Recently I began realizing that I want to travel, but to do so requires goals and planning. So I sat down and began considering. I’d love to see a lot of the world, but one city which popped into my head was Dubai.
So I admit that the hype is getting to me, it seems like a playground for the rich. But everything seems so utopian, is there something I don’t know. Is it crime infested? Is it run by a corrupt government or what? Or is it really a good place that is just on the other side of the globe?
I guess I’m asking if anyone has been there, or lives there, and can tell me any reason not to plan a trip out there in several years…
Dubai? Not much to say. It is not as nice as Bahrain for debauchery. It has a very nice airport, with flights from airlines you have never heard of. Like Mos Eisly spaceport. Ugly terminal, it looks like the inside of an upturned toilet bowl, if you have a bright green toilet.
Drinking only at five-star hotels. Remember to ask when you make reservations. They got a Hard Rock Cafe. Stalinisque main drive that marches off into the desert. Good shopping.
Paul in Saudi summed it up pretty well (thanks by the way for the comment about my debauched adoptive homeland, which is more debauched on weekends when all the Saudis turn up!!!)
Dubai is nice for a long weekend shopping trip, but don’t expect anything to be any cheaper than anywhere else, except maybe gold, which is very nice quality. You can do a desert safari and watch some cheap Lebanese or Egyptian belly dancer shake her thang in front of a desert and camels backdrop.
You definitely need to stay in a five-star hotel (nothing cheaper than the Crowne Plaza) otherwise you will inevitably get some Eastern European “girlfriends” knocking on your door at 2am, asking if you would like some company!
If you want a nice Middle Eastern experience, without so much hype, try Oman - nice hotels, great diving, more authentic shopping in the Muttrah souq in Muscat, and the weather isn’t quite as severe.
Hmmmm thanks for the info, the trip would be a few years away, but I just ended up reading stuff about Dubai and wondering if there was something I was missing. We’ll see how it goes
Actually, travel requires a passport and a plane ticket. You don’t need goals, or in many cases, much planning. Information is always good, but I could prep and pack for a trip to anywhere in Western Europe (for example) in 15 minutes.
From Spartan:
Scott: In the city there is always a refelection, in the woods always a sound.
Curtis: What about the desert?
Scott: You don’t wanna go to the desert.
Stranger
I’ve been twice. Beyond the shopping malls, beaches, and the five star hotels, there is the old quarter, with fascinating old buildings and soukhs. There are boat trips across the river (canal?) for about 2c and down it for about $20 - the latter very touristy, with a barbecue banquets on board. I also recommend going to the Dubai museum first, which only takes an hour or two to get round, and gives you some background to the place.
But don’t forget that Dubai is just one of 12 emirates in the same country, the UAE, which also includes Abu Dabi.
The first time, we rented a car and drove into the desert to Sharjah, and found a wandering camel market, and explored ruins and oases. We also drove into Oman semi-legally, and went to see a really ancient soukh, where all the women wore facemasks, and we enjoyed tea and hubbly pipes with the local merchants for no other reason than generosity.
One thing I haven’t seen anyone mention is the humidity! I’m not sure when you’re going but in the summer months you will break a sweat just walking across the street. The traffic is also a horror. Personally speaking, I don’t care for Dubai or Au Dhabi. They just strike me as being completely commercial and there is actually very little to do that you couldn’t do just as well at home.
I would also second Paul in Saudi’s recommendation of Bahrain. I used to live there and enjoyed the place. Not as expensive as Dubai, more interesting, and a slightly slower pace of life.
If you’re feeling really adventurous, come to Saudi. Believe it or not, you can get a tourist visa these days. More things to see and do, less traffic, cheaper prices, and my own experience has been that the people are more friendly. Tourist visas are new and this would take a bit of planning but it might be worth it to you, bragging rights if nothing else.
Dottygumdrop
Are they still East European? I had understood that the Chinese had taken-over that business.
Hey Testy! I don’t know about the Chinese, mind you we haven’t been to Dubai in the last 6+ months. My husband went to Dubai for a few days earlier this year to visit his sister who was in hospital there. We couldn’t get him into the Crowne Plaza and couldn’t afford the really high-end hotels (there was a convention or shopping festival on), so had to book him into the Holiday Inn. BIG mistake - the lobby of the hotel was littered with Ukrainian girls, all looking for a new friend …
Here in Bahrain, the Thai girls seem to have taken over from the Russians to a large extent, athough the Ethiopians and Indians still corner the $5 end of the market!
But, back to the topic at hand …
If you have never been to the Midde East, then Dubai might be a gentle, Western-friendly place to start - not quite the culture shock you would get from Saudi or even Bahrain. But it is VERY commercialised - currently, Dubai’s biggest claim to fame is the indoor ski slope at the Mall of the Emirates. There are a multitude of huge shopping malls, none of which actually offer anything cheaper than anywhere else in the world.
Oh, and jjimm, I think it’s actually 7 emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and … Ajman (not sure about the last one)). Qatar and Bahrain were also invited to join the Trucial States when everyone became independent in 1970-1971, but they decided to form independent nations.
Dottygumdrop My own experience has been worse than that. Stuff in Dubai seems amazingly overpriced.
So, do people in Bahrain still cringe on Wednesday afternoon when they see the hordes pouring over the causeway? I lived there just before the bridge opened and everyone hated it. It always felt like an invasion.
Dubai gets more expensive by the day, probably because of its popularity. Newcomers to Bahrain all make the long-weekend pilgrimage to Dubai at some point, but most don’t bother to go back, unless they want something from Ikea!
Wednesday afternoons in Bahrain are kind of weird, if only because the already dubious driving standards take a steep nose-dive. Saudi driving skills are proof-positive that women are not the ones to blame for all the bad driving in the world! The Bahraini government has moved to a Thursday-Friday weekend here finally, so at least Saturdays are bearable and relatively Saudi-free, but the roads and the shopping malls are jam-packed on Thursdays and Fridays. The area around Seef Mall turns into a grid-lock, as the Saudis fill the cinemas (non-existent in Saudi) and the bars! My sister-in-law remembers as a girl being told to avoid the red ghutras (head scarves/yashmaks), which used to be a clear indication of Saudis, but now you just pick them out from the slightly crazed look in their eyes, or the string of women and children behind them at the mall!
