Dazzling Dubai

 

Dubai

DAYS 76-78 - A magical city of 1.7 million people, Dubai is one of the world’s newest and most glamorous world destinations.  We arrived here on March 24th.

One of the 7 Emirates (kingdoms) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE – total population of 7 million), Dubai was literally built into the city of today beginning in 1995…a mecca of marvels and dreams that developed in less than 15 years.

The word “superlative” cannot truly describe what this city has accomplished in distinguishing itself from all other cities in the world.

Among the superlatives are:

• World’s tallest building (the Burj Khalifa -162 floors, 2,717 feet high – designed by Skidmore, Owens, & Merrill)
• World’s largest shopping center (7,600 stores)
• Three huge offshore islands created with reclaimed land in the shapes of palm trees, and a complex of 300 islands in the shape of a globe of the world…all for sale…the palm islands and world globe can be seen from outer space!
• Mammoth desalination facilities that provide all of the water needed for the entire seven emirates.
• Two 7-star hotels, one built with only 200 two-room suites running $15,000 per night – at the Atlantis Hotel you can have dinner in rooms surrounded by one of the world’s largest lagoons with an indoor aquarium.
• World’s largest private yacht (owned by a Sheikh)
• World’s most expensive cocktail - $24,000 U.S. dollars
• Camel racing (they can run 10 mph!)
• An elevated AND underground monorail system that runs 24/7 for miles, all run by computers and robots – no human drivers.
• Splendid freeways and all other civil infrastructure that was built before the city’s remarkably rapid building development
• Sheikhs’ homes and palaces with 24-carat larger-than-life gold prancing horses statues at gated entrances, and a gold-plated UAE flagpole that cost over a million U.S. dollars.
• Planning is underway for a new 12-story spherical-shaped glass hotel with 5 floors above the water and yes, 7 stories under the water, so you can literally become part of the sea life!
• The sheikh-owned retired Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner that is currently under renovation is docked here to become a hotel to be located at one of the Palm Islands.
• The 7 Emirates all share their resources with each other – oil, natural gas, water, tourism, international trade, and more.  Oil-rich sheikhs provide vast resources to the people of their country for things such as health services, hospitals, education, historical museums, etc. – making these sheikhs very popular with their people – a very unique way of governing!
• There are NO taxes on the people or the visitors in the Emirates!
• There is no graffiti, no bars on windows, no homeless people, and virtually no litter in Dubai.

We packed as much exploring in to our two full days and nights in Dubai as we could, only touching some of the adventures travelers can experience in this city – truly a desert oasis in every way.

Nearly 80% of the “locals” are Muslims of the Islamic faith, and only 20% of the population was born in Dubai…the other 80% are those who immigrated to the UAE from Middle Eastern countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Jordan, and many other countries.  (It is VERY difficult to become a permanent resident of the UAE.)

Don’t plan on moving here any time soon unless you have a spare $5 million or more to purchase a 1,200 square foot high-rise condo unit…everything in Dubai is super, super expensive!  The best bargains to be found are gold jewelry and technology products, and bartering for lower prices is expected.

I am hoping some of my friends who are civil engineers, architects, and landscape architects, in Phoenix and elsewhere, have been part of the phenomenal project planning here in Dubai – I know several firms have already opened satellite offices here in this exciting city of opportunity.

Our overall impression of Dubai can be summarized by saying it is one of the cleanest, safest, most glamorous and welcoming tourism-based cities we’ve ever visited in the world.

Below are some selected photos from a few of our adventures here:

The spectacular architecture of the Burj Al Arab hotel with its sail-shaped design.  It sits on  a jutting peninsula of reclaimed land by Jumiera Beach, surrounded by crystal waters; the extending platform at the top is a heliport.

This misty, blowing sand view of one section of the Dubai skyline shows the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, on the far right.  (At night the lights on this building and all the others are stunningly gorgeous.)

Looking in on Ski Dubai located in the Mall of the Emirates as a skier makes his way down the Olympic-designed ski run, complete with real snow, ski lifts and a below freezing constant temperature.  (Outside it was 89  degrees!)

The world’s largest private yacht – owned by a sheik oil baron.  There are 55 crew members.  As you can see in the background, the harbor is surrounded by sand dunes and very arid desert.

One of the many beautiful Muslim mosques found throughout Dubai…all have very intricate carvings on the domes, minarets, doors, and other exterior and interior building surfaces.

  Here’s Larry, hanging on to his Panama hat in the wind, as we went out into the sand dunes and desert areas that surround Dubai in 4-wheel drive jeeps for an “Arabian Night” of exploring, camel rides, and sand boarding; we also enjoyed a traditional dinner of local foods served in Bedouin tents in the cooler evening hours.  (The jeep driver stopped to let air out of the tires so we could make it through the sand dunes to reach the camels and tents.)

 Sand surfing – some experienced snow boarders made it all the way down the high sand dunes without falling on their fannies!

This young lady wrapped up our campfire evening in the desert as we sat around on large carpets on the sand and watched this very talented belly dancer strut her stuff!

The second night we were in port we took an open-top double-decker bus all over Dubai to see the city lights everywhere…it is spectacular.  Above is the Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeriah (Palm Island).  This is the hotel with one of the world’s largest lagoons/aquariums where you can eat dinner completely surrounded by the aquarium’s glass walls of water filled with amazing creatures from the sea.

 Here I am, gleefully transitioning from horseback riding to camelback riding…what a blast!  Actually, after a rather jerky ride as the camel stood up when I got aboard, the gait of a camel is like a wonderful rocking chair…very comfortable.

 Couldn’t resist sharing this with you…these are copies of full length and detail portrait photos taken on board our ship of my new sari that I purchased in Dubai…I really did learn how to wrap myself up in 7 yards of fabric the correct way!

The sun sets under the bow and ropes of our tethered cruise ship at the dock on our last day in Dubai.

We now depart for several port stops to the south in the very U.S.-friendly country of Oman, and then we continue on through the Red Sea toward the Suez Canal.  On today’s date we have traveled more than 23,500 nautical miles since the beginning of our voyage.

TRAVEL NOTE:  To put our family and friends at ease, even though there is great unrest in many of the Middle Eastern countries coming up soon on our itinerary, our ship’s captain continues to assure us that we will be sailing safely through these now-famous treacherous waters off the coasts of Africa, Yemen,  Somalia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel.  The US Navy and the Navy ships of many other countries are tracking us and other cruise ships closely on monitors, radar, and available helicopters through the waters of the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and Suez Canal. 

Our ship also has a large staff of security personnel on board who monitor our ship’s every move 24/7.  Huge cruise ships like ours have decks so high and such powerful speed that pirates cannot really board us anyway.  We also have an array of night vision capabilities and other (not-described) “protective measures” that can be utilized in case any pirates decide to try their luck anyway!

If, at any time, the travel conditions change on our current travel route, our captain will make the proper and timely decisions to keep all of us on the ms Amsterdam safe.