There's a sign when you walk into the Dubai Mall (world's biggest shopping mall with over 1200 stores). It reads "Welcome to Everything". That pretty much sums up Dubai. If shopping were an Olympic sport, the good citizens of Dubai would be gold medallists. The shopping malls are not simply functional places to purchase needed items - they are the entertainment and lifestyle here. Take the Dubai Mall as an example - there's a huge aquarium (for a couple hundred bucks you can go scuba-diving in it), an Olympic-sized skating rink, a mega-cineplex complete with leather armchairs and your own personal waitress, over 160 restaurants, not to mention the 1200 stores! Crazy. At another monster mall called Mall of the Emirates, you'll find Ski Dubai - a huge indoor ski hill and snowpark with slides, tubing runs, and an ice cafe. After two months in Africa, our heads were spinning and we could hardly take it in.We've gone from Cairo, with some of the oldest buildings and structures in the history of the world, to Dubai, center of some of the most modern architecture you'll see anywhere. Dubai is very clean and organized, and there's not a pothole to be found on the super-highways here. Amazing. I remember us driving around with Corey in Tanzania looking for nuts and bolts to put the bunkbeds together. He actually stopped at two or three hardware stores, including one called "Bolts and Nuts" (as opposed to nuts & bolts). They had some nuts but not a single bolt. I don't think that would ever happen in Dubai.
But that is not to say that we naively think this place is perfect. It's a very impressive city on the surface but it has its problems. Even though the construction boom has slowed since the economic crisis hit, there is still the problem of labour exploitatation. Many workers from developing countries live in horrible crowded conditions, working slave hours for very low pay. This includes construction workers from places like south India as well as many of the housemaids / nannies.
Stuck on the runway in Saudi Arabia (Flat Stanley never expected to visit that country):
On Christmas Day, we went ice skating (how Canadian!) With Darlene's Jacket, I wasn't cold at all:
At the rink. with a screen image of the Sheikh looking down on us:
They blast disco tunes from the 70s & 80s while you skate so it's lots of fun:
Christmas decor is done up big in the malls:
The best part of Dubai for us was being able to spend time with some new friends we made while on safari in Kenya. We met four ex-pats living in Dubai at the tented camp in the Maasai Mara and they generously invited us to spend Christmas with them. Benjy and Andrew are from the Philippines and work in banking and advertising respectively. Clay and Stephanie are American teachers working at a school here. Stephanie was away for the holidays but we spent alot of time with Clay, Andrew and Benjy doing everything from "dune-bashing" (4WD-ing in the desert), to sand-boarding, camel-riding, skiing and taking a boat cruise. along the Dubai Creek. They all go to the same church here and we attended their candlelight service followed by a wonderful Christmas buffet. We also met Nikolai from Bulgaria who came skiing with us. Benjy was off work and drove us all over Dubai as our personal tour guide. We hope we get to see them sometime in Canada.
At the Christmas service with Clay, Andrew and Benjy:
The world's tallest building - the Burj Dubai - slated for grand opening on January 4th:
Flat Stanley was impressed with this modern structure:
Another architectural gem - the Burj Al Arab - the world's only 7-star hotel:
The Atlantis - another posh hotel and also home to Wild Wadi Water Park:
Dubai Marina with skyscrapers in background:
At Ski Dubai - they provide all the gear including snowsuits:
Our 4 wheel drive "dune buggy":
Ready to go dune-bashing (essentially driving into sand dunes at top speed and hoping the vehicle does not roll!):
Mitchell walking in the beautiful desert:
Jackson is ready to try sand-boarding:
Mitchell heads back up the hill for another turn:
This camel had attitude - he had to be muzzled so he couldn't bite or spit on anyone:
Mitchell and Andrew go for a ride:
Clay & Jackson take a turn:
With Benjy on a dhow boat cruise on Dubai Creek:
Sunset over the Persian Gulf:
Another interesting thing about Dubai. . . for a Muslim country, they have really embraced Christmas. Sadly though, it's only the trappings they get into - the decorations, the gift exchanges, the shopping. The most important reason for the celebration is entirely missing - the birth of Jesus Christ. You could probably tell from Ted's last post we have been feeling a bit burnt out from the constant travel. Dubai has been a nice rest for us - we had good accommodations, very cool people to spend time with, and we celebrated a simple Christmas. No tree, just our nativity set that we picked up as a souvenir in Kenya, and just a few gifts that could fit into our backpacks.
The world's tallest building - the Burj Dubai - slated for grand opening on January 4th:
Flat Stanley was impressed with this modern structure:
Another architectural gem - the Burj Al Arab - the world's only 7-star hotel:
The Atlantis - another posh hotel and also home to Wild Wadi Water Park:
Dubai Marina with skyscrapers in background:
At Ski Dubai - they provide all the gear including snowsuits:
Our 4 wheel drive "dune buggy":
Ready to go dune-bashing (essentially driving into sand dunes at top speed and hoping the vehicle does not roll!):
Mitchell walking in the beautiful desert:
Jackson is ready to try sand-boarding:
Mitchell heads back up the hill for another turn:
This camel had attitude - he had to be muzzled so he couldn't bite or spit on anyone:
Mitchell and Andrew go for a ride:
Clay & Jackson take a turn:
With Benjy on a dhow boat cruise on Dubai Creek:
Sunset over the Persian Gulf:
Another interesting thing about Dubai. . . for a Muslim country, they have really embraced Christmas. Sadly though, it's only the trappings they get into - the decorations, the gift exchanges, the shopping. The most important reason for the celebration is entirely missing - the birth of Jesus Christ. You could probably tell from Ted's last post we have been feeling a bit burnt out from the constant travel. Dubai has been a nice rest for us - we had good accommodations, very cool people to spend time with, and we celebrated a simple Christmas. No tree, just our nativity set that we picked up as a souvenir in Kenya, and just a few gifts that could fit into our backpacks.So we're feeling rested and in a better frame of mind. Next stop Bangkok and the whole of South-East Asia. . .
