United Arab Emirates

September 2009

For the past few years, I have always flown to Oman direct (or at least with no lengthy stop over), but this year, Emirates Airways were undercutting all other airlines to Oman and my father and I were able to juggle a quick stop over to check out Dubai.

We left Muscat at 10:45 on Saturday September 19th and arrived at Abu Dhabi airport an hour later. I had pre-booked a car with Rental Car Group and also a room at the Novotel Abu Dhabi Centre Hotel. Essentially we had half a day to see what we could.

Considering the E11 takes you all the way from the airport up to Dubai, we could not find a sign to it. We ended up going towards Abu Dhabi before finding a junction to turn around – but not onto the E11 – just off onto another nice straight road to a town, where we picked up a road back to the E11 in the right direction. Doh! Blown up by the wind, sand was swirling across the roads.

Dubai History: In the early 20th Century, Dubai had 10,000 people but was just a dustbowl in the desert. Oil was discovered in 1966 and in 1971 the United Arab Emirates was formed, incorporating Dubai. Various Sheikh leaders have been building up Dubai’s international reputation ever since. The Maktoums are the ruling family and Sheikh Mohammed is the 5th richest man in the world and he has personally spearheaded Dubai’s recent developments. He wants the population to triple to 3 million residents and to double tourist visits to 15 million a year.

Unlike its neighbour Abu Dhabi, Dubai is no longer oil rich and needs to diversify. Until the ‘credit crunch’, it was the fastest growing city in the world and an estimated 25% of the world’s supply of cranes were apparently based in Dubai. The lure of no income tax has encouraged people to move here for work from abroad but having seen how little there is to do, I’d have to be very money-orientated to move here. Apparently, Dubai generates one of the highest per capita volumes of waste in the world. Why not? They can afford to (until now).

Our journey took us through the non-descript towns of Shahamah, Al-Samba,and Jebel Ali. The only obvious thing was the overhead monorail/train line being built to link these places. There were speed cameras on a regular basis. Some drivers just drove at top speed and ignored the cameras. When I asked the car rental staff about this, I was told that some people could afford the camera fines and just paid them. Obviously points on your licence did not exist. What a wonderful philosophy. I’m rich, I’ll pay my way out of trouble.

We had a few sights to check out. The first was the Palm Island Project. These three artificial islands, the world’s largest man-made islands, constructed in the shape of palm trees just off shore, have been dubbed the Eight Wonder of the World, along with the World, a series of 300 islands representing the world. The project has doubled Dubai’s 45 mile coastline but also destroyed all surrounding marine life - which is why you don’t come to Dubai to scuba dive. Seven million tons of rock and 94 million cubic metres of dredged up sand were used to build these archipelagos out into the Arabian Gulf and provide more beaches for the projected tourists.

We checked out the three mile wide Palm Jumeirah, visible from space and apparently the highest rents in Dubai. To reach it, we passed between lines of yellow plastered apartments with balconies and then a tunnel. A huge hotel lay before us. It was the Atlantis Hotel, an £800 million pink wedding cake of a hotel, boasting 1500 rooms and its own aqua adventure park. This had been opened last year with apparently the most expensive hotel opening ceremony of all time (£12 million) and the biggest firework display in the world. We didn’t know this until later. But with such a huge building in front of us, I thought we should check it out.

Parking up on the waterfront (free for two hours), we walked up through the gardens past gardeners and security men and into the reception/lobby area which had a huge colourful sculpture in it. As westerners, no-one stopped us when we went to explore. We followed a long stately corridor of marble and discovered the largest aquarium we had ever seen. It was the size of a large building with families of large rays swimming around as well as a whale shark. It was awesome. The best aquarium I had ever seen. We had just spent a week scuba diving in Oman hoping to see a whale shark (we saw one in 2007) and here was one in front of us. We stood in front of the massive glass front and went ‘large fish spotting’. You can checkout the Atlantis Hotel at http://www.atlantisthepalm.com/magicatatlantis.aspx

There were lift guards supposedly stopping the ‘tourists’ from getting up to the reserved floors, but we managed to find a way of getting to the top floor for a fine view of Palm Jumeirah from above. The thing that struck us was that much of the island was still barren plots with nothing on them. If I was rich, I wouldn’t live here.

