Dubai Adventures—Astounding Wealth--- January 9 to 12, 2019

My two-month travel adventure to Dubai, Morocco, Spain, and Portugal began on January 8, 2019, with my Emirates Air 14-hour non-stop flight from Seattle to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  This was my first time flying on Emirates and I used 70,000 Alaska Air miles in booking this flight and decided to do a 4 day stopover in Dubai since I had never been there.  The flight attendants were from all nationalities and were hospitable and accommodating to some very demanding travelers.  The western food was OK.   

Although the flight was long, I found it fascinating to talk to my seat mate who was a US Citizen-Afghan who was returning to Afghanistan for 6 months as an interpreter.  She interviews villagers and Taliban prisoners.  The Taliban really dislike having her as their interpreter primarily because she was a woman and much more educated than them. She says the CIA and Special Forces like for her to be their interpreter to get the Taliban off-balance.  She wears a flack jacket when outside the “wire” to interview villagers. She had grown up near Kabul and her family abandoned their home and fled with just the clothes they could wear and carry. 

She was a librarian back home and her father was a professor.  They stayed in a refugee camp in Pakistan before first coming to Phoenix, AZ, then on to Minneapolis before finally settling in the Northern California area nearby other relatives.  She indicated that her family home in Kabul is just 45 minutes beyond the “wire”, but she has not even gone by to see it.  I suggested that she have her crew do a drive-by, but she said travel outside was severely restricted.  From Dubai, she will take a military flight to Bagram Air Base.

After our discussion, I think I slept until we started our descent into Dubai. As we approached, the ground below sparkled with lights.  

It was a breeze passing through Immigration as the bored official seemed more interested in talking to his other immigration official.  The ATM worked so got 1,000 AED—UAE Dirham sometimes referred to as Dh., and was on my way to the Metro.  It cost just 10.5 AED for the 45-minute ride to my Top of Marina hostel. 

I found the Top of Marina hostel on the 41st floor with amazing views.

Clean and neat and the manager invited me for a vegetarian meal, but I was more interested in a shower and sleep since it was about 10PM.  The place is a three-bedroom apartment with 2 1/2 baths with Sammy as the manager. Four sets of bunk beds are in one room and two in the other. The manager and owner use the third bedroom.

Unlike many of the hostels I have stayed at, this one also caters to people who are workers here for short periods of time.  Two different guys from India are busily expanding their startup businesses—one in internet technology and the other in consulting on achieving energy efficiencies in existing buildings. An Italian woman is applying for a long-term visa so she can set up an art gallery.

It is just a block away from the Dubai Marina where I rode the Yellow Boat through the canals and out to the ocean to see the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, Dubai Atlantis, the Royalty compound, Jumeirah Beach, giant Ferris wheel, along with a bone-jarring boat ride in the afternoon waves. 

I enjoyed riding the Metro to see the views up and down the city and stopped at the Union Metro stop for a local breakfast since the Dubai Marina was so pricy.  My meal of two coffees, a kiwi shake, and dosa with naan was delicious and cost just 20 AED.

It was amazing to see all of these modern buildings along the Metro route.  Burj Khalifa is the tallest building at 2,717 feet.  It is the one with the narrow spire shape.

Most of these building projects are owned by one member of the Royal family or another and they seem to compete with who can outdo the other in design, height, and finish work.  For example, when the current Atlantis hotel no longer was the largest hotel in the world the Royal decided to build a second Atlantis nearby to regain the title.  In the Burj Al Arab, the fixtures are gold plated and they say that some are even solid gold and that each suite there is unique.  Decadence is over the top for me.  Of the 10 million people living here, only one million are citizens of UAE—the rest do the work and come from all countries, especially India, Pakistan, Nepal, Philippines, Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia. 

On my final day in Dubai, I took a 4X4 Orient tour out to the desert sand dunes.  My Toyota Land Cruiser included our driver/guide Tommy, who seemed to be the leader of the 25 or so similar Land Cruisers. I was joined by two other couples, one from the UK and the other from Australia. 

After driving out of the town on 12 to 16-lane freeways, for about an hour we pulled onto a dirt/sand road and joined up with all of the Land Cruisers.  While we enjoyed our first sand dunes, the drivers let the air out of the tires so they would not get stuck.  It was amazing how steep some of the sand dunes went up and down and along knife ridges of sand dunes.  

We continued this for about an hour and then stopped again for some more pictures before we again got in.  From here the sand color gradually changed from red to light brown and the dunes got somewhat smaller. 

We then pulled up to a birthing pen for the camels where our guide, Tommy told all of the tourists a bit about the history of the bedouins and their close connection to the camels.

While there, a falconer explained the history of falconry in the United Arab Emirates and then gave us a demonstration.

From there we made it to the Orient Tour company’s desert compound where they had some arts and crafts demonstrations, camel rides, henna painting, sandboard surfing, and water pipe offerings.

I didn’t try the sandboarding since I was still recovering from my knee surgery, but both Martin and Diana from the UK both did and stood up all the way.

We had some Arab dances and some of the tourists were invited to participate. 

As the sun began to set, they opened up the buffet which included vegetables, salad, rice, hamburger patties, tandoori chicken, and lamb chops.  It was a good feast.  Our group enjoyed sitting on pillows surrounding low tables.  During dinner, they also had other dancers entertain us.

When it was time for dessert of an Arab pastry and baklava, we were also given the treat of a voluptuous and energetic belly dancer. 

We then made our way back to Dubai and since it was Friday, the Muslim Holy day, many UAE families had come out to the desert for their traditional fire camps.  Recalling their Bedouin past, before the discovery of oil and gaining vast riches, these families would take their families out to the desert and set up camp.  At the camp, they would spread out on rugs, pillows, and low tables, cut up meats and vegetables and cook them over a wood fire and recall to their children and grandchildren how hard the Bedouin life was before the discovery of oil. We saw hundreds of these fire camps on our way back to Dubai.

I got on the first Metro to the Airport and quickly made it through immigration and security after exchanging my UAE money for Morocco money.

Cost of Dubai Trip

The 4 day trip to Dubai was $258 for a daily cost of $65.  Food costs were $83 with a daily cost of $21 per day.  Lodging costs were $62 for a nightly cost of $21.  Travel and tour costs were $113. 

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