First Day in Dubai

It is now 5 AM on Wednesday…I was awakened at 4 by the call for prayers that came our over the load speakers all over the area…and have so much from yesterday on my mind that I decided to get up and record my first day in Dubai. Again, a lot of details, as I am recording this for my own memory, as things are all ready starting to run together…and less tan 48 hours in country.First, some general observations, and I am sitting here on the 2 nd floor of the Marriott Courtyard Hotel….it is 5 AM and I opened my door to get the room a little warmer. I hear the water in the fountain below…a far off chant, but other than that total silence….maybe this is a good place to start in talking about the nature of what I found. A lot of yesterday reflected back on the many international trips I have taken over the years, either with World Vision on with the family…and vary from Africa to China and most of Europe. Here goes:

1. I have never been in a major international city where I did not see a policeman or some form of military or law enforcement official in 1 full day. But, I did not see one yesterday. I saw a lot of security guards at the various buildings, but none armed. I just closed my slider as it is 94 degrees outside…5 AM….and my coffee is ready. In each room is an European style electric coffee pot and they have these small circular packages of Nestle coffee, and you boil the water and in it goes for a great cup of instant good coffee…and for those of you that have traveled in Europe, you know what I mean. So, no visible evidence of police. I asked my driver about this and he said “we have no crime”. He went into a lot of detail, but the essence was if you commit a sign depending on the severity of it, you pay or die, and if you do not pay, you are immediately kicked out of the country never to return. They have a very limited prison program…it is either do it this way or else, and we do not care about your rights…bluntly said.

2. This is a full fledged Monarchy, and the country is very, very proud of this. It is ruled totally by a Sheikh and his families, and each of the big three Emirates, which we would call States, has their own ruling Sheikh, and they are related. The Sheikhs can have multiple wives, and as a result can have many children…so the Royal families can be large in number. The Sheikh in Dubai is very reachable, and a couple of the drivers have now told me to be on the lookout for license plate 1-100, as these are the cars driven by the Royal family…and almost always without a security car, including Sheikh Mohammed. Yesterday on the tour we spotted #57…a brand new looking black BMW Utility Sport (the big one) but completely darkened windows so we could not see who was diving, but our driver wanted to, as did I. Speaking of cars, and more to come on this, a lot of Japanese cars of all brands…few GMC….a lot of BMW, Mercedes, Volvo’s and VW’s. Probably 1/3rd are SUV’s, mainly the smaller ones….but all taxis are Toyota’s…they really made an impact here. So, the Sheikhs are in control, and this is for everything. Their photos are on many billboards usually with a positive or good or encouraging statement like their current campaign “Dubai Cares”…which is children’s education program, I am told.

3. I have never, again, in all of my travels, felt as welcome as I have been made to feel in 1 day here. Started with the hotel yesterday morning, and I think I will just go through the day now as I recall it, for it is already starting to run together when your day starts at 6 AM and ends at 11 PM. And, on a side note Carrie…Caroline and Sarah would already be on the flight home…the heat is the most I have ever been in.

In that English is the 2nd language….even with the various dialogues, it is relatively easy to communicate, at least for me as I think the speaker feels sorry for me as I am so bad at languages, but I get by fine. The hotel breakfast restaurant is a full blown facility with everything from cereal to a full buffet for 75 dhs, which is about $25. I chose to go with the 3 egg omelette, toast and hash browns for 25 dhs….and it was all that I could each. The waiter asked me repeatedly how it was and did I want something else….and all done in such a nice and kind way….superb and personalized service…expected, and delivered in a Marriott. Following breakfast I asked the front desk to check on the Day City Tour reservation…and initially the office was closed so she kept trying, finally to get through after 9 AM, when most of the offices open…to say that they would pick me up at the hotel and take me to the tour beginning. She verified all was OK….so I went back to the room and in 10 minutes she called to say the driver was here, 1 hour early. Horridly I got downstairs and the young driver was waiting and off we went. He was from Pakistan, and proceeded to tell me that the Pakistanis are the largest group of “Expats”, which is short for Expatriate, with Indians in the 2nd spot. Emirates, as they are called, are only 20% of the citizens of Dubai…but they are the rulers and they are the big business and real estate owners……but they depend totally on Expats to get the daily jobs done.My driver was most talkative and for the 25 minute into town drove…answered one question after another. Very bright and loves it here because he is “treated right”…..

