A YOUNG GIRL'S CASUAL VISIT TO DUBAI AND WHAT SHE SAW THERE

DAY 1

Dubai, the hub of the Arab world, has some of the tallest buildings on the planet. Its tall buildings have reflectors, glass windows that look like silver walls.

The first sight we encounter from the flight from Delhi to Dubai is of a rocky barren terrain, and then comes the deep blue Arabian Sea. Initially, the land falls into the sea. That is a beautiful sight; something new. But then the view converts to an unending expanse of deep azure. That doesn’t give a very welcome feeling. I know right then that a lot more about the place I am going to would surprise me than I thought.

As we come through the gulf, deserts greet us with sand, sand and more sand. Only few cacti sprinkled here and there and a highway gives a third color to the scenery. As we close in on Dubai, the green becomes thicker. The gray turns into a web from a thread. Solitary sloped-roof houses crop up here and there, standing lonely as though they’d be blown away by the wind any time or buried under a huge gust of sand. Next are the neatly organized blocks of houses of various shapes and sizes. These resemble those paper toy homes, which one put together in a game as a kid, which came free with chips packets.

Driving from the airport, buildings that are architectural marvels race past us. Some have terrace gardens, some flower gardens. Gardens, neatly cropped and pruned flower bushes and trees of varied varieties beautify the landscape. However, despite all this artificial beautification, there is a certain dryness that meets the eye. One is always somehow reminded of the sandy desert and its barrenness. The longer one stays in Dubai, the better one begins to find it; as with anything that is to us beautiful through having got to know it better.

At the hotel, the coffee that is casually offered us smells of dates, almonds and cocoa.

The Emirati men wear a white gown and white head cloth held with a black ring. Astonishingly, the white is very white and maintained. The women wear all black.

Everything in Dubai is air conditioned, subways, bus-stops, taxis, all buildings, etc. Cars that are not usually seen on the Indian streets, cars that I know nothing of are popular on these streets.

Arabic is the language that works. But, a lot of people from different nationalities know Hindi.

The side roads have no traffic signals. People stop of their own accord when they see cars coming from the other directions through a circle. The wind is hot, but different; not the summer wind Delhi is accustomed to. The area is not too peopled.

We first try the hotel restaurant for an evening snack. But rates are too high and choices too less. We decide to explore the neighborhood. A small cafe next door offers us great food and rates are amazingly low; food variety, just what you want.

We go for a walk. The concept of markets here is supermarkets. The brands are the same as the ones we encounter in a store back home, but the flavors are all different, combining the cultures and tastes of various countries around the world. There is a candy and toffee brand called Wonka. The same goes with cars. Toyota, Nissan, Chevrolet, etc. are the major companies, but their car models are different from the ones common on Indian roads; more streamlined, smoother and faster. If we compare road and traffic conditions, here everybody respects their fellow travelers equally well. If someone is crossing a road because there are currently no cars, and a car comes speeding along, they power halt right ahead of the pedestrian who is crossing.

On main roads, traffic signals are perfectly timed including pedestrian directions. No one flouts laws. Or rather, no one dares. In casual conversation with a taxi driver one day, we realized the full force of law enforcement in Dubai. Better restrict yourselves a bit and enjoy the money than lose control and be severely penalized by the law.

The white markings on the roads are dressed in sand, and at night, the city lights make them glisten like tiny pieces of diamond.

The nayantara flower beds are common on road squares. And rubber pipes permanently run in lines under the plants throughout the bed.

A lot many hotels and hotel apartments fill the area ranging from the high end Emirates Concord and Hilton and Marriott to our very economic Moscow and other apartments.

The Dubai creek is just a couple of minutes trot from the Moscow hotel. It boasts boats for cargo and regular travel. It is a tourist revenue source area as well as a regular travel means for locals from Deira to Bur Dubai. At sunset, it is a wondrous sight with a number of cargo ships about their business in the vicinity and the foggy pride of the Burj Khalifa with all its majesty in the backdrop, as though on a poster with a sunset-hued canvas.

A small white traditional mosque stands out among the tall, modern, glass reflector walled hotels on three sides of it and the main highway on the fourth.

At night the lights from everything all around bestow an uncanny glow on the palm trees. These palm trees guard every road crossing, circle and square.

The daytime is hot and afternoons too bright to look at. But once the sun has gone for the day, the moon doesn’t take over. Rather, the city lights do. And a breeze up the creek renders deep breaths worth the effort.

A smile is inevitable. The nights are the time to open your eyes and take in the city. It’s all the sweetness you can get out of the skyline.

A free coffee is offered at the hotel. The one I talked of earlier. It’s called Kahwa coffee. It’s Arabian special. I drink a cup. It’s got a very strong smell, but tastes like the soaked water of coffee beans. It is practically tasteless but has a deceptively strong odour, and a mild coffee bean flavor.

Dubai travel packages are very bargainable. Packages range from very expensive to cheap and synonymously; they vary in quality of service. The agent we visit, however, recommends the medium charging companies. He believes that if you've taken the trouble to pay for your arrival here, then why go back unsatisfied having forgone the glamor and adventure the emirate has to offer?

