Dubai in one easy lesson...
First thing you need to know about Dubai - the whole country stops between twelve and four (or thereabouts) for a siesta. I leave the internet cafe (which didn't actually serve any food or beverages) to find that everything is shut. I am not sure whether I want lunch or dinner, but I am hungry - luckily, there is an Indian grocery just around the corner from the cafe. I end up with two small packets of cashew-nut biscuits, the only things in the shop that don't need to be cooked.
I was intrigued to notice that most people don't actually seem to use the internet cafe for the internet - most of them had mobile phones and headsets, and all of them were shouting. I leave them all to shout and take my biscuits back to the hotel.
When I arrive, there is a phone message - I need to go to the Pearl Residence to join the tour, as they can't get the tour bus up my street. I head off to the Pearl Residence, and a bus arrives at the appointed time - I get on. The tour guide seems surprised, but I have a ticket, so he lets me stay. He gives the tour in English and German. Neither is his first language, but he speaks more slowly in German and I find it easier to follow. Second thing you need to know about Dubai - everyone talks insanely fast and often with pronounced accents.
We do a couple of laps of the city with the tour guide sharing important facts, such as the size of the population, the name of the reigning sheik and that I am actually on the wrong bus - the tour company has two buses operating due to popular demand. When the buses arrive at the next pick-up point, I swap over. The tour guide on this bus speaks more slowly - in beautiful clear English, she explains that only 20% of the local population are native Emiratis. Indians and Sri Lankans make up the majority of the foreign workers, she says, and the Pakistanis also have enormous members.
I am the only one who laughs. I am also the only one who laughs at Lootah Construction and Mansuk Jewellers. My fellow passengers are either elderly, non-English speaking or both.
We start out with a visit to the Jumairah Mosque. The Mosque combines size and grace perfectly. I take a lot of photos, although carefully as the locals sometimes resent being made into a sideshow. Unfortunately, I can't work out how to get the pictures out of my phone and into this computer - you'll have to come around for a slide night. By the time we arrive at the Mosque, the temperature is roughly 40 degrees. Later on, it seems to get hotter, but that might be just my imagination.
From the Mosque, we go on a guided tour of the Al Makhtoum family residences (Dubai royal family). No photos allowed, and all I can say is lucky them. When I fly out, I can see all the residences from the air - they are the ones with massive squares of green around them. Most houses in Dubai are surrounded by sand and/or construction sites.
We also go to a historic homes area, where the locals have preserved some of the earliest houses built in the area (up until the 1800s, the local Bedouin tribes lived in tents). The houses have windtowers, designed to funnel fresh air into the house below while also providing an escape route for heated air. We can all see the wisdom of this, we are on the verge of passing out each time we leave the bus.
Our next stop is the Museum, which is quite small but well thought out with some interesting exhibits - a summary of the area's history, an exhibition of archaelogical finds and some natural history of the desert and its native animals (unfortunately, complete with stuffed specimens!).
The museum also provides the venue for an experiment. Dirham notes have English and Arabic writing - coins only have Arabic. I have quite a stash of coins by now, and no idea what most of them are. On the way out of the museum, I spot a vending machine. I put the most common coin in - success!! I have correctly identified a one dirham coin.
I have also nearly missed the bus to the next attraction - a trip on an abra. Abras are a sort of water taxi, used to ferry people to and fro across the Dubai Creek. The Dubai Creek, I should add, is roughly twice the width of the Yarra and is actually salt water... so go figure. The passengers sit around the cockpit on a bench and hope that the abra doesn't get caught in the wake of a larger boat - there are no rails and there's nothing to hold on to.
We chug along the creek, past a group of dhows - they form a picturesque contrast to the glass and steel skyscrapers along the shore. Then I realise that people actually live in these things. Sometimes it's a bit hard to remember that this is not all a show put on for our benefit.
If you want to see some of the sights, go to http://www.dubaicityguide.com/tourism/attractions-1.asp - they have some pictures of the various things I saw.
Our last stop is at the souks. This place is where all good touts end up. At every shop, I am accosted by the owner or one of his relatives, inviting me to come in and examine their wares. I get safely through the Spice Souk by explaining that Australian Customs would confiscate anything I dared to purchase. One of the touts is very sympathetic ('Australian Customs - no good'), and everyone is prepared to back off. At the Gold Souk, the touts are more vigorous. Even when I flag out and sit down, touts come up to the bench, offering me gold, jewellery and 'good copies - Prada, Louis Vuitton, anything'. Eventually, I purchase a pashmina for 70 dirhams (about $30) - the stall owner and his neighbour have offered me every conceivable type and quality of garment, ranging from belly dancing outfits to traditional Arabic dress. On reflection, I should have bought the burqa - locals are not the focus of the same attention.
When we leave, the sun is setting, but it seems to be no cooler. I stop off at a kebab shop - eight dirhams (about $4) gets me a chicken kebab with fresh salad and hummus, and a glass of mango juice. I can't get inspired by the thought of going back to the hotel and paying $20 for a sandwich. I eat my dinner? midnight munchie? and crawl straight into bed. My flight out leaves at 7:00, but I need to be in the lobby at 5:05 to catch the transfer bus.
