Dubai: A Delightful Puzzle in the Desert

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES--Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The three best reasons to live in Dubai are (1) no income taxes, (2) arid climate with sunshine almost every day, and (3) one of the safest cities in the world.

The three best reasons not to live in Dubai are (1) cost, (2) cost, and (3) cost. This very expensive city ranks right up there with London and Hong Kong. In fact, it has a master plan to become the Hong Kong of the Middle East.

Our tour guide Shehnaaz moved to Dubai with her daughter, now in eighth grade, eight years ago from Cape Town, South Africa, to be in a safer city. We have Ed and Adele, and Ed's daughter to thank for one of our top tours. When Ed's daughter was planning to join Ed for one segment of the 2009 World Cruise, she put out an inquiry on the Cruise Critic website asking if anyone knew of a good private tour in Dubai that combines most of the elements of all the ship's tours. She got several responses recommending Ms. Shehnaaz, "a Dubai Licensed Tour Guide" who is "South African English Speaking," which means you can understand what she says. If you are planning to visit Dubai and want to "Experience True Arabian Hospitality," contact her at oceancalm@yahoo.com. You will be glad that you did! Just don't expect to meet any locals while you are in Dubai. Shenhnaaz informed us that 80 percent of the population are ex-patriots with people of 200 nationalities living side by side in perfect harmony.

Our fellow travelers, in addition to Adele and Ed and us, were Perla and Joe, Susan and Mark from Chicago who are passengers who offer ballroom dance classes on board (on a small ship they are happy to put anyone with talent to work), and Diana and John who are from Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County where we live in Florida. Our traveling instructions from the Pacific Princess included dressing conservatively with arms and knees covered, not photographing any Arab woman in traditional dress of the black robe, not taking drugs or pornographic material on shore and avoiding public displays of affections with a special warning of "Affection displayed by people of the same gender is not accepted. Therefore passenger and crew belonging to this category should exercise restraint when going ashore." We learned an enormous amount about the Islamic religion and life in the United Arab Emirates from Shenhnaaz that we will summarize at the end of this entry.

The city is so clean that we think the government must wash the streets every night. Most of the construction is relatively new because this area was desert sand only 30 years ago. Shenhnaaz told us that considerable growth has happened in the eight years that she has lived in Dubai. No two buildings are the same. Until the recession, Dubai was an architect's playground that started off as a small fishing development and is now a modern metropolis.

In China, our first impression was that everything had to be the biggest. In Dubai, we were told that everything has to be the best. Dubai is the biggest market in the world for Rolls Royce automobiles. Celebrities love Dubai because they are left alone to enjoy themselves here without the new media. The new metro is the first driverless automatic train system in the world, with gold class tickets costing $1.50 and a separate car for women and children. The metro station looks like an oyster to remember that the divers used to dive for real pearls until 1930 when the Japanese discovered how to create cultured pearls. Within the next two years, the new airport should open that will be twice as large as the Atlanta airport. The country has enough oil for the next 150 with 200 million barrels being shipped daily. Abu Dhabi, another of the emirates that is growing at a phenomenal rate, is like a big brother to Dubai and will not let Dubai go under even if some of the construction companies there have.

Our first stop was the Jumeirah Mosque, one of 1,000 mosques in Dubai, which has separate sections for men and women because members of the opposite sex should not intermingle unless they are family. Our guide explained that all mosques have the same features with the only differences being the decorations: the minaret, a tall structure where a man used to go to the top to ring a bell to call the people to prayer but now most mosques have a sound system; the arches with the moon and star that are symbols of Islam; and the calligraphy or green writing on the walls that is religious messages. So now we now what to look for in mosques.

No recent trip to Dubai would be complete without a stop to stand in awe of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world at 2,680 feet, that took five years to build before it was opened in January and was named after the father of the country. When he died in 2004, the country went into mourning for 40 days. Stunningly beautiful is the best way to describe the Burj Khalifa. The water in the pool in front of it was the palest aquamarine and looked refreshingly inviting. Starting at 6 p.m., there is a water show every 20 minutes with the water shooting up 50 meters. The building and the area surrounding it were constructed in the very light colors found in the desert. The black statue in front was titled "Horse." Two hundred lucky passengers from the Pacific Princess enjoyed the 55-second thrill of taking the elevator to the 124th floor. They reported that while they did not even seem to be moving, their ears popped. When they had reached the top where floor-to-ceiling glass walls provided 360 degrees views of the city, desert and ocean, what amazed them the most was how the buildings went straight to the edge of the desert and then abruptly ended.

Dubai's artificial islands have been called the Eighth Wonder of the Modern World. Sitting in the Arabian Gulf was the Queen Elizabeth II that was to be transformed into a seven-star floating hotel before the plans were put on hold due to the recession. The Atlantis Hotel on the Palm (shape of one group of artificial islands) is similar to the hotel in the Bahamas except it has a dome. If you were hoping to enjoy a stay there in the penthouse suite, you are out of luck for the next two year s because the Sultan of Brunei has it booked. The World Islands are a cluster of 300 islands representing the globe. We dropped half of our tour group off for tea at the Burj Al Arab, the world's only 7-star luxury hotel that is taller than the Eiffel Tower and is patterned after the sail of a boat.

