Around the world in a daze: part 2

Dubai – 26 September 2009

Last night, Trish met up with me here at the hotel and we set off downtown. At first, I was a little disappointed with Deira, the part of town my hotel is, I’m much happier I decided to stay here. It seems more “foreign” than the newer parts of Dubai down my Sheikh Zayed Road.

Trish and I spent most of last night down on Sheikh Zayed road at a hookah bar place she frequents. She ordered up a pineapple sheesha and I ordered up a chicken pita. The pineapple tobacco tasted nothing like pineapple to me, but it wasn’t bad. Better than any cigarettes I may have or have not ever smoked. SO after I bummed a few puffs of her bong, er hookah, and had some food, we went to a bar called Long’s. Long’s claims to have the longest bar in Dubai, which since it was an oval shape one could make the argument that it goes on indefinitely and never ends. That’s a bit too esoteric for me at the moment. That being said, all the bars in Dubai are part of a hotel, so chances are the claim for the longest bar is easily justified. The best part, they had Victoria Bitter on tap!!! After Long’s, we taxied back to my hotel.
Taxis are ridiculously cheap, plus the meters only run on mileage. Sitting in traffic and not moving cost’s you nothing. That being the case, the drivers don’t like to sit in traffic and tend to speed around town. Reminds me a bit of NY driving.
Back at the hotel, Trish and I played a couple games of 8 ball in the bar there. We tied at one game apiece. Then off to bed. I’d been looking forward to sleeping a stationary bed and was le tired.

We got up earlyish and took off to see some more of Dubai. First to The Mall of the Emirates, where Ski Dubai is located. Then out to the Burj Al Arab and the Jumeirah Beach Resort. Apparently, next time we need to make a reservation for drinks at the Burj to get in. The hotel is very impressive, pictures don’t do it justice. Of course, we had to “sneak” into the Jumeirah Beach Resort to get good pictures. After that, and a brief air-conditioned respite in the Jumeirah, we headed off to the Hard Rock Café. Which was closed. Bastards! Apparently they’re remodeling and building a hotel (I found out later).

We then headed off to the Dubai Mall. They take malls seriously here. This one has a huge waterfall inside, an ice skating rink, and a massive aquarium that you can scuba in for a nominal fee. We had hoped to see the Burj Dubai from an observation deck. Unfortunately it has not opened yet, and neither has the Burj Dubai. Trish informed me that when the Burj Dubai opens (and it’s the world’s tallest building) you will need a medical certificate of some kind to go higher than the 104th floor. Seriously?? I think 104 will be high enough for me.

We had attempted to catch the new metro rail earlier, but apparently it doesn’t open till 2 PM on Fridays. Good to know.

After lunch at the Dubai Mall (where Trish made a bee line for Taco Bell… I declined for something more exotic…. Thai. I guess being away from the states will make you crave certain things after a while), we headed back to the hotel to relax before the desert safari.

If you go to Dubai, you have to do the safari thing. It’s really very cool, and it get’s you out of the city. We took of with Saleem in a Toyota land cruiser. We picked up a couple from Poland and 2 other guys from somewhere, probably Indians or Paki’s. The last 2 people we had to track down in Sharjah. On a side note, Sharjah is way bigger than I expected. I guess I was thinking it was like Macon is to Atlanta. It’s more like if you put Atlanta 30 minutes from say Charlotte. It’s a respectable size place. No idea what there is to do there, and didn’t look nearly as nice or moneyed as Dubai.

Anyways, after a drive out to the desert that was about 30 minutes out of town… ok I guess technically the city is in the desert, but now we were out in the middle of nothing. Initially we stopped for water and to let air out of the tires. Then met with up with the rest of the land cruisers and just sort of walked around the sand until everyone was ready to go. There was some light entertainment in the form of some one in a very expensive looking Audi who was trying to plow around the sand. Didn’t go so well for him. And off we went, over and through the sand, occasionally sideways. After a stop for some sand boarding, where Trish went down the dune like a professional and I wiped out big time, we headed back across some dunes to a “Bedouin” camp. There you can do a camel ride (a short circle but I have now ridden a camel, all that matters), henna tattoos, Sheesha, play dress up, and have a nice dinner of local food (whatever it was… I know there was something that tasted like chicken and some hummus). After dinner, there was some belly dancing.

All pretty neat for the price. Again, I recommend it.

On a more, say, non-tourist side, it’s interesting to no the vast differences you see here. Almost everyone who “does” anything is an immigrant. Out taxi drivers haled from Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sudan. They ranged in time in country anywhere from 2 years to 33 years. Taxis are cheap and plentiful, and given that Dubai never developed a system of street addresses, confusing to get anywhere unless you know exactly where it is.

Anyways, some of the immigrants have it rough. Deira is almost all immigrants and driving back into town from the desert you see the busses that shuttle migrant workers parked all along the road in front of the “housing”. The housing areas make the projects of Atlanta look almost luxurious (I’m thinking of the old Techwood homes). Everywhere there are people out in the grassy areas (especially at night or in the shade during the day) just sitting, eating, and sleeping. Trish told me they earn about 50 Dirhams a month, roughly $80.

So like the Egyptians, the amazing monuments in Dubai were built on the backs of slave labor. I’m sure some have found great opportunities here, but you don’t see how the vast majority live while driving between the towers along Sheikh Zayed Rd. Then again, for all I know they got it better here than in Bangladesh.

Still, I would like to return and spend more time here, perhaps when it’s slightly cooler. What’s funny is Trish seemed so happy it finally cooled off to 95F highs. She’s acclimated and will probably freeze through a Georgia winter, if she ever comes back ☺

That’s all from tonight. I’ve washed most the sand off and tomorrow it’s off to Hong Kong.