Aug 15, 2007 06:09 PM
7994 Views
(Updated Aug 15, 2007 06:12 PM)
Dubai is a paradoxical city. It is a city full of surprises and contradictions to general belief. Some of those unusual things about Dubai are -
- Almost four times more foreign people than local Emirati
people
economy, oil only accounts for 7% of their total earnings.
made islands.
Petrol costs almost twice as much as it costs in the US.
According to common economic theory, as society becomes
cash rich – it becomess time poor; Dubai is one contradiction
to this theory, the local Emirati people in this city are cash rich
as well as time rich, I fail to understand how they manage to do
this.
Dubai is a bustling cosmopolitain city with a lot to offer no matter what the purpose of your visit is. From watersports and sandy beaches to moutain trekking and desert safaris to skiing there is everything in Dubai.
CLIMATE
I have only been to Dubai once and that too when the weather is at its worst – in July. Day temperatures can easily climb up to 50 degrees and do not be surprised if the temperature in city remains at 40 degree even at 9pm. The desert tends to get cooler at night but the concrete jungle that Dubai is- remains hot 24 hours in summer. No matter how good you think you are at bearing heat just do not expect to be able to walk under the summer sun in Dubai. The only people you see out in the open are the western tourists at beaches who hardly see the sun in their own countries OR the construction workers from the Indian subcontinent.
Apparently its best to go there October onwards up until March/April.
TRANSPORT
Emirati people are so proud of this city that often on tv they claim it has better infrastructure than London and Newyork. In saying this obviously they forget that at the present moment Dubai has no local train service (metro/subway etc) and no proper bus service. Buses that run seem to be used only by the asian workers.
The airport itself is quite big and well kept but not an out of this world experience as described by people who wrote other reviews on Dubai. There are ample duty free shops but that not a big deal because the whole country of UAE is duty free anyway so most of the times you will get better prices in city as compared to duty free shops at the airport.
Taxis are the only means of transport for tourists, the most common taxi in Dubai is Toyota Camry which is nice and most cars being used as taxis in Dubai are better than taxis anywhere in Europe. If you’re coming from India you wouldn’t find taxis cheap and if you travel from Europe or the states you wouldn’t find them as cheap as you’d have thought they’d be. Most taxi drivers are Indian (mainly Keralites) and Pakistanis (mainly pathaan from the northwest province) who can be very rude and fleece you specially if they know you are a tourist.
I have serious issues with the way those taxi drivers look down on others from their own countries. If you’re trying to hail a taxi- the taxi driver slows down, notices that you look Indian and just drives past you OR he stops.. keeps all doors locked and asks “ haan, kahaan jaana hai?” and then decides wether or not to take you.
Twice I paid to taxi drivers and even without counting the money the taxi driver says – “Sir paisa poora nahi hai”. I stopped and made them count and showed them that I had tipped them on top of the fare and still they just shouted that I didn’t pay right.
What is it with Indians in Dubai – do they not pay the taxi drivers right or what why are they treated so bad?
PEOPLE
The only time I saw a sheikh working was at the immigration desk in the airport other than that I saw only Indians, Pakistanis and Philipino people working everywhere. Having said that- bear in mind that I was only a tourist that too for just one week, so may be they work in offices etc. I was surprised that the cinemas and malls were full of Emirati men wearing the white robe and Abaya clad women. What I do not understand is how come so many local men are seen sitting and eating, drinking in malls during the day time – mid week?
I visited dubai for the first time and my impressions are – Dubai is a good place to se once in a lifetime but I wouldn’t bother going there again just because of the people of Dubai. The local people seem too proud of I don’t know what. It happened in malls and hotels that I opened a door to get in and a man in white robe came from the other side and made sure he passed through the doors first while I stood there holding the door for him, for the first couple of times I stood there shocked as to how these weird people think everyone else is their door keeper and then I decided fine if this happened again I will just leave the door close on their FACE but the situation didn’t happen again.
I guess all this stems from the fact that most Indians are blue collar workers whom they look down upon anyway and that is why every person of that color is treated like a fifty cent. I know there are a lot of well to do Indians running big businesses in Dubai and maybe they have earned a lot of respect for themselves in the local community but then this is my first impression of Dubai as an Indian tourist who stayed there just a week. And this is not the first time I visited another country I have travelled to over a dozen countries spent years in foreign lands but this was the first time I felt ill treated. Never ever did the word racism come to my mind in the UK and Europe but in Dubai – all the time. That’s another paradox of Dubai.
I know at this stage most readers would think I probably look like a pauper and that’s why I was treated like one, but no I don’t think so ?
CONSTRUCTION
Entire Dubai is one huge construction site, they seem obsessed with building tall buildings like the Burj al Arab hotel or the tallest bldg of the world and many many more. It is such a pity to see that almost all construction workers at these building sites are south asian men working in the scorching sun at 50 degrees temp. These are the hands who built Dubai and are still the worst treated lot in this country.
ACCOMMODATION
There are plenty of hotels in Dubai most major hotel chains have hotels in Dubai. Dubai is known to have one of the best hotels in the world. We stayed at the JW Marriott which is very well known for its food specially in JW’s Steakhouse, the room we stayed in was spacious but the interiors seemed to be from the 80s, at 1000Dhs ( approx $250) a night I expected newer interiors but overall it was a nice stay and the service was good.
ATTRACTIONS
In my opinion the best way to see dubai for tourists is to take the big bus tour, they are twin deck buses ( not all buses are airconditioned) with commentary they have two different routes and show most major attractions of the city you can hop on – hop off at any stop and catch the next bus. The bus tour gives you a great overview of Dubai and once you’ve seen them all you can choose and get a taxi back to the ones you like most duing the later days of your stay.
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