DUBAI

DUBAI: A Spectacle of Splendour

The prospect of visiting Dubai during its ‘Shopping Festival’ seemed only a reality for the rich & famous. So, when I heard about an official visit being planned there for a weekend (during the festival), I couldn’t believe my luck. Although I’ve had the pleasure of travelling to the mid-east to visit by brother and his family in Bahrain, Dubai almost always seemed unreachable. Personally, I feel Bahrain is more homely and approachable (although one of the richest nations in the world) and alternatively, Dubai is truly a shopper’s paradise and quite a display of grandeur.

Oh well, never mind the comparison! I was going to Dubai and that’s what was most important. A 2.5 hours flight from New Delhi takes you to this enchanting land. Women travellers please do ensure to get your visa clearance before anything else, because I had quite an ordeal with that. Visa however, is available on arrival. It was a pleasant January mid-day which greeted us in Dubai, UAE and we were duly taken away to our hotel in an AC bus (quite unthinkable in Delhi winters). Everything from vehicles to schools is air conditioned to combat the excessive desert heat.

Our itinerary for the next 3 days included sight-seeing, shopping and attending the conference, of course. After exchanging our dollars for dirhams, our Delhi tour manager advised us to huddle at the hotel lobby at around 4:00 pm local time (1.5 hours behind IST) to join in the city tour. Lunch was a scrumptious spread of all we could think of and we hogged to our heart’s content.

Much to our surprise, our tour guide was an Indian named Mahesh. He had settled here for 5 years now. He came here to fulfil his dreams and began with odd jobs initially. By the end of a couple of years or so, he realized he knew the place well enough to become a guide and enrolled himself accordingly. Apart from the long and odd hours he has to put in, what keeps him going is the money, the myriad variety of people he meets and of course not being too far away from home.

We were informed that Dubai makes for at least 110 nationalities of the world which attributes to its cosmopolitan culture. These amount to at least 29% of Euro-American expats and 60% from the sub-continent (40% of which are Indian) among others (11%). In fact, in a city of around 1.5 million, less than 600 families (11% approx.) are the local Emiratis. The official religion of the UAE is Islam and all the citizens are Sunni Muslims. The remaining population is primarily Muslim, followed by Hindus and Catholics.

We were taken around the city and were quite intrigued at the sight of the variety of residential estates and small houses and hotels. It was strange to note that there are no street numbers or house numbers. Only the neighbourhoods had names. Hence, according to Mahesh, in case you’re invited to someone’s house for a meal for the first time, it’s customary to get picked up. Otherwise you have to totally depend on the taxi driver to take you around. Yes, taxis and public buses are readily available around the city.

We were shown the Royal Palace but were not allowed to photograph it. This residence of Sheikh Mohammed of Al Makhtoum clan is a treat to watch due to exquisite Islamic architecture. We were told that the Sheikh follows his father’s (Sheikh Rashid) foresight and dynamism and is the architect of modern Dubai. We noted with awe that gone are the days of quaint date palm frond huts, pearl fishing classes (which also taught Arabic, Islam and Mathematics), food fetching falcons, donkeys being used as modes of transport and people swimming across the creek for pearl and gold trade. All that seemed to have been bulldozed out in the last 3-4 decades, and proudly replaced by spectacular and dizzying array of development projects such as ‘World Islands’, ‘Business Bay’, ‘Dubai Aerodrome’, ‘Dubai Festival City’, ‘Dubai Land’, ‘Dubai Marina’, ‘Hydropolis underwater hotel’, ‘Ski Dome’ and of course the ‘Palm Islands’ at Jebel Ali. No wonder His Highness is known as the ‘Builder Sheikh’.

Next on the agenda was the Dubai Museum in the Al Fahidi Fort which was built around the 1800s. Amongst the variety of ancient memorabilia, the museum also holds regular light and sound shows of a slice of Dubai’s course of development in the past few centuries. This is a must watch! A sight of the Jumeirah Mosque after that gave us another stunning example of mid-eastern architecture.

Soaking in this history lesson, we headed towards the beach. It was nearing sunset time, and, lo behold, I had the most amazing sunset views of my life. Watching the Persian Gulf gulp the flame orange fire ball into its depths was an amazing experience. Coupled with this, the sight of the majestic Hotel Al Burj caught by breath as well. This hotel is situated within the ocean built on a man-made island. It is an architectural marvel of modern Dubai. It is an exotic building standing 321 meters tall with 202 luxury suites with floor-to ceiling windows to ensure breath-taking views of the city and the ocean for the guests. There is a helipad on the terrace which is used occasionally. One can enjoy this extravagance at an astronomical price. So let’s leave it for the super swank population of the world. Some local Emiratis swished past us in their long flowing milky white thobs and ladies in their black abayas and I was tempted to photograph them amidst the beautiful surroundings. However, such is not allowed in the mid-east.