I was intrigued to notice that most people don't actually seem to use the internet cafe for the internet - most of them had mobile phones and headsets, and all of them were shouting. I leave them all to shout and take my biscuits back to the hotel.
When I arrive, there is a phone message - I need to go to the Pearl Residence to join the tour, as they can't get the tour bus up my street. I head off to the Pearl Residence, and a bus arrives at the appointed time - I get on. The tour guide seems surprised, but I have a ticket, so he lets me stay. He gives the tour in English and German. Neither is his first language, but he speaks more slowly in German and I find it easier to follow. Second thing you need to know about Dubai - everyone talks insanely fast and often with pronounced accents.
We do a couple of laps of the city with the tour guide sharing important facts, such as the size of the population, the name of the reigning sheik and that I am actually on the wrong bus - the tour company has two buses operating due to popular demand. When the buses arrive at the next pick-up point, I swap over. The tour guide on this bus speaks more slowly - in beautiful clear English, she explains that only 20% of the local population are native Emiratis. Indians and Sri Lankans make up the majority of the foreign workers, she says, and the Pakistanis also have enormous members.
I am the only one who laughs. I am also the only one who laughs at Lootah Construction and Mansuk Jewellers. My fellow passengers are either elderly, non-English speaking or both.
We start out with a visit to the Jumairah Mosque. The Mosque combines size and grace perfectly. I take a lot of photos, although carefully as the locals sometimes resent being made into a sideshow. Unfortunately, I can't work out how to get the pictures out of my phone and into this computer - you'll have to come around for a slide night. By the time we arrive at the Mosque, the temperature is roughly 40 degrees. Later on, it seems to get hotter, but that might be just my imagination.
From the Mosque, we go on a guided tour of the Al Makhtoum family residences (Dubai royal family). No photos allowed, and all I can say is lucky them. When I fly out, I can see all the residences from the air - they are the ones with massive squares of green around them. Most houses in Dubai are surrounded by sand and/or construction sites.
We also go to a historic homes area, where the locals have preserved some of the earliest houses built in the area (up until the 1800s, the local Bedouin tribes lived in tents). The houses have windtowers, designed to funnel fresh air into the house below while also providing an escape route for heated air. We can all see the wisdom of this, we are on the verge of passing out each time we leave the bus.
Our next stop is the Museum, which is quite small but well thought out with some interesting exhibits - a summary of the area's history, an exhibition of archaelogical finds and some natural history of the desert and its native animals (unfortunately, complete with stuffed specimens!).
The museum also provides the venue for an experiment. Dirham notes have English and Arabic writing - coins only have Arabic. I have quite a stash of coins by now, and no idea what most of them are. On the way out of the museum, I spot a vending machine. I put the most common coin in - success!! I have correctly identified a one dirham coin.
I have also nearly missed the bus to the next attraction - a trip on an abra. Abras are a sort of water taxi, used to ferry people to and fro across the Dubai Creek. The Dubai Creek, I should add, is roughly twice the width of the Yarra and is actually salt water... so go figure. The passengers sit around the cockpit on a bench and hope that the abra doesn't get caught in the wake of a larger boat - there are no rails and there's nothing to hold on to.
We chug along the creek, past a group of dhows - they form a picturesque contrast to the glass and steel skyscrapers along the shore. Then I realise that people actually live in these things. Sometimes it's a bit hard to remember that this is not all a show put on for our benefit.
If you want to see some of the sights, go to http://www.dubaicityguide.com/tourism/attractions-1.asp - they have some pictures of the various things I saw.
Our last stop is at the souks. This place is where all good touts end up. At every shop, I am accosted by the owner or one of his relatives, inviting me to come in and examine their wares. I get safely through the Spice Souk by explaining that Australian Customs would confiscate anything I dared to purchase. One of the touts is very sympathetic ('Australian Customs - no good'), and everyone is prepared to back off. At the Gold Souk, the touts are more vigorous. Even when I flag out and sit down, touts come up to the bench, offering me gold, jewellery and 'good copies - Prada, Louis Vuitton, anything'. Eventually, I purchase a pashmina for 70 dirhams (about $30) - the stall owner and his neighbour have offered me every conceivable type and quality of garment, ranging from belly dancing outfits to traditional Arabic dress. On reflection, I should have bought the burqa - locals are not the focus of the same attention.
When we leave, the sun is setting, but it seems to be no cooler. I stop off at a kebab shop - eight dirhams (about $4) gets me a chicken kebab with fresh salad and hummus, and a glass of mango juice. I can't get inspired by the thought of going back to the hotel and paying $20 for a sandwich. I eat my dinner? midnight munchie? and crawl straight into bed. My flight out leaves at 7:00, but I need to be in the lobby at 5:05 to catch the transfer bus.
posted by Andrea at
10:30 AM
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