DAY 21 DUBAI

We returned from the ovens of Dubai in remarkably good shape due mostly to a very good tour guide who made sure our time in the sun was minimal and our time in air conditioned spaces was maximal. But I’ll tell you, you just haven’t lived until you’ve waited at the crossing of a busy street in the sun and then walked across black pavement in 109 degree heat. Luckily, it was not as humid as expected but the overall air quality was quite poor because they’ve had several big sand storms recently.

But before I get ahead of myself, I need to start at the beginning which is when we left the ship and walked into the passenger terminal at the port. There were several stalls against one wall where people in traditional garb were selling handcrafts. At one stall, 3 women were seated on the floor weaving household items from grasses (or maybe split palm fronds). They wore the traditional black robes (abayas) with black head scarves, but in addition they wore traditional masks (couldn’t tell if they were plastic or metal) that covered their noses and mouths. In the UAE these are called burkhas. It looked like something from a medieval torture scene. Our guide later explained that the mask was designed to protect the nose and mouth from flying sand, but I don’t really buy that because men don’t wear them. It was difficult to look at them. On the other hand, our guide also explained that most women in Dubai do not cover their face at all, but they still wear the abaya and cover their hair (although some young women are starting to pull their head scarf back at bit to show some of their hair).

Barti Rajan, our guide (www.dubai1tours.com) was very good -- we highly recommend him. He and his driver arrived on time to pick us up, the vehicle was spacious and clean and the air conditioning worked very well, and his English was quite good. One of the first things we learned is that although most of the world says that Dubai is on the Persian Gulf, people in Dubai call it the Arabian Gulf because of the difficult political relationship they have with Iran.

The United Arab Emirates was founded in 1972 -- Sheikh Rashid is considered to be the founding father because he united the small states (tribes, actually). Abu Dhabi is the capital but Dubai is the business and tourist center. Almost all of Dubai has been built in the last 20 years; the downtown area with all the towering buildings of architectural splendor has been built in the last 7 years. For comparison, 40 years ago Dubai did not have electricity. You can see how quickly this city has sprung up from barren sand. Everything is new and the creative license granted to architects is stunningly obvious. Although I expected to be bored, it turned out that I was enchanted by the diversity of design. We drove by many of the famous buildings and stopped at the perfect photo spots. At one point we stopped on the beach to take photos of the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel (really interesting!) and ended up wading up to our knees in the clear, aquamarine waters of the Persian Gulf. Mostly bath-water temperature, but refreshing nevertheless -- I actually waded in the Persian Gulf….wow!!

Went to the king’s palace -- we could only stop outside and take photos. The entrance lane is bordered by lines of date palms and flowering bushes, and finally, wide strips of green lawn. Just outside the lush vegetation I could see the sand and the drip lines that are used to water everything (almost all the water used in Dubai is produced by their desalination plants). The king’s peacocks were out strutting around -- they are larger than I am used to seeing and their bodies were such an electric blue that it was remarkable. Stopped to photograph the grand mosque -- very beautifully carved decorations on the outside.

Boulevards are landscaped with flowering trees (brilliant orange-flowered acacia trees), flowering bushes, and green grass. I didn’t see any trash anywhere -- everything was pristine.  The government and the people of Dubai are very concerned with image. Even vehicle license plates can have snob appeal. When a person is granted a vehicle license, they keep it for life. If the license plate has a low number, it can be quite a substantial asset. Low-numbered licenses are frequently put up for auction when a person dies. Recently a 4-digit number (new licenses are in the 7 digits now so a 4-digit license is quite prestigious) sold for the equivalent of $2,000,000 at auction.

Here’s another fashion tidbit -- the preferred color for male headwear is all white, however, some men switch to red and white for winter wear. Now you know. Oh, and here’s the origin of the black rope that men wear to secure their headwear -- in nomadic days, men would use a rope to hobble tie around their camel’s front legs at night to prevent the camel from wandering away. In the morning, they would coil the rope and use it on top of their heads. OK, that’s your trivia for the day.

Next stop was the Islamic Arts Center which is really a high-end shopping opportunity in a lovely, air-conditioned building. We were assigned our own “guide” who is really a salesman and who showed us around the many small shops. I’m so sorry they didn’t allow photography because many of the items we saw were exquisite. We saw gold-thread embroidered, jewel encrusted, wall hangings like nothing I‘ve ever seen before; intricately carved, delicate white furniture made from camel bone; gorgeously, gossamer-thin pashmina shawls; brilliantly colored items of clothing, all embroidered and bejeweled; stunning enameled bowls and vases; and many jewelry shops. Although the salesman did try to encourage us to buy things, he didn’t use the high pressure techniques we have been subjected to in the past, so it was quite a pleasant experience.

After that it was time to take a water taxi to the other side of Dubai. “A water taxi” I hear you ask? Yup. Dubai is split by a seawater waterway that they call the “creek” although it is something like a wide river. The water taxis are wide, shallow-draft boats with covered benches on the deck. You just climb on and sit down on a bench facing out to the water and the ride is a whole 5 minutes long. Fun.

Wandered through the spice souk and the gold souk. A souk is an open area market. In Dubai, the souks are located in the old part of town (not much of the old stuff left). The central walkway in each souk is covered so it is shaded and then there are small shops on either side of the walkway -- luckily each shop is air conditioned, which makes it more enticing to go in and look. We walked into a couple of spice shops. Outside were cloth bags heaped high with spices. Talk about spices from the east -- I saw frankincense and myrrh, dried whole lemons, long rolls of cinnamon, chunks of alum (used by men on their face as an after shave treatment), tumeric, sticks of dried milk (looked kind of like chalk)…..I can’t remember them all. Oh, and bundles of saffron (the flower stamens were bundled together like a dried flower arrangement). They also had fresh dates and all kinds of nuts (almonds, cashews, and pistachios especially). The smells were delicious.

Then a short walk to the gold souk. Oh my what an over stimulation for the eyes. Shop after shop with windows filled with gold jewelry -- traditional western styles, Indian gold styles, high-end designs, yellow and white and rose gold. These stores are regulated by the government so the gold quality is guaranteed and they are known for their honesty. After looking at 3 or 4 shops it was difficult to take in any more, but we tried our best. We were able to bargain a little bit but the prices only came down a little bit.

We lunched at a Lebanese restaurant that had the best hummus I’ve had in a long time. We had chicken shwarma and minted lemonade -- everything was memorably good. And then it was back to the ship where we were able to just sail past all the check-in lines and walk right onto the ship without delay. Parked next door to us at the port was the QE II which now lives in Dubai. That was news to me. They had plans to turn it into a hotel but that is on hold for now due to lack of funds. All in all, it was a great day. And now we have 2 days at sea before we reach Goa, India. Time to finish up the latest book I’m reading.