Nicole schreibt...

Hardly a town has garnered so much media attention in the last decade than Dubai, the Arabian boomtown at the Gulf that has become known for wild building extravagances such as the Burj al Arab hotel, huge shopping malls and the creation of artificial islands like "The Palm" and "The World". Being the curious sod that I am, I had really wanted to check Dubai out for myself and since it's nicely warm there when it's cold, gray and godawful at home, it seemed the perfect destination for a winter break.

Since I hadn't used Düsseldorf Airport in years it was quite nice to be back at last and see all the changes made since the thing nearly burnt down some years ago and was then completely refurbished. My mood lifted further when I saw a whole bunch of nuns checking into our flight, thinking that surely God will be lookin out for flight EK56 today. While I was glad to be flying fabled Emirates Airlines I can't say they were super awesome - sure the seat felt twice as large as the tiny stool I had squished myself into on US Airways and the food was pretty yummy (lamb curry), but I can't say more than that Emirates is right up there with my favorite Asian airlines.

We arrived in Dubai at 11.30 in the evening and found the airport bustling as in broad daylight. The baggage claim area was huge and airy too, not the murky hellhole you find in every other airport. A short taxi ride brought us to our hotel, the Arabian Courtyard in Bur Dubai just opposite the Dubai Museum and the Grand Mosque. You all know I'm a sucker for ethnic flair so I had consciously chosen this hotel for its Arab style instead of some bland Hyatt or Novotel. We had to wait for ages for our room though, but finally got there and crashed around 1.30am.

Then we took an Abra, the famous watertaxi across the creek to Deira for all of one dirham (20 cents) and visited the Gold Souk, where I treated myself to my first genuine gold chain ever and had the song Diamonds are a girl's best friend stuck in my head for an hour. The Spice Souk was quite a disappointment though (Istanbul did that one much better) and finally we returned to the Bur Dubai side of the creek under a glorious full moon.
We had booked the new year's eve dinner party at the hotel which was pretty nice but since people didn't stay and the place never really became full, we upped and left at 10pm as well and went to bed. Lame, I know, but hey it's my vacation time. Actually I woke up at 11.45 in tine to greet the new year and noticed that there was nothing going on fireworks-wise around Dubai Creek, the only official fireworks were around the Burj al Arab in Jumeirah, so I knew we hadn't really missed anything here in the actual city and I could go back to sleep.

The new year began with a day on the beach - or so I had thought. Since it was both Friday and a holiday, not much was open and it seemed a good idea to chill on the beach and soak up the sun. But I guess the new year also means I should consider a change in career and become a Rain Goddess. Even here in Dubai, in one of the dryest areas on our bloody planet... I brought rain with me. It was cloudy and windy at Jumeirah Beach Park, so around 1pm we gave up and instead of waiting for the hotel shuttle, took a taxi back to the hotel. Then decided to go to Sharjah to visit the Blue Souq there which isn't only famous and supposedly gorgeous, it is also nicely covered.

We braved the public bus system for that, which was quite crowded and chaotic on a free Friday when all the workers are off and can... well I'm not sure exactly why they are all on the move but Al Ghubaiba Bus Stn was absolutely crowded. Luckily there's an extra "Ladies Window" at the ticket counter where we didn't have to queue at all and the buses have a ladies' section in front, so we could also board the next bus available to Sharjah. When we got off at the Blue Souq it was already dripping, but soon after it began pissing it down like nothing I had ever seen. And it kept going for some time, so even though many of the shops were closed because of Friday/the holiday, being inside the Blue Souq was still the best thing to do I suppose. The weather calmed just in time for a glorious sunset and we took a look around the Sharjah Heritage Area in the city, but it was oddly deserted and there were no tourists at all around, so as it got dark, we went to the bus station and returned to dear old Dubai, which feels so much more multicultural, open and modern than it's rather dull neighbour in the north. We walked around the Bur Dubai Souq for some time and had some delicious shawarma for dinner (all of 5 Dhs), then crashed in the hotel room for the rest of the evening.

Saturday was "Swank it up Dubai-style"-Day. But after breakfast we first visited the Dubai Museum across the street at last, since it was always beckoning from our hotel window and so far we hadn't got around to actually visiting it. The museum is much bigger than it looks from outside since most of the exhibition is underground, depicting scenes of life in "old Dubai" diorama-style that really brings the genuine Arabia back to life and gives you an idea just how incredibly Dubai has developed from the first fortification in 19th century at the Creek through the sleepy village of pearl-fishers of the 1950's to the mega-metropolis it is today

It was an especially catchy contrast to our next destination, the Mall of the Emirates in Jumeirah, getting there after a drive along Sheik Zayed Road, where all those super-awesome new skyscrapers rise into the sky, each one more beautiful than the next (every aspiring architect should have a field day here) including the now tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai.
Apart from boasting around 200 shops of all price ranges, food courts and a cinema complex, the Mall is also home to "Ski Dubai", the much ridiculed indoor skiing hall, but seriously, if we do it in Western Germany when we have "real snow" so close to home, why should the Arabs not do it when they aren't anywhere near real snow?