4. On our trip in, in what was starting to be the “morning rush hour”, but it was not bad relative to our Bay area rush hours….we traveled both on 6 and 8 lane open highways as well as freeways, and the freeways are either fairly new are or are under construction. In fact, as we drove, I saw probably a hundred “under construction high rise office or apartment buildings”, many with the huge cranes still on the buildings, but few actually being worked on. My photos will illustrate this, but literally thousands of vacant, in construction, or partially occupied high rise, and even low rise buildings are very evident. The worldwide recession literally bought many of these projects to an immediate halt….it is almost like the developers said…”stop where you are and go home…it is all done…see ya, and here is your final check”. Amazing. In one area, Dubai Marina, probably 10 high rise, and I am talking 20-50 story office and apartment buildings in some phase of construction…all with cranes still on the buildings. And, then, next door, a gorgeous brand new looking totally glass enclosed home of IBM or Volvo. Very obvious that those that made it before the recession, which hit here in about 2006….are fine, just have a lot of vacancies….but ones started in 2007 and 208 and later…just shells of buildings to be. I would say this is one of the “landmarks” for the tourist today. This said, though, what is built and what is occupied both in the outlying areas, and this is a much larger overall area than I expected from the Internet readings, is extremely impressive….and rates up with the best of Asia, whether it is Hong Kong or Singapore, or Shanghai. These skyscrapers, and they are well known and my photos may reveal this….are magnificent, or the best adjective that I can think of. Nothing is left out….nothing that money can buy. And, it starts with everything from the hotels, to the villas, to the high risers, to the Malls, which I will come to. Now, for those that are concerned about the workers and the poor people….there aren’t any….if you don’t work, you don’t stay. And, you may work as a construction worker or a bathroom clearner in the mall or a parking lot attendant…but you are working and you are paid a reasonable and relatively good fee for your work. The laborers, which are probably 90-95% expats live in government housing that is provided by the government but paid for by the company that is doing the work…so it is not a government expense. In fact, we did not see one government building in our tour yesterday. The government is the Sheikh, and his family….this is the way it is done…or else…and it is working beautifully.

5. My driver got me to the hotel where we were to meet our tour…and he showed me to the van and I was it. I asked, “any others”, and here came this family of 8 from Nigeria. I asked where I was to pay, and they said the driver and I got out my credit card and he said, “no, we do not have a credit card machine…pay in cash”. Well, the first issue, if you will, of the trip, came up. Getting in late, and not changing my money at the airport, which was a mistake, I had only dollars (limited numbers) but travelers checks…and of course, they could not take a travelers check. Being Pakistani’s, they talked in their Urdu for a while then told me to get in…they would work it out….that they did not know of anyone that could cash a travelers check. Problem for me, I thought….but knew they would come up with something. Off we went on our “Dubai Day Tour”. I got this tour over the internet and it had all of the bells and whistles and photos, etc…looked great, and a good price as the others at $38. Well, this was not as the others, in that this was almost a private tour for us 8, and I sat in the front seat, so although the quality is not what it could be, I got a lot of video. Our 3 plus hours was most interesting, and the driver told us a lot but also took us to a couple of “off beat” places that were most interesting and unusual and I still do not quite understand. We left the hotel to go through what the call “new old Dubai”. And, suffice it to say that Dubai is divided by a Creek….and I was imagining Churn Creek or Olney Creek…but not a major Sacramento River kind of Creek, which is exactly what it is. Historically, the Dubai Creek has been both the most significant and the least significant factor in the development of Dubai. And, Dubai does not have a lot of history other than a mud-hutted fishing village at the tip of the Saudi Arabian peninsula…the last remnant of the unexplored Arabian Desert before you drop off into the Persian Gulf. This location, since the advent of major oil exploration and the resulting mid east development, though, has become a huge economic force for the entire south peninsula region, primarily the United Arab Emirates…mainly Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Well, the little sandy Creek, thanks to the forward thinking Sheiks, who owned the land and everything connected to it and on it, and the discovery of Oil, which made them instant billionaires, they went to the World and said “who can dredge our Creek?”. Needless to say there is a lot more to this whole story, but the best book that I have read on Dubai I got in the Redding library, and this should be required reading for any student studying the Mideast….an excellent resource and read by Jim Krane entitled “City of Gold, Dubai, and the Dream of Capitalism”, published in 2009, so it is current. Someday I would like to tell Jim, “right on”…a great book. The engineers and planners that came forward from all over the world is the reason that Dubai is what it is today…certainly a place that could be the next center of trade for the mid-east and into parts of Asia, Europe, and Africa. Situated perfectly between some of the greatest producing countries such as India and the general mid east and the massive consuming areas, such as Europe and China…Dubai can have a most significant influence on commerce and industry worldwide.

