Let me start by saying that while Dubai is not for everybody, it is definitely for me. How do I even begin to describe this crazy place? It has a touch of the Las Vegas about it, though of course alcohol, scantily clad women and casinos are totally illegal and the UAE is a Muslim country. But it has the same vibrancy as Vegas – it is incredibly international with 85% of the population comprised of immigrants, 50% of whom are Indian, and there’s an electrifying energy in the air. Plus everything here is built in both grandiose scale and style – there must be a governmental decree of some sort demanding everything be the biggest, the best and the most luxurious.
The shopping is some of the best in the world and cheaper than in international counterparts like London, New York and Paris. Dubai brings together the best of these cities into the ultimate shopaholic’s wet dream: there’s a Galleries Lafayette and Laduree (with my favourite pistachio macarons…heaven) from Paris, a Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue from New York, and a Harvey Nics , Jo Malone etc from London…as well as a giant flagship boutique from every designer you could possibly think of. Then of course there’s the gold souk in Bur Dubai, where you find stall upon stall, block after block of fine jewelry hawkers where you can negotiate mad bargains on all that glitters. Our visit to the souk coincided with the arrival of a Bollywood star looking to expand his bling collection, causing mass pandemonium and confusing me because it looked like an emergency scene.
While I like to shop, I generally hate malls and prefer buying online or visiting Nolita style boutiques. But in Dubai the malls are on a completely different level to anywhere else. For instance Mall of the Emirates has the Ski Dubai indoor ski slope complete with chairlift, as well as a Sega World fun park (and Harvey Nics –yay!). The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest, spans more than 50 football fields and boasts a shark filled aquarium and skating rink. It also features an Armani hotel housed within the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. At nearly one km tall, the 160 floor Burj looks almost unreal. We had to laugh when we heard the call to prayer blasting through the malls, and saw the store directories flashing the message "time to pray". Even my boyfriend, the ultimate non shopper with the exception of book stores and golf boutiques fell in love with the malls – those who know him won’t believe it, those who don’t must understand that this is beyond momentous.
This isn’t to say that we spent the entire trip trawling shopping malls, because we didn’t. We explored Bur Dubai, checking out the old town and more traditional souks, we ferried across the creek in the little wooden water taxis, we visited the Grand Jumeirah Mosque and drove along iconic Sheikh Zayed Road, home to some of the world’s most impressive skyscrapers. We also visited the Burj Al Arab hotel, the famous sail shaped building with the satellite tennis court, which impossibly claims to be the world’s first seven star hotel when the absolute maximum score is only five. But our highlight was a trip to the top of the Burj Khalifa, which I had to book online well in advance due to it being a perpetual sell out. The view from the observation deck is unreal – and makes your realize what an odd city Dubai is. In between pockets of skyscrapers, you see that large gaps of sandy desert still line the streets, and the waterways (besides the Creek) are really just giant swimming pools. It looks as though Dubai could be swallowed up by desert within a few years if it was ever to fail as a city. Towards the (real) water you can also see manufactured island development The World, which is an odd looking, spotty collection of sandy shapes in the water that look nothing like planet Earth. I was more impressed with the two Palm Jumeirah islands which we saw from the plane as we left on our journey home. The deck even featured a gold vending machine, where various gold coins and bars could be purchased by inserting your credit card. By night there is a fountain show set to dramatic Arabian music at the base of the Burj, and while a little tacky, it was worth catching for the spectacle.
Eating in Dubai is gastronomic heaven and you are totally spoilt for choice. Anything and everything from anywhere imaginable is available. I (but not my waistline) really enjoyed reuniting with some of my favourite French pastries, and the chocolate selection was overwhelming. I was tempted to sit and eat all day though shopping demands meant that this fantasy remained unrealised – at least until my next visit. Strangely, with all of these options the hardest food to find was traditional Arabic which is what we craved. We managed to find one spot in less touristy Bur Dubai for schwarmas, but even there most of the restaurants were Indian which is my least favourite.
Dubai is massive and covers a huge area, and is therefore not a walking city. What looks like two city blocks on a map is actually a multi-kilometre, hour long trek under a scorching sun – think 37 degrees in the middle of winter. Anyway, you will be too exhausted from the shopping mall marathons to wander any streets. While taxis are reasonably priced and easily found, it is definitely worth taking the Dubai Metro because the stations themselves are tourist attractions. This must be the nicest metro I have ever seen: spotless and featuring sparkling marble and gleaming metallics, Dale Chihouly inspired chandeliers, glass escalators and elevators… they look like some kind of futuristic luxury space port as imagined in the pages of Architectural Digest.
In typical Middle Eastern style there are massive photos of the ruling UAE Sheikhs plastered everywhere – on buildings, awnings, road side billboards and posters, pieces of jewellery, passing cars...seriously, everywhere. The English language newspaper is full of complimentary stories covering their most excellent and generous good deeds and all around amazingness. Of course, these papers are also full of stories on female sorcerers and their spell casting, and the joys of polygamy…so, while entertaining and good for a chuckle, perhaps not the best news sources.
With Dubai being the least strict Islamic centre of its region, female visitors are asked to dress respectfully but are not required to cover themselves from head to toe. However, this dress code proved difficult to understand for some of the more chavtastic British females and many Russian…’ladies’ who seem convinced that dressing like a prostitute circa 1995 is the apex of style, especially in a Muslim country liberally sign posted with guides on acceptable attire.
Dubai is both tacky and terrific. It isn’t the destination for an extended holiday but spending four jam packed days there was perfect. From now on I will fly Emirates to take advantage of free stopovers and am even contemplating spending a year there once I finish in South Africa. I was really impressed with the marketing campaigns and design work I saw, and see some future potential for myself. Not to mention, I am starting to develop a bit of a crush on the Middle East. With the exception of some male attitudes, I find it exotic, mystical and somehow alluring. I can’t seem to quite get enough and am now thinking about Oman, Qatar and Kuwait as possible destinations.
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