After the Al Burj it was time to visit the souks (markets). These are almost like the whole-sale markets of north Delhi where all is available from electronic items to clothes among others. However, the most striking amongst them all is the gold souk. Evenings are heavy at this gold market, since prices are at all time low in this part of the world and the sights are quite blinding. This being festival time, we faced unbelievable crowds. I purchased a pair of small earrings and an equally small pendant for my mother and sis-in-law since I wasn’t on a big budget.

Dinner and some heavy partying were in store for us on an Arabic dhow (boat) floating on the Dubai creek. These dhows are used as water taxis to cross the creek for trade and communication. Our dhow was double storied. The deck was a vast restaurant with great spread of food and drinks on offer. We were treated to spectacular fire cracker shows since it was ‘Shopping Festival’ time. Below the deck there were Bedouin belly dancers shaking to melodious Arabic tunes and added further glitter to the starry night. Happy and tired with the day’s indulgence, it was time to head back to our hotel. I hit the sack right away so that I can wake up fresh and bright the next day for the conference.

Attending an official conference overseas and that too with a so many participants and colleagues from all over India was a new and learning experience. It was a marathonic four hour session, after which we had a delicious lunch.

Once again we were ready for another trip and packed into 18 Land Cruisers (7 in each). We stopped at a petrol station and strangely noted that apart from filling the tanks, the drivers were de-airing the tires to lighten them. Our driver Imtiaz was from Pakistan and had been earning his livelihood in this manner for the past 7-8 years. Driving in the desert safari was quite a challenge and interesting initially, but he’s quite used to it by now. Although he loves this sport and meeting new people every day, he said the earning is quite frugal and hence, he maintains a low standard of living. He misses his daughter and wife since he cannot go home as often as he wishes. He gave us his business card and asked us to keep in touch.

Before we realized it, we had reached the desert on the outskirts of Dubai. All the SUVs raced and began the safari. It was a race of the mightiest and there was no looking back. We all had strapped our safety belts except for Imtiaz. He didn’t need to any more. It was a mind-boggling and nerve-wrecking experience and literally kept us off our seats all the while. Perhaps those who’ve been on a roller-coaster ride have felt the same. The sudden nose-dives and vertical climbs on soft sand dunes, although triggered off a cyclone of million butterflies in my stomach, I enjoyed it thoroughly till it lasted.

I really can’t quite remember who won, but we ended at another sunset point. I suppose God had decided to treat me to the best sunset views of my life back to back, and I felt fortunate. The sun going down behind the sand dunes in the distance was equally exquisite. This over, we were driven to an ecologically created camp in the desert. ‘Khawa’ (local tea) was served as a welcome drink by a sheik. This atmosphere resembled ancient Arabic temporary nomadic camps which were occasionally set up around an oasis. Many of my excited colleagues were taking camel rides around the camp. Some women sat in a huddle and applied henna on the palms of interested candidates. We noticed there were scores of tents set up in a circle, with a carpeted square in the centre of the camp surrounded by cosy cushions and pillows. We were told this had been set up for performing belly dancers and for us to sit around and enjoy the same. There was a makeshift bar offering all the drinks you could think of. In addition, we were offered yummy grilled kebabs (chicken and fish) at some make shift take away counters. Interestingly though, the SUV drivers had turned into chefs. All this made our exclusive belly-dance show more memorable.

Since this was an ecological camp, we needed to cut the fun and frolic leave by 10pm in order to maintain the environment. Hats off to Dubai’s eco-friendly gesture! Our SUVs dropped us back at our hotel and we most of us slept off right away. Those who had not been able to switch off from the party mode hit the hotel dance floor to shake a bit more.

Shop till you drop was the motto of our last day in Dubai. We had decided to empty our pockets, rather our credit and debit cards and the make the most of the ‘Dubai Shopping Festival’. We were on our own that day and, hence, decided to have lunch/ brunch outside. Hiring a cab we took rounds at the several malls to investigate what’s available and affordable and would be a logical buy to carry back to India. There were promised souvenirs to be hunted of which would mostly include chocolates and knick-knacks. Among others, electronic items, cosmetics and toiletries were the most common. After spending almost half the day, our energy and money at ‘The City Centre Mall’, ‘The Lulu Hypermarket’ etc., we headed back to our hotels with our merchandise. It was truly an eventful day.

Packing, dinner and sleep followed thereafter. We woke in the wee hours of the morning the next day to catch our return flight to New Delhi and to our normal lives. One last link to the Dubai marvel was the glittering duty free shops at the international airport. There was gold shop with a tree made of gold behind it. It was a wonder that the tree was untouched and safe. God knows what its fate would have been in India.

It was fabulous end to a memorable weekend and we cherished it since it was something which would not be repeated in the near future. Mingling ourselves with the spectacular splendour of Dubai was a fulfilled dream and shall remain with us fondly until we visit again.