Dubai - "Vegas on Steroids!"

April 10 – 12, 2010

We had passed through Dubai three times on trips to and from Perth. It never interested me to stop and visit. I had seen and heard all I wanted to see and hear…. I’ll leave it at that….

But moving back from Perth I figured it might be my last time for a while to pass through Dubai, so I thought we should stop for a couple of days. I have to admit, I was worried about what we would do in Dubai for 2 days.

Well, I’m really glad we stopped and visited. But, I have to say - I still am not sure what I think of Dubai. In a nutshell, I would describe it as “Vegas on Steroids!!!” And really, even that doesn’t totally describe the “magnitude”.

Dubai is about 2 million people. About 25% of the population is nationals; the other 75% consist of ex-pats and migrant workers. It is a desert city, full of beautiful green vegetation; hence the city has the largest consumption of water per capita in the world. Pretty much everything is new There was a mix of culture – people wearing Arab clothes, and the majority wearing western clothing. There was the peeling sounds of the mosques calling people to worship. There are beautiful beaches and crystal clear blue water. One of the beaches reserves one day a week for use by women and children. There is very little crime and it is one of the safest cities in the world. (I paid attention to the tour guide….)

There are double-decker buses, “The Big Bus Tour”, where you can “hop on, hop off”. There are two routes, the inner city historical bus route where all the “souks” (markets) are, and then the other bus route that takes you down the creek to the new developments that we have all seen pictures of. If you ever go to Dubai, you MUST do BOTH of them.

Our first day we did the inner city cultural/historical tour. There is a museum that is underground and easy to overlook – but it is not to be missed. It outlines the history and all the changes that have happened over such a short period of time.

The souks (markets) are fascinating. We went to the textile souk, spice souk and gold souk. The spice souk is full of bags and containers of every spice imaginable. The merchants would quiz us to see if we knew what was in the different containers. We did not score high marks. As we walked by they would all ask where we were from. I was surprised when they would all ask me if I was German. Crikey!

Now, to describe the gold souks. Ohmygawd! Just to make sure you understand this I’ll say it again with emphasis – OHMYGAWD!!! I have never seen so much gold in my entire life! And that would have been in just ONE store. And there were tons and tons and tons of stores all beside each other. I cannot even imagine how much gold and jewels there are in the entire market. No armed guards. AMAZING!

Our first day went by so fast.

The next day we hopped on the city tour that took over three hours of driving to cover all the things we have heard and seen about Dubai. All I can say is that it looked just like the pictures and everything we have seen and heard. It is mind blowing. All the huge buildings, hotels, apartments buildings, shopping malls, construction, development, office towers, ski slopes… Everything new and huge. It all became exhausting – and we never even got off the bus!

Late afternoon we went on a Desert Tour, camel ride and boudhain dinner. Our driver picked us up in a Toyota Landcruiser. We drove the highway and then pulled over and he let air out of the tires. We then went off the highway and into the desert. The sand is a combination of layers of red and beige – and the wind blows over it making it look like ripples in the water.

Ohmygawd! It was sooooooooooooo much fun dune busting. We bounced and spun and flew through the air. I’m surprised I didn’t get a sore throat from screaming and squealing and hooting and hollering and laughing so hard. I sounded like a maniac. Which of course only encouraged the driver more - much to my delight. Wahooooooooooo! It was a blast! Highly recommended!

And so ended our second day.

I am really glad we stopped and spent the time in Dubai. It was an interesting experience to see firsthand. The time flew really quickly. I could actually have used one more day – to just maybe browse through some of the malls…… not buy anything…. but just look…… honest…

Having said that, I am proud to say I am probably the only woman that has been to Dubai and not shopped and not bought one single item! Honest!