The rest of us went to the Mall of the Emirates, the largest mall in the world with 1,200 stores. The photo opportunity there was Ski Dubai, an indoor snow skiing attraction built by a citizen whose daughter fell in love with the snow when visiting Japan. For a fee, the attraction provides visitors with all the cold-weather clothing they need and skis for two-hours of pretending to be at a world-class ski resort. Shopping is a national pastime in Dubai and our guide's daughter Kamilah showed us how it should be done. Too bad that Shehnaaz wanted her to come on this trip to teach her that money does not grow on trees, and one has to work for what they spend.

After the refined tea drinkers caught up to the shoppers, we toured the Dubai Museum, which is housed in the restored Al-Fahaidi Fort built in 1799 to defend the area against invasion. The best exhibits at this museum, which has served as both a palace and a prison, are underground. The collection includes life-sized figures and galleries depicting Arab homes, mosques, date gardens, desert and marine life, including how the craftsmen build the traditional Arab dhow, a sea worthy vessel, using only simple tools that were available locally. In the Al kaimah, a primitive house for the inhabitants of the country's Gulf Coast, we enjoyed standing under the cool air produced by a flat structure on top of the house that produced natural air conditioning. We were especially entranced by the exhibits showing life of the Bedouins, a society of nomads who moved from place to place in search of pasture for them and their animals. Nights in the desert seemed so peaceful and calm but then those travelers had to endure the sweltering heat and sand storms of days in the desert.

We drove past high-rise villas in which the Bedouins who were lured out of the desert 30 years ago now live. The three generations living together in a villa include the original nomads, their children who grew up in the city and their grandchildren who expect all the modern conveniences available today. The families show great respect for their elders and want to keep them happy.

We then took a water taxi across the Dubai Creek to shop in the Spice and Gold Souks. The reddish orange saffron was worth more per ounce than gold. For anyone who thought the gold stores on the Caribbean Islands were amazing, the store after store in the Gold Souk with their displays of rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings will overwhelm almost all visitors.

When we returned to the ship after 7 p.m., we were ready to call it a day, even though the Pacific Princess did not depart until 11 p.m. For two certified cat lovers, we found the perfect entertainment for the evening, watching two cats on the dock walk up and down the gangplank not in use and dumpster diving in the dumpster in front of our balcony. We miss you, Foxy!

INTERESTING INFORMATION ABOUT ISLAM
The entire country goes by the Muslim calendar. The five pillars of Islam are (1) proclamation of faith in which the followers believe in one God of whom Mohammad is his messenger; (2) prayer with five daily prayers, seven days a week; (3) fasting from sunrise to sunset during the holy month of Ramadan; (4) charity with 2 and 1/2 percent of extra money being given to the poor; and (5) pilgrimage to Mecca with many people saving their entire lives to retrace the footsteps of Abraham and Sarah. Before prayers, Muslims have to cleanse the body and the mind so that they are prepared to talk with God. In the absolution area of the mosque, they wash their bodies while mentally removing everything from their minds. The three major sins are taking a life because if a person kills someone that person is taking the life of all mankind, using idols and adultery. Our guide told us that the terrorists in Mumbai were drugged on cocaine.

TRADITIONAL DRESS
Men wear a white robe with a headdress to protect them from the heat of the desert and sand storms. The color and/or pattern of the headdress depends on the country in which they live. A circular piece wrapped twice around the head keeps the headdress in place and also can be used to tether the camel. Wealthy men can wear a colorful expensive garment over their robes that indicates they are VIPs. The women wear black robes because they have many chores to accomplish and if they wore white in the desert, the robes would get very dirty. In the mosques, women need to cover their wrists, ankles and hair. The purpose is to ensure that they do not attract the attention of men. Slacks, long-sleeved blouses and scarves can substitute for the long robes in the mosque. To cover the entire face except the eyes is the personal choice of the woman and/or her husband. The stiff linen covering seen on some women that resembles a crow is really a desert form of sunscreen. Women can drive and do anything else that they want to do in the UAE.

NOTE TO JUDY (either in Bradenton or Pittsburgh)--Remember when you told Sara that the men working on the dock outside our Nile River cruise boat wore boxer shorts under their robes and she asked you when you had a man in our room to confirm it? (Just kidding!) Our guide told us that men in the Middle East do wear boxer shorts under their rooms--a combination of the traditional with the modern.

EX-PATRIOTS
Ex-patriots in Dubai and the UAE are always ex-patriots who know that someday they will have to leave. If they become unemployed, as many did when the recession slowed down the construction industry and the other businesses supporting it, they have 30 days to find another job before they need to return to their native countries. Many had to leave but were permitted to move back when they secured employment. Expats who retire also return to their homelands. If a woman marries a local man, she and her children receive the benefits of the country but this does not apply to a man who marries a local woman. We know no one who had a local guide for their tour. All the guides said that they liked living in Dubai so they abide by the strict rules. Dubai has zero tolerance for drugs, drunken driving and terrorism. Breaking the laws result in expats being sent back to their homelands and receiving a lifetime ban on their passports for returning to Dubai. Dubai is really a puzzle to us, but in a fascinating way. It is amazing what can be accomplished with lots of money. It is like DisneyWorld or Las Vegas on a much grander basis. The real question might be, "Will the country be able to sustain itself and continue this level of growth?"