The Afternoon Tea itself was two hours of gobbling the most awesome snacks you can imagine until I felt stuffed like a christmas turkey. Sandwiches, scones, chocolates, pastries, you name it, plus a glass of champagne and as much tea as your bladder can manage. The whole shindig didn't come cheap of course, clocking in at nearly 400 AED per person (75 Euro, work out pounds or dollars for yourselves), but it sure as heck was worth it. Afterwards we walked towards the Jumeirah Madinat area next door with the hotel, swanky souq and artifical Arabian village with canals, restaurants and bars, a very nice, stylish area with a bit of a Las Vegas kitsch feel to it.

On Sunday we went on an all-day outing to Abu Dhabi, a town whose very existance I had denied around 20-25 years ago. Okay, time for a silly kiddie story: Sometime in the early-mid 80's the cartoon cat Garfield became super popular in Germany and I had a couple of books with collected strips. In one strip Garfield, after some argument with his owner Jon which I don't recall, was seen on a road, with a thumb out for hitchhiking, holding a placard that said "Abu Dhabi" and that sounded so funny to me that I thought the cartoonist had made it up. But Abu Dhabi isn't only very much real, it's also the "capital" of the VAE with the sheik of Abu Dhabi being "president" of the Emirates.

The two hour journey by public Emirates Express bus cost all of 15 Dirham (3 Euro) and the first thing we did was visiting the huge and impresse Sheik Zayed Mosque outside of town, that's only open to visitors in the morning. Luckily they do allow women to enter - but only after sticking them all into black abayas. A source of much merriment among the western and Asian tourists who were busier taking photos of each other than looking at the mosque, the biggest of the islamic world and a breathtakingly beautiful place.

From there we returned into the city, though the Heritage Village was sadly closed on Sundays, leaving us with only a walk along the Corniche, Abu Dhabi's stylishly refurbished seaside road in terms of tourist to-do's, where we also had a nice little lunch by the beach. All in all Abu Dhabi vibed very much that it's the sensible, slightly dull older brother clutching the checkbook, while Dubai is the flashy and slightly loopy younger brother tossing billions around like there's no tomorrow.

And so the time was already coming to an end - the plan for the first half of the last day had been to chill on Jumeirah Beach again, since the first attempt was foiled by lousy weather. This time it was foiled by the driver of the hotel shuttle bus who did not take us to Jumeirah Beach Park but to Al Mantaz park in the north of Dubai, another brand new (and looking very much unfinished) park/beach area that was pleasant enough and rather quiet. And this time it was even warm enough for a little swim.

In the afternoon we did that one big tourist-do in Dubai: The Desert Safari. You get picked up by shiny new Toyota Landcruisers and taken out into the desert beyond Dubai for a spot of "wadi bashing" - driving around and over the dunes in those amazingly capable 4x4's with a feeling of being on a rather gentle rollercoaster without tracks, especially when the cars just slid down steep dunes at precarious degrees. The drivers clearly have as much fun as the passengers on that crazy ride and of course more than one jeep got stuck on the dunes and had to be pulled free.

Sadly there was no camel riding as the tour description had promised and which I had really looked forward to, only a ridiculous "photo opportunity" in front of the desert camp where you get taken for the evening for a barbecue under the stars and some bellydancing. While it was all quite enjoyable, I had to marvel at the "professionality" with which it was all pulled off so smoothly, with every imaginable "Arabian experience" at the tourists' disposal: Shishas held ready for smoking, an elderly woman available to paint henna tattoos on hands or feet and a selection of traditional Arab clothes complete with headscarves and veils to dress up in for photos. I couldn't help comparing it all to the much more "amateurish" and yet somehow nicer experience in Jordan in summer with its plastic chairs, broken showers and stuffy tents to sleep in. Eh well.
Another quite unexpected highlight presented itself on the way back to the city: From a distance we could watch the impressive fireworks at Burj Dubai, the highest tower in the world at 818 metres (2684 feet for you metrically challenged) that was officially opened by Sheik al-Makhtoum himself that evening with the usual pomp and glitz of Dubai.
And so my time in Dubai came to end again - I don't know if I will get a chance to go back someday with so much else to see all the time, but I can definitely say for myself that I had a great time and that as so often you really need to see a place for yourself before you form an opinion. Yea, alot of the stuff in Dubai is overblown and crazy, but the world needs visionairies like Sheik al-Mahktoum (and his Daddy who started it all), to create something new and unique. What they have achieved in this place in such a short time is truly mindboggling, but do give the man some credit for creating such a multicultural, open place that gives thousands of people from all over Asia and the Middle East (and some from the West too) jobs and career opportunties in the middle of the most troubled region of the Earth amid backward medieval societies such as that of Saudi Arabia, war zones and terrorism breeding grounds like Iraq and that sad playground of a nutcase dictator, Iran.