So, In Europe, they like to take a lot of bank holidays (unfortunately all loaded into the front half of the year). Anyways, in April 2009 the GF decided that we would spend the long Ascension holiday traveling to Dubai. Now Dubai is a place that I've always heard of but somewhere that I knew very little about. So, with that, we boarded the fight and off we went to explore my first Middle Eastern City.
The GF was working in event planning at the time and was able to swing us a great deal at a 5 start hotel in the heart (if there is one) of the new city. Don't forget, five star sounds great but in Dubai, the land of 7 star accommodations, this was just about right.
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| After arriving, we did what every tourist does. We asked the concierge where to go for lunch. He suggested this place at the new souks with a beautiful view over a man-made lagoon at the 7 star "sail" hotel |
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| Simply another view from somewhat further away. I'd be willing to bet that anybody who has visited Dubai has almost identical photos |
Dubai is a really peculiar place. Firstly, the city itself is ridiculous! The new part of town seems to stretch indefinitely along the coast in either direction. This makes traveling extremely difficult and costly as everything must be done by taxi. This also creates an incredible amount of traffic at almost anytime of the day. Unfortunately, the new monorail was still in the process of being constructed so public transit really wasn't an option.
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| This photo was taken from a water taxi in the old harbour. This one of the national palaces with the tours in new Dubai in the background. It is amazing to see the number of cranes in Dubai. Interestingly, this was the height of the economic crisis and I don't think any of them were actually working. I didn't notice the "no photography" sign until after getting home....I promise! |
Secondly, Dubai is the Vegas of the Middle East. It's located in the middle of a desert and probably shouldn't exist except the city itself has become the attraction. Of course, there is the harbour and it's clear this is the economic engine (apart from Tourism and real estate) for the old "Dubai" with old wooden boats laden with flat screen TVs, refrigerators, and video game consuls destined for Iran. This is just one of the many unnatural juxtapositions between the old, traditional way of life and the new, western inspired way of living.
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| I was amazed by the dichotomy that exists in Dubai. These ships seemingly built in the middle ages and questionably sea worthy carry the most innovative of modern technologies into Iran. In the background you can see the two modern Rolex towers squeezed between old buildings |
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| Another photo taken from the water taxi showing the skyline of "old" Dubai. A stark contrast to the new modern towers found out along the coast |
Now, by nature of being located in the desert, Dubai is ridiculously hot. Even in April/May the temperatures were edging above 40 degrees Celsius. For normal people, this might be a dream come true but for somebody who seems to be allergic to the sun, tromping around the souks of old Dubai in the middle of the day could only end one way....heat stroke! I guess that could have been anticipated.
We did what anybody would do their first time to Dubai. We went and had lunch down by the "sail", visited a water park where I was gutted to learn the surf wave was closed for maintenance, we dined in some incredible restaurants, learned the hard way that the Emirates don't understand the proper ratio of liquor to mix (I don't remember the rest of the evening), visited the aquarium, saw the indoor ski hill, toured the malls and went Dune bashing. This last one probably warrants further explanation.
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| The open desert is a beautiful place and unlike anything I'd ever seen before |
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| We had just left the highway when this picture was taken. The dunes seem to stretch forever is all directions. |
Dune bashing is the act of racing through the open desert at high speed driving up, over and down massive sand dunes. We hired a professional driver and his Toyota 4x4 and headed out into the open desert one mid afternoon. Sitting in the far back seat was the most surreal experience as we flew up and over any number of massive sand dunes.
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| The desert was shared with quads and 4X4 trucks. It seemed there was a group in almost every direction. |
To our luck, on one crazy maneuver our driver exploded the rear tire effectively separating it from the rim of our 4x4 leaving us helplessly stranded in the middle of the desert. It became apparent rather quickly that this wasn't his first time as he and his crew managed to salvage the tire and get us moving again within the next 30 mins....only to get us stuck a few halfway down another dune only minutes later.
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| I think I should sell this photos to Toyota. This picture was taken when I had a few minutes outside of the jeep while the tire was being replaced. I love how the small ripples in the foreground are like a microcosm of the dunes themselves. |
All in all, this was an incredible adventure and definitely the highlight of the trip to Dubai. The desert really is a magical place and I only wish the photos were able to capture it.
Many people rave of Dubai. Unfortunately, I'm of the complete opposite opinion. Dubai is a place worth seeing only because of it's unnatural existence. It is a incredible city based on it's modern architectural wonders but unfortunately, it lacks the culture, history and essence that make great cities great. I found it was nothing but a shell in the middle of the desert that lacked any sort of spirit and inspiration. In the process of making this concrete and steel attraction they have destroyed the land and sea that could have made Dubai great. I will maybe return to Dubai in 10 years time only to see what this city will look like when it's done. In some ways, Dubai is like the late Michael Jackson, a fake, man-made, soulless shell that you can't help but wonder what outrageous thing they'll do next with their money.
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