6. After walking along the Creek and seeing the floating restaurants and some of the trade boats, etc,,,and starting to feel the heat as it was approaching 100 degrees in late morning with high, but not stifling humidity, we visited the original Dubai Fort Museum. I enjoy museums, but would not consider myself a big “museum goer”. The good think about the Dubai Fort Museum….is that it clearly establishes the fact that this was a mud village up until about 1950….a sleepy little laid back desert fishing area…no power, no water, no streets….practically nothing but desert and Bedouins. And this, did not change to much of a degree until the early 1960’s….the year that I was the exchange student in India…and India had all that Europe had at that time, plus the huge mass on humanity that England did not have. Dubai has, or was, nothing more than a Bedouin driven monarchy….and huge and significant call from what it is today. Translated….in 50 years…a mud hut tribal village to what some consider the most modern city in the World, and I am fast becoming a believer. The Fort Museum puts this in very good perspective, and I am going to go back through it, again, my last day. Well worth it.From the museum we drove around the downtown area of New Dubai and the way the Creek flows, what looks to be old Dubai is probably new Dubai, for the skyscrapers kind of all look together. Actually reminded my of the Chicago River as it winds through Downtown Chicago with the big hi-rise buildings on each side, We then stopped at the Islam Art Museum…and again, “oh no, another one?”. And, again, what a surprise. So impressed with the Art and artifacts that have come out of this world…and we don’t think about this much….but much of what we wear had it origins in the mid-east, such as silk and cottons. Persian rugs, gorgeous silver and gold in all forms, and magnificent marble and stonework…all from the middle east, and all on display. We literally ran out of time…and the attendants are so helpful and so knowledge about the museum, and, again, almost all of them “expats”….but lovin’ it, which shows in their attitude, their presentation, and their overall bearing towards us “tourists”. I guess I am too used to the “surly attitude” that so many of our service workers have, especially just coming through Wash DC who act as if they are doing a favor to answer a simple question as they pull the earplug out from listening to rap music. Not the case here, at all. We proceeded up the city roads going north and out towards the water, the Persian Gulf. There in front of us was the Queen Elizabeth II (QE2, as it is known). Queen Elizabeth gave this to the Sheikh as a gift of her friendship to the Sheikh and the people of the UAE for their support of Britain during and after WW II, and a lot more to this story in Jim’s book. Suffice it to say, the Dubains are going to make it into a 5 star plus hotel on the water…and it will not be like a Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA….this will surpass anything of its kind by far…and I can see this happening in this mind set of forward thinking and creative development. Investors pay attention to this one. On to Jumeria, which is “the place to live” in Dubai. Row after row of villas all in the million dollar range…and not all that fancy…probably $500-$800k in the Bay area. And, of course, right in the middle of the desert 20 years ago, little vegetation…so it looks quite stark. A number of times yesterday I was reminded of my living in Scottsdale, and this setting is very similar…desert with water….just build much more recently than Phoenix or the Arizona desert. Is it beautiful? Yes, and no. It is a desert….but then when you build magnificent buildings and gorgeous mosques, and they are everywhere, the scenery changes greatly…and one cannot help but be impressed. Well, the next stop, in this “high rent” district was at a place called Saga World. The driver said it was also a museum….but I have never been in a museum that sold watches for $35,000…rugs for $20,000….and a cashmere sweater for me that cost $550. Maybe I shop at the wrong places, but this place was mind boggling. And, when I asked the question, and I asked it to three or four clerks, if you will, as they are all dressed the same with ID tags, etc…all dressed in formal black, even the men….they all said the same thing. Translated, it is a museum that sells items that are in the museum that can be sold, Figure this out. The one very handsome clerk that was young with a degree from Stanford put it this way..”everything in here is of museum value but the owners of the item allows us to sell it to give money back to the museum”…and he showed me a Swiss watch valued at $20,000 that was a watch made in Switzerland in 1920 and donated to the museum to be sold. Made sense, but the volume of items was almost overwhelming, to think that this many valuable items would be in this setting. Again, not enough time…..and off we went.This was about the half way point…as we headed out to the Jumeira Beach, which is “the beach” to go to. “Bikinis and lots of people on the beautiful white sands, here we come”, I thought. Not so. First, really hot, and too hot to be on the sand. Secondly, just another beach, but very much like the Gulf Coast off of Florida with almost pure white sand. Obviously the reflection off the sand was significant, and not only did I cover my head with my China cap, but I actually stood under some tree shade as I could feel it on my arms. This was “wow” hot for me, and I am use to heat. That said, the beach is beautiful and I can imagine in the winter, folks from all over the world flock here in great numbers, for this would be the perfect winter resort for anyone in the world….especially if you have money.

