Linda's Walkabout: A Modern City with Religion at its Core, Still Experiencing Massive Growth: Dubai, UAE

Now that Qantas and Emirates are code-share partners, the stop-overs from Sydney to Europe are in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. I was curious to make it more than a "transfer" and instead explore Dubai (Dec. 28-30, 2013) as I was impressed with the National Geographic reality TV show, "Ultimate Airport Dubai" and my friend Lisa Creffield had lived there for a few years and spoke highly of the experience.

The Emirates experience was fantastic, with a great entertainment system and bathrooms designed in a Swedish, Ikea-style. The only hardship was the 6 a.m. departure from Sydney which meant arrival at the airport at 4 a.m.

From watching "Ultimate Airport Dubai" I knew to expect a massive airport and precision transfers, but the long, unmoving lines through immigration were the painful opposite. Yet on the way to the Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach, I was amazed at the super modern and tall skyscrapers... and the building that's still going on! The Sofitel is in the beach, but with all the construction, I never saw the beach the entire time I was there. The construction created a lot of congestion around the hotel. I deliberately selected the hotel for it's beach location, but if I had it to do over, I'd chose one closer to the city as the stores all along Jumeirah Beach were US chain stores so very little local ambiance.

Upon checking in, my first stop was high tea at "The Burj" which I thought was the tallest building and a well known stop by all tourists. Thus, when I jumped in the taxi, I simply said to please take me to "The Burj".

Little did I know that "burj" means "tall building" and there is more than one famous tall building in Dubail. There's the Burj Al Arab and the Burj Khalifa, the latter which is actually the tallest building in the world.

So after an AED$90 (US$25) taxi ride to first the Burj Khalifa, I finally reached my desired final destination of The Burj Al Arab about 30 minutes late. Luckily I called ahead and my reservation was still being held and I had a terrific table near the window and a high tea that ended up being a full dinner as it included so many "mini courses". On the cab ride home, I learned it should have only been an AED$30 cab fare.

The next morning I had an early 8:30 a.m. start for the Dubai City Tour with a guide who shared a number of interesting facts about Dubai:

There is an incredibly low crime rate of .000001 (1 per 100,000 people) due to the very severe repercussions and punishments.
10% of residents are Emirate citizens, which means 90% are ex-patriots that makes the low crime rate even more impressive. All ex-patriots must have a job or one month later they are forced to leave.
Gas costs more than water! It's $.40/liter for gas while water costs $.50/liter. With the tremendous humidity the Emirates drink a LOT of water.
The birthrate has gone from a cricket team to a tennis match as more women are educated and are delaying having children.
The religion is Islam and followers are called Muslim. Muslims pray five times a day - 5 a.m., 12:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m, 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Music is played throughout the city during prayer and Muslims either pray at a nearby mosque, in a prayer room or on a mat near wherever they happen to be at prayer time.
The Sheikh has any number of wives, the exact number is unknown While the name of the wife is known her image is not made public. The current Sheikh has 19 children. The Crown Prince is 28 years old and single.
The reason why Sheikh's have so many names - Sheikh bin (son of) Al (the) . The current Sheikh of Dubai is Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

On the city tour we visited:

First we went to Majlis Ghorfat Um-Al Sheif which is a summer palace built in 1955 for the late Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
Then we went to a Jumeirah Mosque for a quick photo, were I also did a short video of an air conditioned bus stop which is a must as in the Summer (July/August) it can reach 50-53C and 100% humidity (50C is 122F). There's rarely rain, Dubai gets 10ml a year.

We visited the old historic area of Dubai then we rode a traditional abra (water taxi) across the Dubai Creek. This reminded me of this time last year when Michelle and I rode a gondola in Venice, but not nearly as congested.

We visited the Spice and Gold Souks (markets) next. The jewelry was over the top gaudy so I was not even the slightest tempted to buy any jewelry.

Modern city!

Old City in Dubai.

The Sheikh (left) and the Crown Prince (right).

Spice Souk (market)...

Gold Souk (market)

To cap off this action packed few days in Dubai, later in the afternoon I went on a Dune Dinner Safari that included:

Photos of the Arabian Desert from a 4x4 ride through the dunes
Sand art that I purchased from Kamal who's been doing it for almost 5 years, it's beautiful and amazing how he creates camels, mountains and sunsets in a colorful bottle of sand!
There was also a camel farm, a camel ride and I got to hold a desert hawk
Cultural dancing was our evening desert entertainment