For full effect, you should listen to "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead while you read this post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKd06s1LNik&ob=av2e
Dubai is an odd bubble of a city. The combination of oil revenues and tourism dollars has fuelled an explosion of over-the-top projects in this desert kingdom. Gleaming skyscrapers soar high above the shifting sand dunes, and the daily call to prayer is carried by the hot desert winds past manmade islands and seven star hotels. The roads are full of shiny new Ferraris, Land Rovers, and BMWs. The most popular activity here is probably shopping.
Global Village
We went shopping at 'Global Village', and outdoor shopping center with numerous areas, each in the theme of a different country.
Here we are trying on traditional clothes in the Yemen zone...
This man was selling a kind of spiced honey with almonds and ginger made in Yemen.
Some spice merchant stalls.
A man selling tamarind juice and tea in the Egypt zone.
Street performers doing balance tricks in the Africa zone.
A woman making a traditional arabic dessert called legemat in the UAE zone. They are served with date syrup, and they put Timbits (AKA Donut Holes) to shame.
Dubai Mall
Women's clothing shops at Dubai Mall.
A huge aquarium at Dubai Mall. There's a whole coral ecosystem inside. Supposedly the sharks never eat any of the fish because they're well fed, but Chelsea says there used to be more fish a few years ago. Hmmm. One of the front viewing panels holds the world record for largest single acrylic panel ever manufactured. Check out the scuba divers inside!
Next we went to a candy store. They don't mess around here when it comes to candy! The UAE has one of the highest incidences of Obesity and Diabetes in the Middle East. After visiting this store, you can see why. Half-pound Reese's peanut butter cups and a five pound Hershey's bar were among the things they sold.
Also, check out the ginger bread house!
An indoor skating rink and a 3 story waterfall at Dubai Mall.
The Gold Souk at Dubai Mall...
Fujairah
Not all of the emirates are as built up as Dubai. Driving east into the desert for a few hours, we went for a day trip to the emirate of Fujairah. The barren mountains here are interspersed with dry river canyons called wadis. After some hiking and exploring the wadis, we went to the coast to cool off at "Snoopy Island". Fringed with a coral reef, it was perfect for snorkeling and a beach picnic.
What a refreshing break from the city!
Madinat Jumierah
The Dubai International Film Festival happened while we were in town, so we decided to go catch a few movies. Here are some pictures of a swanky hotel and souk, The Madinat Jumierah, that was one of the film venues. It's modeled after the design of traditional souks, or marketplaces, in Dubai. The Burj Al Arab is in the background. It was designed to resemble a sail, and was the tallest hotel in the world at the time of it's construction.
Part of Madinat's Christmas display. There was a cookie hut where they baked a variety of cookies, then sent them sliding down. COOKIE SLIDE!!!
Mall of the Emirates
Shopping at the Oakley store. These sunglasses had "Metachromatic Technology", so they cost about as much as 3 weeks in India would.
Here is another candy store, with sculptures made out of candy.
This mall has the famous indoor ski hill, Ski Dubai. It also had an area for sledding. It's the coolest place in Dubai, literally.
Bur Dubai
The next day was a chance to get in touch with the roots of Dubai. We visited the oldest part of the city, which is where the old fort and gold souk were built along the creek. The fort was eventually converted to a museum, while the souk is still in business.
Traditional bedouin dwellings made of palm fronds.
Wind towers were very important in the architecture to help harness the breeze and cool the inhabitants.
A dhow, a traditional Arabic boat for fishing and trading on the open ocean.
The gold souk, still pretty much the same as it was in days gone by.
Sweet camel leather sandals!
A view over the creek outside the gold souk. For a couple Dirhams, an abra driver will gladly ferry you across.
Around Dubai
Playing a traditional instrument called the oud at a music store.
Dubai has recently built a new metro to help people get around and it is, like everything else here, very shiny and impressive. Check out the ad for Ferrari's theme park!
Jumierah Beach
The views from Jumeirah beach, near Chelsea's house. The shiny building is the 184-story Burj Khalifa, famous for being the world's tallest building.
Desert Safari
One of the popular things for tourists to do in Dubai is driving out into the desert to be entertained by Emiratis at their desert camp. We only had a few days left in town, so we decided to go for it. Our driver showed up in a large white SUV, and we drove about 45 minutes out into the desert, to a region called Hatta. With a smile, our driver assured us that it was his first day on the job, so he would try his best to drive carefully. He switched the radio to play loud Gangsta Rap and reminded us to buckle our seatbelts.
Suddenly, he veered left and we flew off the paved highway and into the sea of red dunes. He tore off into the desert at an alarming speed, swerving dramatically and bashing up over the ridges of each successive dune. He seemed to delight in driving right alongside the spine of dunes before abruptly veering off and plunging straight down the slope of it, only to race up the next one. Sometimes one set of wheels would slide off the ridge of the dune, causing us to come lurching around sideways, spraying sand in every direction. Several times it seemed certain that the car would roll, but it never did. We never got stuck, although we passed another vehicle which had. After about half an hour of this, we stopped for photos by a rock outcrop and we ran around in the sand to blow off steam.
We went on a day trip to the island city of Abu Dhabi, in the next emirate along the coast. We visited the Grand Mosque, which is exceptional for both its architecture and its tolerance of non-Muslim visitors. Notice the flower designs on the pillars, these are all inlaid with precious stones from around the world. The white marble, which is most of the structure, was shipped from Tibet. The minarets on top of the domes are plated in 24-carat gold.
All the women are required to wear a traditional abaya and shayla covering before being allowed in.
Swiss and Italian made crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings in each of the main prayer halls.
The doors between rooms are inlaid with star and flower mosaics and are hydraulically operated, as each weighs more than 15 tons.
Inside the main prayer hall, there were more elaborate wall decorations and one of the largest chandeliers in the world. The room was approximately the size of a football field, and was all covered in a single unbroken piece of carpet. Interestingly, the carpet was made with wool from New Zealand, partially woven in Iran, flown in, and then completed in the prayer hall by the artisans themselves. At 32 tons, it is the heaviest, largest single carpet in the world.
Reflecting pools outside the mosque.
Atlantis Hotel
Another fancy bit of architecture we visited was the Atlantis Hotel. It sits at the far end of Palm Jumeirah, a giant man-made peninsula in the shape of a palm tree, which is so large it is visible from space. Driving out took about 5 minutes along the highway that runs up the middle of the peninsula. Each of the "fronds" we passed along the way was home to a whole neighbourhood of mansions and luxury condos and hotels. And because of the layout, every single one was waterfront property.
The Burj Kalifa and the 'Dancing' Fountain
So here it is, the tallest building in the world; Dubai's manlihood rises more than 800m into the sky and at the base of it is of course the world largest 'dancing fountain' (whatever that means?), quite a spectacle indeed
