As I sit here in Starbucks, yes can u believe I found one? ROFL, I look out over the ever growing city of Dubai and wonder as always what is this place and what will it become in the next few decades?
The air is constantly filled with dust and no matter which way you look its cranes everywhere. It’s like a scene from some science fiction movie like transformers a top every new building going up here. You get the feeling looking at the buildings that the next one is trying to out do the next one, bigger, taller and maybe with a little extra design touch.
The words luxury and exciting are used so much here to describe every aspect of what is the modern Dubai. I remember on my first trip here watching the videos on the plane prior to arrival and seeing the beaches and images that made Dubai appear like one big holiday resort. The reality starts to hit you just after you leave customs and head out for a taxi. This can be a long hot experience and I’ve often thought it would make a great challenge on Survivor or the Amazing Race.
The que is sometimes long and seems totally disorganised. On top of that after you leave the arrivals hall and head to the taxi line you also leave the air conditioning and are now bathed in a mixture of cigarette smoke and sweat, oh you have to experience it yourself to fully appreciate. People pushing and shoving and then you have people that are just hanging around waiting for people. Also as everywhere some people seem oblivious to the lines and just head to the front from the side and think where is my cab. This action after you have been on a plane for 10 to 15 hrs is as close as you may come to hurling abuse you never thought you had inside.
Now after you get in the cab you will get hit with an airport tariff for the experience, but that’s not much different from other places these days. As you make your way from the airport to your hotel or apartment you quickly realise that this place is just one giant construction site. Look don’t get me wrong there are fantastic looking buildings of glass and steel but I think the place lacks soul and that special something you get in places like Paris and Italy.
The money being spent here is mind boggling and what has been achieved in such a short time from desert to city is really amazing. What I think is missing is that when you travel you like to meet the locals and get a feel for the lifestyle, experience the food and leave with that experience of having seen something different. Here the shops are big malls, staffed by mainly by foreign workers from the Philippine’s, the taxis are mainly operated by foreign workers too. The locals it seems just want to shop, spend money, sit, drink coffee and smoke.
At times you don’t really know where you are until you head outside and you see all the cranes, then you say ah yeh, this is Dubai. (to be continued)
