Friday 7th
July 2017
Dubai, UAE
We are nearly at the end of our Dubai Days, and I have
to admit I have really enjoyed the experience.
I think the theme for Dubai is Don’t Hold Back!
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| UFO house, Jumeira Beach, as we sped past |
Because they certainly do not hold back!
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| From the very front of the metro driverless train |
This is an entirely new city, built on the bones of a
fishing port.
We didn’t see anything old at all – even the museum
had fake old stuff, with the odd pottery piece dating back a few millennia.
Our tour was great – four hours in a small van (mercifully
air-conditioned) with a scattering of pleasant people from Poland, Australia,
India.
Our guide, a young Indian bloke, was cheery and
enthusiastic and ready to give us lots of information. But not too much!
For example he told us that Dubai has two seasons only
– summer, and super-summer. It is super
summer now…42 at midday, 37 at 6pm. But
nobody lives outdoors, except the poor construction workers.
The population of Dubai is 10 million, but only 2
million of these are local. They are
very privileged – the king gives each newly married couple a fairly splendid house,
free and gratis, to start their new lives.
They don’t need to work, unless they want to pootle about in a comfy
white collar government job. The work is
done by the 8 million expat workers, who never qualify for any privileges and benefits
such a free education, no matter how long they live here.
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| Burj Khalifa!! |
And one thing they can do with their oil wealth is – spend! The malls are enormous and full of luxury
goods. The taxis all belong the the government
and are Ferraris, BMWs, Mercedes. Petrol
costs less than water – 30 cents (approx) per litre for fuel; 50 cents per
litre for water.
The water comes from artesian bores but there are also
enormous desalination plants.
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| My photo of Burj al Aarb |
We covered a lot of ground in our little van. Our driver took us to the beach near the
fabled Burj al Arab, the only 7* hotel in the world. Our guide said he has been inside many times,
with clients, and that it is indeed as fabulous as its reputation. Much gold!
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| Google photo of Burj al Arab |
I found a photo
on Google of some interior lavishness.
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| Thank you Google |
We went to the old palace of the king, with its long
avenue lined with gold-plated horses.
He has now moved into something much more spacious…
Regardless of his lavish lifestyle, this king, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Al Maktoum, is much loved by his people (said our guide). He is a reformist and a poet, and can be seen
driving his own car down the highway – he also sometimes travels on the metro. We are with him on that; the metro is
wonderful!!
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| King! |
Mind you Dubai is an extremely safe city. Tourism is the second biggest money spinner
for this state; people like coming to a crime-free place, no matter how stinkyhot
it is outdoors.
Our tour took us onto The Palm. This can’t be seen in its entirely from the ground;
you have to go up in a helicopter and our little van didn’t transform into a wokka-wokka. So…Google again!
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| Thank you Google |
The Palm is extraordinary. All reclaimed from the Arabian Sea, with I can’t
remember how many thousand tonnes of stone.
Everything is imported, in Dubai.
Topsoil plants, food. Hundreds of
houses and apartments are built along the fronds of the palm. When the first few hundred were put on the
market (NOT cheap) they were sold within 72 hours. (WTF!!)
Many celebrities eg Angelina and
Brad (aka the ex Brangelina) bought in.
Why? This is a stinkyhot desert! No outdoor life…difficult for a True Tasmanian
to comprehend.
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| WTF indeed?? |
We jumped ship (van) at the Mall of Dubai. We were there in time (1.30) to see the dancing
fountains again, and then we walked a
mile or two back to the metro to go to the Emirates mall to go for a
walk. (Well…you can’t walk outside, in
Dubai! Too stinkyhot!)
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| Slightly wonky panorama shot tof Atlantis Hotel (Palm, Dubai ) |
The Emirates Mall was very magnificent and I got
lost/separated from Pete when I went down a long corridor to a gold-plated
toilet and then took a wrong turn coming back to another very similar-looking fabulous
atrium. Thank God we could communicate
like bats with our travelsims…
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| Pete filming dancing fountains |
Why the Emirates Mall?
Well.. the Mall of Dubai has an aquarium with huge sharks and mantas and
an ice-skating rink, but the Emirates Mall has…a big snow field with real snow,
and a real Black Run!
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| Snow fields! Beer! |
It is now 7pm and I have asked Pete what he wants to
do for dinner. He isn’t hungry; we did
have a big breakfast…
Tomorrow – a long flight and then – London!! (7 hours?? 10 hours?? Can’t bear to count…) I
am sure they will feed us on the plane.
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