I complained to my family earlier that I hadn't yet had any real 'wow' moment on this holiday. South-east Asia was all a bit 'been-there-done-that' for me. But Dubai has given me 'wow' moments by the sandy bucketful.
They call it the city of superlatives. They want it to be the New York of the Middle East. But it strikes me more like a Las Vegas. Everything here has to be the biggest, the tallest, the fastest, the first, the most luxurious.
They boast the world’s only seven- star hotel (I'm pictured in front of it below), the first underwater hotel accessible only by submarine, the first resort where you can own your own to-scale model country.
And they want to keep their pole position long into the future. At the moment they're constructing what will be, by 2009, the world's tallest building, the Burj Dubai. It's going up at a rate of one floor per four days, minimum. And if some other country tries to top them come 2009, they've designed it specifically so that they can add on another storey with ease.
The city is really like one big construction site. You see development at an astonishing rate. The statistics you pick up on these guided tours are great. The best one so far: did you know that about 25% of all large cranes in the world are currently in Dubai. That’s because 5,000 buildings (and not small ones either) are currently under simultaneous construction. And that’s in a city with a population of only 1.5 million, roughly the same as Dublin.
I think the ruling Sheiks here must be pretty clever. The oil money is going to run out eventually, probably sooner than everyone thinks. So now is the time to position their city in other industries. They've already had huge success establishing their tourist capital. I think making themselves a commercial, financial and technological hub will soon follow.
The Emirati people and the many other nationalities living in UAE have been the friendliest and warmest people of this vacation. That’s not at all what at all what I was expecting.
80% of the people here are expat workers but the remaining 20% are easy to spot. The Emirati are the only ones to wear the national costume: the kandoora (a man’s white floor length robe) and the abaya (a woman’s floor length black cloak). These robes are very regal. The natives float imperiously through their marble shopping malls, designer shades and top-of-the-range mobile phones modern accessories to very traditional ware.
The city is really like one big construction site. You see development at an astonishing rate. The statistics you pick up on these guided tours are great. The best one so far: did you know that about 25% of all large cranes in the world are currently in Dubai. That’s because 5,000 buildings (and not small ones either) are currently under simultaneous construction. And that’s in a city with a population of only 1.5 million, roughly the same as Dublin.
I think the ruling Sheiks here must be pretty clever. The oil money is going to run out eventually, probably sooner than everyone thinks. So now is the time to position their city in other industries. They've already had huge success establishing their tourist capital. I think making themselves a commercial, financial and technological hub will soon follow.
The Emirati people and the many other nationalities living in UAE have been the friendliest and warmest people of this vacation. That’s not at all what at all what I was expecting.
80% of the people here are expat workers but the remaining 20% are easy to spot. The Emirati are the only ones to wear the national costume: the kandoora (a man’s white floor length robe) and the abaya (a woman’s floor length black cloak). These robes are very regal. The natives float imperiously through their marble shopping malls, designer shades and top-of-the-range mobile phones modern accessories to very traditional ware.
The heat here is crazy. It was 43 degrees the first two days and 44 today. I have even been worried about heatstroke at times. The other day I was unable to find the entrance to a massive shopping mall. I got stuck walking around the vast perimeter for almost an hour in blazing midday sun. Which brings me to my other point: It is not a walker-friendly city.
I have even found myself running across a 13-lane motorway, being beeped at from all sides, praying that I would make it alive to the other side. With gasoline cheaper than water everyone goes everywhere by car or taxi. Even I, Sir Walksalot, have only taken taxis or tour buses since that first crazy day.
I have even found myself running across a 13-lane motorway, being beeped at from all sides, praying that I would make it alive to the other side. With gasoline cheaper than water everyone goes everywhere by car or taxi. Even I, Sir Walksalot, have only taken taxis or tour buses since that first crazy day.
Tour inside Jumeira Mosque This morning's schedule was the most worthwhile activitiy I've done in a long time. The Jumeira mosque in Dubai offers the chance for non-Muslims to see inside the building and learn about the five pillars of Islam in a relaxed and open setting. In my life I have been exposed to so many negative images of Islam. It was refreshing, a joy even, to learn about this religion from a young Arab man using great humour, charm, and sincerity. This was no wild-eyed zealot. This was a warm, devout young person who honestly wanted to teach other people about all that was good in his beliefs. His simple, kind devotion reminded me a lot of my family. The whole thing moved me and a lot of other people on the tour as well. Overall I was blown away by just how similar the beliefs and practices of Islam and Christianity are. Far more unites us than divides us.
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