At the supermarket I discover that the Philippino banana is more expensive and better tasting than the Indian banana, which is rotting black.

DAY 2

We try to decide what city tour to take from among the easytour.ae, hop-on-hop-off tickets of Big Bus tours and a private car at the same rate.

I look out of our hotel room window and notice how fast and smooth the cars here roll on the streets. I had noticed this before on my first car ride here from the airport to the hotel, but what I hadn’t noticed was that the roads don’t have any speed-breakers. All expressways have a minimum speed limit and most roads are expressways. Another taxi driver on another day told us how long a person from each nationality has to train till he is allowed to drive on those roads. Training to get a license can take from a few weeks to a few months.

After lazing around on the bed and watching the highly censored Dubai cable TV, we set out for the Dubai mall in the evening. At this time of the year, it is almost hitting peak temperatures. The sun is all out and ready to scorch you if you so unwisely choose to step out of air conditioning during the day. However, once you step into the shade,  it’s cool, with a subtle breeze brushing your cheek, at all times. The only problem with going out after 9a.m. would be finding that shade. An early morning neighborhood exploration walk is a good idea. Most shops here open at 8-8.30a.m. The life saver fast food outlet near our hotel catered to both breakfast and dinner hunger.

Fruits, juices and salads are a welcome food in this weather.

Water and other absolute essentials are quite cheaply available in supermarkets.

The Dubai mall is the largest in the world. It is very confusing on the inside, though information desks are there at every corner and the customers are looked after efficiently. There is bellhop and inside mall taxi facility. Famous international and local brands fill the area, as does a lot of empty space. Decorations are classy. Even the brands we know have setup their shops in very unique ways. It makes just a tour of the mall a thing to put on the to-do list. The mall’s attractions also include an underwater zoo, an aquarium tunnel with exciting packages, an ice skating rink, a splendid waterfall and village, wondrous fountains, a dinosaur skeleton for show and a tropical rainforest restaurant.

On the way to the mall, the Dubai skyline once again imposes its breathtaking self upon us and walking out of the mall, the buildings seem studded with diamonds and gold. The Burj Khalifa, lit up, and right beside, is a grand sight.

The city looks as though it is festive but simultaneously displays calm and quiet. All architecture here is a combination of the traditional Persian with the modern marvelous designs. A lot many buildings have a pointed stick at the top. This is the place that can be a good destination for architectural study.

Dubai being a city, and a hot one at this time, is more inviting at night with its amazing lights, breathtaking sunset skyline and cool breeze. Technology too is very advanced here. All public service infrastructure and facilities are govt controlled but are very modern and organized.

 

DAY 3

Today we go on to explore the Gold souk. All kinds of gold are sold cheaper, and at a fair bargain. Some of the mannequins are wearing gold chain sets that have virtually become dresses, complete with a separate matching neck jewel of the same set. We encounter this voluminous piece of jewellery at the museum later. It is a part of the traditional graduation attire for girls once they’ve finished their education of the Holy Quran.

The Gold souk is roofed with wooden-sloped antique finish sheds. Brick roads run all along the market with wooden benches lined on the sides after regular intervals and electronic gold price displays. Around the souk are clothes shops with their traditional attire and electronic goods stores where the products are a couple of thousand rupees cheaper.  Also hidden amid apartment houses that have fit in somewhere in the bustle, lie shops offering cheaper imported duplicate branded items.

Among the merchant class that makes up Dubai, a lot many are Indian.

The Spice souk, that is a few paces off from the Gold souk, is run mostly by Iranians. Some have left their native land to settle here, unable to fend for themselves due to the exorbitant prices of basic items back home. Myriad spices that we have never seen before are displayed in shops, all open to taste and experience. The whole lane is marked out by the mixed aroma of spices that lingers on.

Small souvenirs are sold at cheap prices.

Almost everything in Dubai closes at 10 p.m., most eating joints at 11. Eating joints are not overflowing with tourists, though visibly Dubai is built as a display for tourists. During the day everyone is sincerely about their jobs. After dark lights go on in all buildings, lights of all kinds. The whole city is a festival.

Another marvel right around the corner close to our hotel is the clock tower. Its numbers are in Arabic. Thankfully, it works clockwise.

Dubai laws state where to cross roads and how. And following them is wise. I was told, astonishingly, it is against the law to honk on the roads unless someone is in danger of being hurt. Double Decker buses are common on Dubai roads.

Dubai seems to have taken pieces of the methods and systems of countries and cities around the world and twined them with common sense and tradition ending up with a bewitching concoction. Dubai is a place welcoming people from all walks of life with any purpose.

DAY 4

Today morning our amusement is our attempt to locate a decent Indian restaurant. None are found satisfactory. It’s better to stick to fast food, Arabian food and continental food. The date-almond pudding with caramel sauce is an acquired local specialty and is something not worth missing. Even some architectural styles are acquired from nature; for instance, some buildings’ shapes are drawn from cactus flowers of the desert.

The desert safari will take place in a desert about 45 minutes away from Dubai. It is past noon and steadily closing in on dusk. We are with the Oasis Palm Company and in a Toyota land cruiser.

