January 2014
Our next stop was United Arab Emirates (UAE). This was a slight change in gear, as to start with, we first had to make sure we were following all the rules. As a woman you had to have arms and legs covered, hair in some cases also. There was no public affection, no eating on public transport, no jaywalking as well some other more obvious ones.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi were so different to any other place I have travelled too so far and very different to what I expected. The amount of money that has and continues to be spent here is beyond belief. As always, we had to see it all. Since the UAE was slightly more expensive than Turkey, we did make some sacrifices such as a 200 dollar high tea in the Burj Al Arab, where inside the hotel the walls are covered in 1600 square feet of gold leaf.
I loved traveling and learning about the UAE and the Emariti people. I had heard some pretty crude generalizations from expats, which are not true. I have now got such a better understanding, respect and appreciation for the Islamic religion. It is so peaceful and gracious. I spoke to many women who showed absolutely no skin, some even had their eyes hidden under their burqa while in public. They were so welcoming and willing to open up and tell about a day in their lives. To me this was fascinating and I gained a whole new understanding to the point that if I lived in Dubai I would probably wear a burqa too. My mum and I often laughed with the women saying that under their traditional black robes, I would just wear pijamas all day. Many said, yes, it is so easy, you don’t have to worry about what you look like. On the other hand it’s cool as you are protected from the treacherous heat and sandstorms of the Arabian desert. Then there was the other end of the spectrum, where the most gorgeous women where hiding behind black drapes, only occasionally seeing supper high stiletto heels, glistening jewelry and skin tight pants revealed only by the silhouette of the beaming sun. It was such an amazing experience being able to see into their worlds. Wearing the black cat woman outfit is actually optional, the husband cannot enforce it, it is just accepted and women do it willingly.
Along with the outfits the women wear, the men also wear the traditional white robes known as dishdash, also with a headscarf. The head scarf is secured with what looks like black ropes called agal. Again the dress code originated from protection from the brutal desert. They say the ropes were once used to tie together camel legs to stop them running away while in the desert.
The mosques were everywhere around UAE. Even the hotel rooms had an arrow on the ceiling to point towards the direction of Allah Mecca. The most beautiful mosque I saw this entire trip was in Abu Dhabi called the Sheikh Zayed Mosque. The mosque is so beautiful it nearly made me emotional. The 12 tone Swarovski crystal chandelier was the most beautiful I had ever seen. The pictures we took do not even do this mosque any justice. It was spectacular beyond explanation.
As many of may know Dubai is also known for its shopping. The most incredible was definitely the Dubai mall. This is however no toothpaste stop as you would need at least 4 hours. Sadly enough all I could afford were lollies and food, without my usual self serve sampling of candy in fear my hand would be chopped of as per Arabic law. We all saw all Aladdin right? This is why crime rate is so low. The Dubai mall can fit 50 international sized soccer fields inside it and is a world class shopping destination with 1200 stores and 160 food outlets. If you are looking for a specific store, I can guarantee it is there. Every store I could think of in both Australia and USA was there, even Red Lobster! The mall has it’s own magazine and catwalk of course. I was told that the plan for Dubai is to build another mall 6 times bigger than this one. Who are all these rich people that shop at these stores? I am not a keen shopper so I guess I don’t get it. Or maybe that’s my excuse since I really couldn’t afford it. I do have to admit that this massive mall was packed full of people from all over the world and it was not even the weekend or peek season.
In the Dubai mall, there was also an Olympic size ice ring, a three story aquarium, underwater zoo, beautiful water fountains one of which is known to be the most spectacular in the world shooting up 500ft. There is also the entrance to the tallest building in the world standing at 828m. You have to pop your ears 6 times as you go up at a rate of 10m per second in the elevator. What kind of sucks is that as a tourist you only go up to 442m where the observation deck is, however you are still significantly higher than any surrounding buildings with amazing skyline views.
For those who know me, shopping in the mall is not really my scene, maybe if I had thousands of dirham it would be more appealing, however I found much more enjoyment haggling my way through many different souks also known as markets. To get to them you had to take a water taxi in a wooden boat known as an abra across the Dubai creek to find the gold, perfume, spice and fabric souks. The fish souk, despite its smelliness was my favorite. They had shrimp the size of bananas, that impressed even captain Graham. The gold souk was also impressive. It has at least 10 tones of gold at any given time. Gold was sold by weight so prizes were relatively fixed, but you could bargain on craftsmanship, which was very impressive. The gold souk had some of the most beautiful jewellery I have ever seen and a 52kg ring, which made its way into the Guinness book of records along with so many other things in Dubai.
To see the UAE you have to see more than just Dubai. There are 7 Emirates that form the UAE. We even went to the border of Omen, which is huge and also has many hidden gems within the country. What is however very difficult to miss is the Arabian desert. I have been in many deserts, especially with the huge Australian outback down under, but the beauty of the Arabian desert was unforgettable. What is there to do in the untouched sand peeks? Well, we went four wheeling, which was fun but limited to how much thrill seeking you as the driver had, sledding, but you had to walk all the way back up, but Dune bashing with four wheel drives was where it was at. Graham was so proud when four Toyota Land cruisers pulled up and we were taken on the rides of our life. These sand dunes have extremely steep slopes and the sand is comparable to an ice ring sliding from side to side. It was super scary, just like doing a roller coaster however without the vehicle attached to a railway. Along with our desert experience, we saw falconry, another tradition passed on to sons by the Emiratis, henna tattoos, camel souks, races and rides.
To get around the bus system and taxis were the most efficient. The metro was terrible. I am sure that we must have used the metro at a bad time because it was so crowded it wasn’t funny. Let me explain! Traveling on a crowded bus in Rome did to even come close to how many people crammed into this metro train. To make matters worse of course I was the only female. The taxis and buses were relatively cheap and abundant. The only problem was on every long bus ride where Graham would sit for over five minutes he was out like a light. While sleeping is not illegal on public transport, falling asleep on my shoulder is, so each time I had to nudge him awake to ensure I didn’t have to bail him out of jail. I have to say I have never felt so safe while traveling anywhere else in the world. Apparently there is a 1 % crime rate. If there was any country where I would leave all my passports and cash in a hotel room, it would be here. Of course you know I love my earned savings way too much and would never take the chance anyway.
I could talk about so many other things we saw and did, but I will end on the hotels. No we couldn’t afford to stay in a five to seven star hotel in the new town of Dubai. We stuck to the old town in something slightly more modest. We did however go and explore and pretend. We made a short visit to the Emirates Palace Hotel, which is one of the seven star hotels in Abu Dhabi. It was very impressive and we just glanced at the gold walls and crystal chandeliers while sitting in nice little nooks with Armani couches. We wondered if someone would say something if we fell as asleep, does this count as staying overnight in a seven star hotel? It was also interesting to see that every single security guard was 7 feet tall and black! They were huge!!! They were very friendly and politely told us we were not allowed to enter certain areas where nosy little red headed tourists were not permitted, my charm clearly did not work as planned. When ask what room we were staying in, we were not keen enough to risk making up a room number.
This trip was amazing; the family time was just so valuable to me, especially with mum and dad who most of you know I miss every day with my life in America. It was also great to see my 85 year old grandma still doing floor transfers independently to play with my baby cousins. Learning about the Islamic religion and the Emariti people was so eye opening and important to me. It was another amazing trip and I am so grateful to all my family that helped make it possible.
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