Sunday, June 5, 2011
"Under Construction" Byrnedms photos around Dubai, United Arab Emirates (travel pics)
Preview of Byrnedms blog at TravelPod. Read the full blog here: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/byrnedm/thehoneymoon/1207684800/tpod.html
This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator.
Entry from: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Entry Title: "Under Construction"
Entry:
"· Dubai, United Arab Emirates
· GMT +4:00hrs
"build it and they will come"
- Kevin Costner, Field of Dreams
Under construction
Dubai, the jewel of the Arab world, is one of the 7 emirates that make up the oil-rich Persian Gulf country, The United Arab Emirates. The tiny emirate, twice the size of London, is a kingdom built on the profits of its oil reserves and so one shouldnt be surprised to learn (we werent) that this is one of the richest places in the Arab world (one can positively smell the aroma of money wafting through the stifling air). But that hasnt always been the case. Nope, as little as 60 years ago Dubai was a small trading town built on a humble creek. But oh how things have changed. A complete turnabout face has totally transformed this place and today it is now famous for trade, gold and all things luxury. Oh, and of course its also famous for its oil... famous for now that is becasue its estimated that by 2016 the oil reserves will have run out, spelling disaster for the oil-dependent economy. With this knowledge Dubai has been forced to reinvent itself once again, and find new sources of income, and none other than the crown Prince himself is onto the task; he has a multibillion dollar plan to save his emirate, and thus the country, by rebranding it and transforming it into nothing less than the worlds number one luxury tourist destination. Yep, just like that. And with a plan in place for well over a decade now the Arabs certainly cant be accused of not giving it their best shot. They have gone to some outrageous, almost superhuman lengths in an attempt to put Dubai on the high rolling tourist map: they have constructed, or are constructing, world class golf courses, race tracks, legions of luxury hotels, multimillion dollar apartment complexes, shopping malls, massive manmade islands and, for good measure, the world tallest building. The aim is to attract some 15 million people annually to spend their money here, 3 times the present figure. But that in itself causes problems, namely problems of space. With only 72km of coastline, there wouldnt be enough room for all the extra people. So what do the Arabs do to solve this issue? Well, they build islands of course, huge cities at sea with not only more space for all to enjoy but with yet more shopping malls, restaurants, exculsive multimillion dollar private beach villas, marinas, water theme parks, health spas & luxury hotels. And thats what they have been doing 24/7, 365 days a year since August 2001; reclaiming land at an almost impossible rate and building massive offshore archipelagos in the process, 3 of which are in the shape of palm trees and another being an island mock-up of the globe (not content with putting Dubai on the map, they put the map on Dubai). The result of all this madness means that Dubai can now boast of having over 1500km of sun-drenched, white sand coastline, manmade or otherwise. Problem solved. Yes, build it and they will come, or so the Arabs hope.
Bling
Dubai really is quite the place. Unless you like shopping or are the sort of person who gets off on viewing large scale construction projects (both on and offshore) then there isnt much to do here, apart from sweat and spend money (and the more of the latter that you have the better). As noted, the whole place has been built, or is being built, to attract tourists and the tourist dollar. Yes, the city can trace its origins to a small 1830s fishing village but today Dubai is all about development, air-conditioned duty free shopping centres, jewellery shops, palm trees lining manicured sprinkled lawns, 5 star hotels, celebrity chief restaurants and chauffeur driven Arabs. Its all bling bling, Arab style.
Dubai... but why?
We got off the bus from Muscat at 10pm two nights ago. We had no idea where in the city we were (the outskirts we assumed), we had no map, we had no information on the city other than a hotel name and we had no local currency (the UAE dirham). Somehow we made it to The Piccadilly Hotel on Nasser Square (actually, it was as a result of Pat finding an ATM, ..."
Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/byrnedm/thehoneymoon/1207684800/tpod.html
Photos from this trip:
1. "Building islands in the sun"
2. ".1 Bigger & better"
3. "Gold Souk"
4. "Bling bling"
5. "Dhow"
6. "Home"
7. "Unfamiliar sight"
8. "U/C"
9. "7-star"
10. "No TATAs here"
See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-00bb-af3c-6a42?ytv4=1
"Dubai by day, Al Ain by night" Mannypantss photos around Dubai, United Arab Emirates (vacation)
Preview of Mannypantss blog at TravelPod. Read the full blog here: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mannypants/uae_jan2007/1168938420/tpod.html
This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator.