I notice on the way that the roads are monitored by radar. We pass His Highness' old and new palaces, a truly majestic sight. We also briefly pause at the peacock feeding point where some peacocks flamboyantly display their feathers, not requiring the pretext of rain.

First on the list is dune bashing in a convoy of about 16 cars of the company; an amazing experience. It is a once in a lifetime, unique, natural roller coaster ride and in places, much better; in Toto, much longer. The sand crashing against the window, the cars skidding sideways down slopes, climbing and jumping off steep dune faces, are all unforgettable experiences.

Dune bashing lasts for about half an hour after which we are driven to the company camp site. The camp site is a very clean space with triangular-roofed huts arranged in a square, where everything from sand art to souvenirs to henna tattoos to snacks, drinks and a sisa (hookah) stall are kept. We seat ourselves on pillows afore low tables that are placed on carpets on the sand. At the center is a green stage where later a belly dance by a woman and a magic dance by a man, with LED lights covering his dress, are performed. Meanwhile, a dinner comprising hammam, pickles, chole chaat, biryani, salad, boiled vegetables, pickle, dal, chole curry, bread, fruits, barbecue chicken and lamb is readied and relished.

At around 7p.m., before dinner, sunset is a sight for us.

Outside the camp there are free camel rides and paid four wheeler bike rides on the sand arena.

After dinner, at 8.30p.m., we return to our hotel.

The desert is a very sandy place with wind blowing the sand into the holes and crevices in our body every now and then. But it is a very peaceful place too. It has beauty, unparalleled.

DAY 5

Today we make our way to Atlantis, The Palm at Palm Jumeirah Island. Atlantis is at the crescent of the palm island. We very luckily have a special promotional offer ticket discount. Our ticket that gives us the privileges of the Aquaventure, Atlantis' water amusement park, its private beach and the lost chambers aquarium along with a lunch  meal inside Aquaventure. Aquaventure is truly worth the money. The rapids, torrent, and other slides and rides from the two Poseidon and Leaning towers. The whole theme of old Greek ruins is what is worth seeing. The lost chambers are based on the 10 lost chambers of the Atlantis that are said to have been found. The insides of the aquariums and fish tanks are filled with stone and moss ruins of various Atlantian artefacts and architecture. The species displayed are the 21 species that were discovered at the ruins. Along with the tour of the aquarium, there is also available a “behind the scenes” peek, which I didn’t get a chance to try out. Also one can go shark diving, feeding cow-nosed stingrays, etc.

The last thing we do at Aquaventure is go laze on the beach. The beach is made of  white sand and layered with sand in such a way as to create a shallow end of the water. The water is real perfect azure. The beach faces the Dubai skyline.

We leave the palm by the Atlantis monorail which runs along the reed of the palm. It gives a good view of the palm shaped island and is run without pilot by automatic navigation.

Dubai marvels are undoubtedly unmatchable; turning a desert successfully into a place that takes the best of everything and makes the better of them.

DAY 6

Arabian food is quite similar to Indian food. Though I am not a foodie, I enjoy their many items. Iranian tea completes the meal. Danials at Twin Towers Mall in Deira is a good place to try Arabian food. We then make our way to Al Fahidi fort or Old fort in Bur Dubai. It now houses the Dubai museum. The museum is very well kept and shows the various aspects of their culture before the settlement of the Maktoum family and the trade by oil, how the Islamic gulf social culture worked and how all their jewellery and weapons were made from goatskin and palm leaves, their burial systems, etc. It was a good look into how far they have come and what an extraordinary vision the Maktoum family had.

Just outside the museum is Meena Bazaar or Old souk. Here everything is available cheaper. We merely tour there and glance at textile, electronic, souvenir and other shops.

We then go to the heritage village in Shindgha near Jumeirah in Bur Dubai. Here we step into a few stalls with traditional handicrafts from different places and sellers cooking traditional food. Here also is the house of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's grandfather’s house, the house where he grew up. It talks of how they came here and transformed Dubai; the whole history, culture and society of then to now.

Our next and truly amazing experience is the fountain show at the base of Burj Khalifa at the Dubai Mall. It was spectacular and absolutely free.

Yesterday being a Friday, a significant day of the week for Muslims, every place is crowded. Parking at Dubai mall takes half an hour once we are in the parking area and looking for empty spaces to get into. That is an experience! Unlike India, here every building has its own parking space. And everybody follows rules on the road. Heavy fines and punishments, like deportment, efficiently make Dubai one of the safest places in the world for passengers, women and tourists. Even honking unless an emergency is unlawful, so is not stopping when a pedestrian crosses even outside the zebra crossing and changing lanes without flashing the indicator.

Last of all, we have dinner at the Dosa Plaza. It has the largest variety of modified dosa flavors in the world at 104.

DAY 7

Today we revisit the Dubai museum to get the souvenirs and decorative items for our homes. The quality here is good and things are not too expensive.

The other place is the shop called “Day to Day” at the outskirts of Meena Bazaar. We revisit the Gold and Spice souks too.