Along the coast, we could also see the Burj Al-Arab Hotel (‘Tower of the Arabs’) (completed 2000), an iconic landmark and is still the ultimate symbol of Dubai. Its design as the world’s tallest hotel (321m – 1053ft) resembles a billowing sail of a dhow with its white woven glass-fibre screen façade and it stands on its own artificial island. It is a self proclaimed 7 star hotel. We drove to it, only to find a secure perimeter and endless security. Entry is by reservation only. I only had a few seconds to jump out and take a few photos from a distance. It did look very impressive.

The Mall of the Emirates (2006) is the largest mall in the world outside the USA. We parked here and walked in to see something very different in a desert city. A world within a world the ski slopes of Ski Dubai within the Mall of the Emirates (-5’C) are set behind massive walls of glass. It is the world’s largest indoor snow park. It boasts five slopes to suit all levels and there are chair or drag lifts (with 6000 tons of artificial snow). The longest run is a world record beating 400 metres with a 62 m vertical drop. There is even a (mini) toboggan run. Apparently, the apres-ski log cabins have real log fires.

The Mall seemed to be full of westerners and ex-pats all looking rather miserable, as if their only reason for existence was to come and spend their money. Around 85% of the 1.4 million population are foreigners (including a 120,000 ex pat British community) from 160 countries. But the Maktoumns own everything and there is little political or press freedom and any non Arab is definitely a second class person. Apart from the Burj Al-Arab Hotel, there is a new building that dominates Dubai. The Burj Dubai (The Tower) – is now the world’s tallest building over 705m. The American architect Adrian Smith based his design on flowers and Islamic geometric shapes to create a spiral effect. I think it is still being finished. There is a corridor of unfinished skyscrapers that lines this section of the Sheikh Zayed Highway and it looks like a giant slender toothpick above the row of broken ugly teeth. I’m sure one day all these buildings will be completed but at the moment, everything seems to have ground to a halt.

My friend in Oman, Ceri, had told us that no construction worker had been paid in Dubai for months. Since the stock market collapse, investments have tumbled 70% and 300 Billion pounds worth of planned development projects have been cancelled or put on hold. A couple of months after our return, Dubai was in the headlines, having finally defaulted on its loans and scaring international stock markets with the threat of bankruptcy.

We had only visited a few of the famous sights, but I left Dubai wondering what on earth you would do here on holiday or even as workers - spend your time in shopping malls? I had expected a gleaming new city but it was really just like many other cities rebuilding itself, traffic flows dominating the layout. It will be interesting to see if it is ever finished.

Returning to Abu Dhabi, the traffic moved quickly despite the regular cameras and we entered the suburbs just before dark. Abu Dhabi had its own construction going on in the outskirts but in a limited way. We passed the new Formula 1 race track that would be used in a few weeks.

Heading downtown on Al Maktoum Street, we were stopped by plenty of traffic lights, but we got our bearings and found Hamdan Street which was very busy with shops and restaurants. We were able to park right outside the Novotel Abu Dhabi Centre Hotel and check in to a decent 3 star hotel. I went exploring the area later that evening, principally to find take away pizza.

Wikipedia says of Abu Dhabi (literally Father of Gazelle) is the capital of, and the second largest city in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper had an estimated population of 860,000 in 2007. It is the seat for the UEA Government and the home for the Emarati Royal Family. Abu Dhabi has grown to be a cosmopolitan metropolis. Its rapid development coupled with the relatively high average income of its population, has transformed Abu Dhabi, making the city more Westernized than most other Arab cities. Abu Dhabi alone generates 15% of the GDP of the UEA.. One of the world's largest producers of oil, Abu Dhabi has actively attempted to diversify its economy in recent years through investments in financial services and tourism Fortune magazine stated in 2007 that Abu Dhabi was the richest city in the world.”

For now, we had to drive to the airport in the morning. En route we passed Sheikh Zayed Mosque which is the largest mosque in the country and the eight largest mosque in the world. Just after we arrived for a quick photo, hundreds of worshippers filed out after morning prayers. We returned the rented car and caught a flight back to the UK. (Note: Abu Dhabi has free internet for passengers – excellent).

On this visit we were only staying in Abu Dhabi and not touring it. My first impression was of a bustling, comfortable city with friendly people who wanted to help you. I’m sure I’ll be back to the UEA in the future.