The Story So Far

Dubai and the UAE

Dan and I are early in our journey and have arrived in sunny, muggy Brisbane. The pretty, green and very muggy Brisbane. I loved it instantly. The city and the nephews that come with it: introducing 4-year-old Finn and 6 –year -*cough* excuse me- 6-and-a-half-year- old Nick. But more about Australia and the 2 cutest boys in the Universe later.

                                                           

Nick and Finn

Australia is the second stop of our 6-month adventure. We arrived in the United Arab Emirates to visit our friends and wonderful hosts Jacqui and Oliver on a 96-hour transit visa staying for 3 days.  And boy is Dubai a strange place!

During my three full days in the UAE, I met only 2 locals or “Emirati’. One at the passport control into the country, and one on the way out!

And ‘met’ is a little too strong a word. Essentially Dubai and the rest of the UAE is run by foreigners- waitrons, shopkeepers, bus drivers, gardeners, petrol attendants- you name it- they’re from somewhere else. This makes one feel like a permanent outsider- a feeling shared by many of the foreigners working and living in the country.  As a friend of ours, John, who has been working and living in the UAE for 5 years puts it, “If you’re living in Dubai you’re here for the money.” And that’s a shared sentiment amongst friends in Dubai and the people we met along the way most of whom are pretty jaded with the place.

To understand what drives the country and the sentiment, a background understanding is key. Luckily, we had pretty amazing tour guides and a well-informed Oliver Jackson who provided us with ample information creating a textured backdrop on which to piece together the story of the UAE.

Some of the information shared here is from his very smart head in the form I remember his sharing it. Some I “researched”. I’m on holiday so think Wikipedia and don’t quote me. ;)

The UAE is made up of 7 states or emirates-  Abu Dhabi (the largest), Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujaurah, Ras al-Khaimah and Umm al-Qaiwain. While there is a federal president and prime minister each emirate has a Sheik who owns everything and overseas the local government.  The state is socialist in nature (for its citizens at least)- all medical care and education (even overseas universities) is paid for.


           

Before the 1960’s the region now known as the UAE was poor relying on fishing. farming, camel herding and pearling for its income. With the discovery of oil in the 1960s, all of that changed.

Now the country is super rich but oil only contributes to 30% of its GDP. With the previous Sheik’s foresight that the oil is finite, a massive drive to create a real-estate based economy has been pursued.

There are business incentives and job opportunities and there is a lot of money to be made here.   Development is huge and contributes to the pretty impressive skyline in Dubai. But now I’m sounding like a press release.

So what did we do!?

We arrived at 2 AM on Friday morning (weekend starts here Thursday night). Ollie and Jacqui picked us up and gave us a middle of the night tour of the city centre. It is very shiny in Dubai city centre. In fact people were cleaning the marble on some of the streets and pillars as we drove up. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world approximately 800m tall. It is ridiculous.

                                              

Burj Khalifa on the left - compare its size to the other (tall) buildings that make up the Dubai skyline  (camera phone in moving car)

Me on an Eski

After a night’s sleep and a delicious champagne breakfast we headed out to Abu Dhabi and visited a water theme park. Because that’s what this place does- it builds shit. There is a ski ramp in the middle of the city for example (remember this is the desert). We roller-coasted, jumped down giant water-slides, ate lunch served by someone NOT from the UAE, and body boarded on a standing wave. Amazingly, to South African readers, we also left our stuff in a pile for a couple of hours and it was still there when we came back.

Dan on an Eski

Most memorable quote of the day goes to Dan who upon complimenting my new bikini added, ‘at least this one doesn’t pop off and show your boobs!’ which earned us both the biggest skeef I have ever received from a local conservatively dressed Emirati lady.  Ironically, my new bikini DOES come off with quite a surprising ‘’POP’ when not paying attention. For instance when breathing or moving my arm up and down. Excellent.

Most memorable fashion item: The burkini (a burkah come swimming ensemble)

Most memorable moment: Getting to hang with some camels on the side of the road. They’re awesome.

Look at those teeth!

The next morning we left from Sharjah where we were staying with Jacqui and Oliver in their beautiful place. We drove to Dibba Rock for some diving and camping. I had one of the most relaxing and fun weekends I’ve had in ages. We did a discover dive in warm water filled with rays, turtles, colourful fish and eels. After a few drinks and a massive amount of Lebanese food I passed out on a hotel beach chair (as one does). After the guys had set up our campsite  I passed out there too (as I tend to do). Waking up in the middle of the night looking up at the Northern Hemisphere starry sky above me cosily tucked in I felt a huge surge of contentment. FREEDOM :D  We did another dive the next morning and drove home through beautiful mountainous terrain . I’m hooked and cannot wait to finish my open water divers license.

Getting Ready

On the boat

Hanging out under water

Pretty mountain view

On our final night Ollie and Jacqui took us to the creek- one of the most beautiful parts of Dubai. We walked through the shuks (markets) and Dan and I were both reminded of our times in the Middle East- mine in Israel and his in Egypt.  “What do you want- handbag, scarf, bag, dress. jewellery camera…”  We passed by another camel (happy days), took boats across the creek,  and ate a delicious traditional dinner.

Danny hanging with J and O

 
All in all, my experience in the UAE was interesting and eye opening and really fun! Despite the bizarre strangeness of the place, and losing our two “waterproof” cameras to water damage, we had a great time, largely due to the oft-mentioned J and O who took us to parts of Dubai we could never have gotten to on our own. Shout-out to them. And while I wouldn’t recommend Dubai as place to visit (I’m just not that into my Bentleys and 7-star hotels), if you have friends there, and you’re stopping over on your way, take the opportunity to pop on in.