7. Well, the next two buildings that we say are on travel magazines as to “places to visit for the high and mighty”. The Burj Al Arab is the most extravagant hotel in the world, as stated in travel information. The building with the billowing sail shape is considered to be the world’s only 7 star hotel, meaning it is the finest in the world. Maybe so, but unless you are a pre-registered guest, you can’t go in. In fact, we got as close as we could, which is where the tourist book photo is taken. Room rates, if you are qualified financially, and they do a credit check on you, start at $3000 a night. Tea, at their afternoon High Tea, is $250. And so it goes from here. It is adjacent to the Jumeira Beach, so it actually extends on a man made small land area out into the Persian Gulf. At the top are two bars….both extending out from the building with glass floors that look down into the gulf from 60 stories high. Very dramatic. Apparently the inside features glittery gold interior walls, and this is real gold…ultra spacious 2000 s ft rooms, and your own concierge available on a moments notice. Definitely for the rich and famous…and again, only in Dubai. Then, just down the Jumeria Beach, with its continuing string of relatively new and expensive Villas, we stop at the Jumeira Mosque, the largest in Dubai. We cannot go in, but I got a good photo, and the mosques are seemingly on every corner… but this is a big and beautiful one. The largest in the world is in Abu Dhabi, considered by some to be nicer than the Taj Mahal. We shall see. On down Jumeira Beach and we approach the Dubai Marina area, which is actually on land but is the gateway to the Palm Island, the man made island built out into the Persian Gulf with the famed Atlantis Hotel at the top of the Palm Tree. This is another truly remarkable accomplishment…nothing like it in the World. As you leave the mainland via bridges and underpasses your arrive on the trunk of the palm, and each of the palm frawns has its own luxury apartment that are privately owned, such as condos, except you do not own the land, the Sheikh does, and you pay him a lease for the land use. These are magnificent dwellings all priced over a million…and completely sold out, and have been since built 10 years ago, or at least this is what we were told. Owners are from the world over, and some more of the famous is Andrew Agassi and Roger Federer, tennis greats, who both have clinics and schools here for the rich and famous. At the end of the palms, or at the top of the tree is the Atlantis, and again, you must be pre-registered and approved to go on site. Apparently, of the 3 Atlantis Hotels, this is the most elegant and the most expensive, and the most star-studded as to their guest list….so we just took photos from the back side, along the Persian Gulf water.

Well…this was the first half of my day…and as we started back past the half filled Dubai Marina area…..I will end this now…but a half day is still to tell…all for now.