, with the bottoms of their designer jeans peaking out from the bottom of their abayas. Very intriguing and mysterious.

Something that we absolutely had to do, because people will ask us if we saw it, is to go see the hotel that looks like a sailboat, otherwise known as the Burj Al Arab. It is the world's tallest freestanding hotel, supposedly the worlds only seven star hotel, and is way out of anyones price range. To get there, we first took one of the little passenger ferries that cross the natural inlet of Dubai Creek, which divides Deira from Bur Dubai. Called abras, they apparently take up to 50 thousand

Dubai Creek

Andy enjoying the ferry trip

people across each day, on dozens of different ferries. The trip across only took about fifteen minutes, and we were treated with great views of the buildings all along both sides of the creek.

Arriving in Bur Dubai, we then took a bus packed with the locals to 'New' Dubai where the hotel stood overlooking the Persian Gulf. Luckily for Christine, there are twelve seats at the front of the bus which are reserved for women to get first dibs. This apparently protects the women from the stares of men! And in a way, it was true, the women felt more comfortable on the bus and the men couldn't give them any grief, plus they got some choice seating. Women got to board the bus first as well, and their husbands with them, so we happily joined the women at the front of the long lines of men waiting for the buses.

It took almost an hour to get to the Burj by bus, but the scenery was interesting, modern hotels and palm lined streets. Christine enjoyed chatting with the local gals while Andy had to stand at the back of the bus. When we saw the hotel

Bur Dubai

Beautiful tile work decorating a Mosque

looming ahead, we finally got off. Taking a few minutes to admire from afar, we walked around the Burj and took lots of photos, from all angles, but opted not to go inside, since it cost quite a bit just to enter the front lobby.

Our next destination on the following day was the famed Mall of the Emirates. We followed the same route as the day before, only this time taking a different bus. We wanted to check out this super-mall of Dubai (one of many), since it was home to the famous Ski Dubai, the only indoor ski slope in the world.

The slope was nothing in comparison to outdoor slopes in B.C., but was just as expensive to ski, we guess due to the novelty factor. We checked it out, but never went for the bragging rights of saying that we had skied at an indoor slope in a shopping mall. The rest of the mall was insanely massive and ultra modern, filled with the latest popular brands and designer goods. It made Coquitlam Center look like Value Village. Every store you could imagine and for a lot cheaper than in the west. Christine was

Mall of the Emirates, Dubai

The surreal 'Ski Dubai' snow covered hill, located inside the mall

in heaven and Andy thought it was cool, as malls go.

A common and social thing to do in Dubai was to smoke sheesha. Sheesha is tobacco, usually flavoured with fruit (apple is popular) and is smoked through a large water pipe (hookah). There are hundreds of cafes where you can order a sheesha, choose which type of flavoured tobacco you would like, and sit smoking, while enjoying a coffee or tea. Also it's known as hookah or the Hubbly Bubbly. The waiter would light it by putting these hot coals on top, give you a plastic tip to put on the end, then you just puff away until it's gone. The great fruity smell would take over the room, and actually smelled nice, unlike a room filled with cigar or cigarette smoke.

One of the highlights of our trip to Dubai was getting to go for a swim at Umm Suqeim Beach, in the blue waters of the Persian Gulf. Again taking the bus, we arrived and stretched out in the sun, with the water to our front, the beach to our right, and the Burj Al Arab to our left, separated by a high fence, of

Mall of the Emirates, Dubai

Andy amazed by the selection of hookahs

course. It great way to top off a trip to Dubai. The temperature was perfect, not too hot and the beach wasn't crowded at all. The sea had large waves rolling in, and was cold, but not too cold for swimming. The only strange part was a man who kept wandering the beach by himself, and sitting suspiciously close to several western women sunbathing. Christine noticed that the weirdo was sitting right near us, looking at women in their bathing suits and touching himself. She confronted him, and asked him what the heck he was doing, then told him off. He just looked scared, said he was doing nothing, then quickly jumped up, then ran off. Noticing that he stopped by the road, Christine pointed at him and shook her head, and he got into his car and drove away!

We knew we couldn't have left Dubai that easily, without anything strange happening. Our relaxing week in Dubai had passed by way too quickly for us. It was nice to be somewhere modern and clean and to be anonymous and hassle free for a bit. But we were ready for some more excitement, and it was time to head