Day 2 (Wed 16 Sep): Dubai (city tour, dinner)

Picking up the others from their hotels showed how this place is a “work in progress”. Building is going on everywhere, with spotless buildings right next to dusty, open spaces.

Mahmoud was a much better guide.

Some info (none of it validated)

Dubai’s population is about 9 million.  Of these, only 19% are “natives” (who enjoy free housing, education, healthcare, etc, and are recognised by their long white (men) and black (women) robes), over 2 million are Indian, and the rest represent 200 different nationalities. This could explain why Indian food is “typical” (with only one restaurant serving the traditional food: camel) – there is no cuisine to speak of and food reflects the cultural diversity of the population.

You can get a work visa for 2 years (if you’ve been offered a job), which you can renew. The only foreign females granted citizenship are those who marry a native man.

Burj al-Arab

What makes the Burj al-Arab worth 7-stars (in someone’s book, anyway) is that:

– it consists only of duplex suites: one per floor, with each having their own reception

– guests are collected by Rolls Royce from the airport and dropped at the escalator for their floor.  Yes, each floor has its own escalator because stopping at other people’s is such a pain

– rooms are guilded with gold (surely, there’s a temptation to scratch it off, but praps that’s just me!)

– for those for whom a Rolls Royce is beneath them, they can land their helicopter on the pad on the roof

This is not an exhaustive list, I’m sure. But if you’ve got a spare 1,000 GBP (per night) then I’m sure you can find more information on their website.  I wonder how they feel about not having the “most expensive hotel room” badge?  Apparently, this honour belongs to Atlantis where the presidential suite will set you back a cool 40,000 USD, according to my (somewhat unreliable) boat guide.

Dubai museum

Described as “small but interesting” by Mahmoud, this was the highlight of my trip. It charted the rise and rise of Dubai, which can be summed up as follows:

• 1920/30s: As an important port, building around the creek started; infrastructure works commence
• 1940/50s: Continuing building, hampered by cultured pearls (natural pearls were one of Dubai’s natural resources) and WWII
• 1960s: Bingo – oil is discovered! They start to reap the benefits of the infrastructure programmes and things start to seriously take off
• 1970s onwards: bigger, higher, better, dearer…

It’s not difficult to remember that Dubai didn’t “exist” until 1972, when seven states (each with a different ruler) were brought together.  In reality, modern Dubai has been around for maybe 70 or 80 years, and the culture of the Bedouin people seems to be unimportant to them in day-to-day life. So it was a pleasant surprise that the museum offered a rich insight into their heritage and culture.  Traditional summer houses (called Al Arish) had ingenious wind towers that channeled the breeze into the house no matter which way it was coming from:

 

Spice market

Took dhows across the Creek to Bur Diera where I was harassed by every single little shop owner.  Not relaxing.  But still not threatening.  In fact, when I returned early to the meeting point and asked my latest harasser, very politely, if he would please leave me alone (please?), he suddenly looked very concerned and offered me a seat. See, I told you they were lovely people 🙂

We also visited Jumeira Mosque (but didn’t go in) and Dubai Mall.  I’ve the Burj Khalifa visit booked for tomorrow, so more on that then.

Chatting to my taxi driver on the way back.  He’s Pakistani.  His family lives in Pakistan and he’s been here for seven years. He sees them once a year, alternating between them visiting Dubai, and him going home.  It’s too expensive for them to all live in Dubai, so he works here and sends money home. A shot of reality in the midst of this “paradise”.

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Found it, found it!

Tired of the tourist trail, I headed in the opposite direction from my hotel, on the guidance of my taxi driver. And I found the real Dubai. It’s new, shabby, bustling and alive. As the only westerner I saw all evening, everybody looked… but nobody stared.

Two of the other things that struck me when I arrived were the cars (thousands and thousands of them and all very clean; Mahmoud mentioned the £40 fine for dirty cars, which would explain that!) and the emptiness. Deserted streets, vacant shops. That it takes so long to get anywhere here explains the cars. The heat explains the emptiness. When the sun goes down, the place comes alive. Every bench by the roadside becomes filled with locals, meeting, chatting, smoking. And not just the youngsters but organised “mothers’ meetings”, a father with his young child, old men sharing a smoke.

Crossing the main arterial road, you can feel you’re in a different part of town. I stumbled across a vegetarian Indian restaurant. I’ve always favoured gut instinct over TripAdvisor, and I got a good vibe about this place: vegetarian (I understand most Indians eat veggie), full of locals, busy staff. I went in. I was the only westerner in there. Nobody noticed me. That the service was fast, efficient, almost impatient was a breath of fresh air. I surveyed the menu – no descriptions, just lists and prices – and realised that, bar the odd word, I had no idea what any of it was. Thali, can’t go wrong with a thali. I pointed to the dish, the waiter wrote it down and promptly walked off.

I like curry. A lot. This was one of the best I’ve had.

Three courses. Total bill: £3. Yes, really. I told you I’d found the real Dubai 🙂

And when I’d finished, I walked out. Nobody seemed to notice me arrive. No one noticed me leave. Invisible, in a good way. Suddenly the heat seemed friendlier and whilst it was still illuminated and in-your-face, this part of town felt more real.

And I was back in my hotel room in 30 minutes.