Anyone that has read any sort of travel magazine in the last 6 months has undoubtedly come across numerous articles on Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. I was lucky enough to go there in February and have to say I was thoroughly impressed. My mom and I did a 7 night cruise of the UAE and ended our trip with an overnight stay at the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai. The cruise went from Dubai to Muscat, Oman; Fujarah, UAE; Bahrain; and Abu Dhabi.
Mom was a bit apprehensive about this area of the world, but we quickly discovered there was no reason to be. We never for one second felt uncomfortable or unsafe. Everyone was so friendly and exited about tourists. Dubai is set to run out of oil in 2016, and has spent countless billions to insure that when that time comes they will be the number one luxury tourist destination in the world. They have to make sure their economy will continue to boom and Sheik Mohamed has spared no expense in moving his vision forward.
We arrived in Dubai after many hours in the air, tired and in need of a shower. After naps and showers we were ready to begin our adventure. We boarded the Costa Classica at the port of Dubai. We learned there were only 9 Americans onboard. It did not take long especially in a sea of Europeans to quickly distinguish a loud southern drawl. We found out that of the 9 of us on board, 4 were from Georgia. Our dinner companions were all from England, and one couple had been to a wedding in Tennille and spent the weekend at the King and Prince. Another gentleman had been to Cabin Bluff. Wow, it really is a small world.
The next afternoon we headed to Muscat, Oman. Now I had heard of Muscat, but had no idea of how modern it was. It too is anxious to capitalize on tourism. The streets were clean and well maintained with many parks and flowerbeds throughout. We went to the grand mosque, which holds 3000 people. It contains the largest single rug in the world that was made in Iran and took about 4 years to complete and 600 women to make it. This place was huge! The mosaics and ornamental details were amazing. I will say that while I felt completely safe I was a little surprised to find the security guards in the mosque were wearing very visible 9 mm weapons very prominately displayed over their robes.
In Abu Dhabi we went to Emirates Palace Hotel. This was our first introduction to absolute over the top opulence! This hotel was stunning and a predecessor to what was to come. All of the detail and the workmanship was obvious once you got past the size of the place. It was massive, stretching for what I would estimate as several city blocks in all directions. We did a little window-shopping here and found all of the jewelry stores carried an inventory that could only in my experience be compared to the crown jewels in London. It was the most jaw dropping display of stones I have ever seen.
We then went to Bahrain. Bahrain was not as modern as the other places. We went to the border of Saudi Arabia to the overlook tower. Our guide told us a story that was big in the news there. A young girl about 18 in Saudi was home with her father. He began to have a heart attack and because women are not allowed to drive, she dressed up in her brother’s clothes with a ball cap and drove him to the hospital. She saved his life but has now been disowned by her family because she shamed them by driving. Once again, little things around the world always make me glad to be an American!
Then it was back to Dubai and our much-anticipated stay at the 7 star Burj Al Arab hotel. We went out into the desert and went 4-wheeling. Those sand dunes were huge and went on and on. I couldn’t help but wonder about the Wiseman crossing the desert on camels. It was very daunting to think how far you may have to go before encountering any water or civilization. We also did a boat trip out from Dubai to see the progress of the palm islands and “The World.” If any of you don’t know about these, they are man made reclaimed islands being built off of the coast of Dubai. The first palm island is complete and the villas and condos will be complete by September of 2007. The others are coming along nicely with a marina project that cuts into the coastline and increase the amount of waterfront land. All in an effort to place Dubai on the top of the bigger and better tourist destination list. We learned that approximately 20% of all the world’s cranes are in Dubai. Everything there is new and shiny, as they have built this very modern city in only the past few years.
We also went to the mall of the Emirates, which houses the world’s only indoor snow ski area. It stays a constant –2 degrees Celsius year round and they make snow, but do not be fooled. There is a full size chair lift and the even have an expert slope as well as beginner and intermediate. This is no smalltime operation.
That afternoon we checked into the Burj Al Arab. I have seen pictures of this hotel for years. It is the very recognizable sail shaped hotel on its own island off the coast of Dubai. We were personally greeted at the door and shown around the hotel. All I can say is WOW! Our mouths were agape the whole time. We were then escorted to our room where our butler was waiting for us. The butler began parading in a trail of treats, goodies, sweets, and drinks for us. All of the rooms in the hotel are 2 story suites. All of the accents in the hotel are real gold. Yes, I said REAL gold. This includes the elevators, chandeliers, moldings etc. The hotel is quite opulent, with royal blue and gold colors throughout the room. All of the toiletries were Hermes. The bathtub was big enough for 4 adults and had the most beautiful mosaic behind it, and the shower could have held about 6 people and had 4 shower heads. We had dinner in their signature seafood restaurant. It was wonderful, but like everything at this hotel quite expensive. The restaurant surrounded a very large aquarium full of various fish and sealife. It was all very over the top. I learned so much and experienced so many different things on this trip to the UAE. I think it is an area more explored by Europeans than Americans, but absolutely should be on everyone’s list of places to visit.