Hanging with the sheikhs in Dubai
Having covered my own favorite vacation in Manu, Peru, I thought I would cover the vacation that my wife has loved the most. Without a doubt, this would be a trip we made about two years ago to the sheikhdom of Dubai. I’m sure to most of you Dubai is a very familiar name. The name pops up more and more these days. However, it must be seen to be believed.
Imagine that someone woke up someday and thought.
“I live here in some desolate area of Wyoming, but I kind of like Chicago. So, I’ll build Chicago right here.”
The scale of building in Dubai is matched by nowhere on Earth. When we were there, every patch of ground in sight was the future location of some skyscraper. The following shot gives you an idea. This is part of the Marina complex, which is now complete.
Admittedly, the original reason we went to Dubai was for the shopping. Dubai is well known as the shopping destination both of the Russian rich and famous as well as the bargain seekers. Normally when we are bargaining for a price, Nelya and I will use Russian with each other to discuss what price we should offer. This approach did not work at all there. Neither did using Tajik, as the large persian population there understood it very well.
Although Dubai is known for its shopping, we weren’t really impressed by it there. While every high end brand you can imagine is available there, the prices were not bargains by any means. The silk souq did not really compare to the silk markets of Singapore and electronics and camera equipment were more expensive there than in the US. We did however get decent bargains on gold and a beautiful silk Persian rug. The quantities of gold in the gold souq itself was impressive.
Nelya and I both had fun at the spice souq, where you could buy vials of saffron for a quarter. It was quite mind boggling seeing saffron for sale by the kilo. The vials made great gifts for friends and coworkers upon returning.
Malls in Dubai made the largest of our malls look tame. They are currently constructing the largest mall in the world – far larger than the current largest mall located in Edmonton. We went to a relatively new mall called Ibn Batuta, where each section of the mall resembled a different part of the world. The following shot is of a ceiling in a mall, not a mosque or any historic structure.
The primary mistake we made with Dubai was not bringing our kids. Like a lot of people, we were worried that the Middle East could be a dangerous place and was no place for children. We could not have been more wrong. Children are welcome everywhere there and there are many playgrounds and activities just for them. Almost every hotel has baby sitting services. Now I realize that the truth is the opposite. The Middle East is one of the easiest places to take children, with children being far more welcome than they are in most places in the United States.
We started our trip in the Oasis Beach Hotel. This was a very nice hotel and would easily qualify for at least 4 stars in the US. Next to our subsequent destination it was a drop in the bucket, but for the price it was a very nice place. The picture below was from our window.
Dubai is a very international place. Tourist flock there from almost every corner of the world, with the exception of the United States. We saw Germans, French, Russians, Indians, Pakistanis, Venezuelans, Chinese, Australians, and Kenyans there – but hardly a single American. Although many signs are in Arabic, English is widely used there and most people understand it. In fact I suspect more people understand English there than Arabic!
I will keep the highlight of the trip for the next day’s post though, where we had the chance to stay in the best hotel in the world.
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Tags: dubai, middle east, photography, Travel, vacation