Entry from: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Entry Title: "Dubai by day, Al Ain by night"
Entry:
"So I only started to fall asleep at about 4am: 12 hr time zone change, jet lag, hard as rock mattress. Only to be jarred awake at about 5:30am by the morning call to prayer; did I mention those windtowers also have the mosque speakers on the side? This is even with those nifty earplugs you get on international flights. The prayers subsided around 5 minutes later only to start again at 6am, from a totally different mosque nearby. Pretty much each mosque has its own loudspeakers and there must be a wide variety of these recordings cause Im pretty sure I kept hearing different ones the whole time I was there. Sometimes youll have several mosques in the same area and they will all broadcast at the same time so you get this overlapping of very loud prayers. Its an eerie effect in the city as the sound reverberates between the building walls and such.
For an example turn up your speakers up really loud and go to this site .
After I dragged myself out of the room, I took breakfast in the courtyard of the XVA: fresh OJ, Moroccan mint tea, some yogurt, pita with haloumi cheese and some grapes. I left my luggage with the staff, checked out and headed towards the creek, a 5 minute walk.
I jumped on an abra at the Dubai Old Souq Station for .5 dirham and was scuttled across the water with about 15 other passengers. The abra driver sits in the middle with his feet dangling into a box below where the steering wheel lies and is navigated by expert barefoot action. We "docked" at the Al Sabkha Station by the Dhow cargo wharves. I use the term dock loosely, basically he drove the front of the abra right into the dock and kept the motor going forward so the tip kept hitting the dock over and over. We all then were expected to depart with a bit of a jump onto the dock.
The spice souq is a good 20 minute walk along the wharves and a very busy street. The smell of rotting garbage, the toxic air and constant car honking of all the delivery trucks leaving the wharves onto the busy adjacent avenue all made for a very unpleasant stroll. However, that must have been the trial one has to take before encountering the olfactory nirvana of the spice souq at the end.
Vapors of brewing tea, odors of anise, frankincense, dried garlic, dried ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, peppers and more saturated the air. The smells were all so commingled I couldnt tell what I was smelling until I saw the barrels containing the specific spices. I went into the first shop I saw. "Al salaam alaykum" I said to the shopkeeper behind the counter. "Hello" he said, probably seeing through my bad Arabic pronunciation.
"You are from USA?"
"Yes, and you?"
"I am Iranian. You know I love USA. We are not terrorists in Iran."
He introduced himself as Ibrahim and led me on a tour through all the spices I didnt recognize or he was proud of: mastic gum, star anise, real Ceylon cinnamon (1 to 2 ft long sticks) and others Ive forgotten already. I asked to take a picture of him and his shop and he called his brother, Aqeel, over from outside to take the picture of me with my "new friend." I bought my spices and parted ways with Ibrahim shouting back to me "Come back again next year." Why next year? What if I wanted to come back in a month?
I walked around the various shops in the spice souq for a little longer. But once they see youve made a purchase in one shop, they all want a piece of you. I kept having people say hello and grab my shoulder trying to lead me into their store. People would keep feeding me pistachios from Iran, cashews from India, mastic gum from Oman. After about 30 minutes I was dying of thirst. Everyone gives free samples of nuts and such but no one gave me anything to drink. Didnt I read about shopkeepers luring tourists and prospective buyers with offers of a cup of tea? Once I got back to the main roads I saw a street vendor with a large piece of cutlery, whacking away at a gourd or something. A closer look revealed boxes of huge ..."
Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mannypants/uae_jan2007/1168938420/tpod.html
Photos from this trip:
1. "Another abra crossing our path"
2. "Cargo dhows in the Deira shipyards"
3. "Cargo dhows in the Deira shipyards 2"
4. "Creek View Restaurant, Deira side"
5. "Deira shop signs"
6. "Exterior of one Spice Souq vendor"
7. "Free Jaguar*"
8. "Leaving Dubai"
9. "Real Baba Ganouj"
10. "View from abra"
See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0126-95fe-511d?ytv4=1
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