May 4 - Dubai finally

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We arrived in Dubai after a great flight at 11 PM May 3^rd.  By the time we got our bags went through immigration and were picked up by our car and driver it was nearly midnight when we got to the hotel.  We’re staying at the Oberoi Hotel in Business Bay, the financial center of new Dubai.  We stayed here last time and the place is just as nice as it was then.  Our room is huge (plenty of room to spread out our suitcases) and from one of our two balconies we have a great view of the Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest building.

Dubai is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, one of seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates.  It’s also the largest city in the UAE with a population of around 3.5 million.  Because of its proximity to Iran (just across the Persian Gulf), Dubai has long been an important trading port.  At one time it had a thriving pearl industry but that ended with the advent of cultured pearls followed by the Great Depression in the last century.    The current growth was spurred by oil, but Dubai’s oil reserves are low and today the vast majority of its revenue comes from tourism, trade, real estate, and financial services.  Only 7% of the economy is from oil It’s now a financial hub in the Middle East.

We were last here 5 years ago and the growth has been tremendous.  Next year Dubai will host the World Expo  (the first time it has been in the Middle East)and I think a lot of the construction has  been spurred by that.  The number of skyscrapers is in the hundreds and it sort of boggles my mind to think that just 45 years ago this was mainly just desert.

I think a little something about the population is in order.  Emiratis, that is actual natives of the Dubai, constitute only 20 % of the population.  The other 80 % are expatriates who have come here to work, the vast majority from Pakistan, India, the Philippines, and other parts of Asia.  Of course there are westerners here to work in the various financial institutions and business ventures.  Emiratis get free health care, free education, free water and electricity and guaranteed housing.  Remember they are only 20% of the people here.  The other 80% foot the cost of the water and power supply and are guaranteed nothing except to be deported if they don’t work.  Rent is extremely high so a small on bedroom with a bath may cost around the equivalent of $450 per month.  The rank and file workers from all these Asian countries don’t make that much so they double, triple and quadruple up in tiny apartments.  While it sounds pretty bad, I’m guessing that the places some of them come from the living conditions may be even worse.

So, enough about the economy.  We slept in a little and after lunch we took a shuttle to Dubai Mall and got on a HO-HO bus to see the sights.  The contrast between the new, modern Dubai and the old city is startling.  Instead of towering skyscrapers in the old city there are stuccoed buildings and souks. Tomorrow we’re going back to one of the souks;  today we just rode around since we’re still jet-lagged.  One of the most interesting things along the way was Dubai Creek.  This waterway is where fishing boats and the traditional dhows tie up.  Dhows used to be sailing vessels and they were he principal vessel used for trading.  Today of course they are motorized, but let me tell you, some of them looked like they were old enough to be under sail.  What we found particularly interesting was the cargo waiting to be loaded on them.  Along the waterfront were boxes and boxes of appliances.  Mountains of  refrigerators and washing machines and other such household appliances were there waiting to be loaded.  I wondered where they would be going; perhaps they were headed across the Persian Gulf to Iran since I think there are embargos for such stuff.  Who knows?  Alongside one dhow was something we found even more curious, a Bazooka Bubble Gum van.  I can’t remember the last time I saw Bazooka Bubble Gum anything.

A dhow waiting to be loaded

Where are all these appliances going?

The Bazooka Bubble Gum van, just because I thought it was funny

I did want to say a little about the Burj Khalifa.  It’s the tallest building in the world at 2717 feet.  The building houses a hotel, offices and apartments.  Evidently there is some rivalry between Dubai and Saudia Arabia and the Saudi king commissioned a building to be constructed in his Kingdom that would be taller.  A few years ago the height of the building under construction was announced by the Saudis.  Not to be outdone, the Emiratis decided to build another skyscraper which will reclaim the title and they won’t say how tall it will be.

That's it!  I'd like to go to the observation platform but I don't think my heart could take it.

Anyway, after taking in the sights we were tired and headed back to the hotel.. Tonight we’re eating at the Oberoi’s Italian restaurant.  It sounds strange to going to an Italian restaurant in an Indian hotel in an Arabic country, but it looked good and it’s easy.

I don’t have a lot of photos; taking them from the HO-HO doesn’t give the best results.  I’ll try to do better  as we go along.