We Just Got Back from Skiing in Dubai

Of course, we had to see for ourselves THE richest city in the world (Abu Dhabi) and the most expensive hotel ever built at US$3 Billion (The Emirates Palace Hotel).

We were expecting Abu Dhabi and the Emirates Hotel to be, well, gauche. Surprisingly, we found it to be quiet, clean and interesting. Abu Dhabi is creating itself as the cultural centre of the UAE, bringing a "Desert Louvre" (to be the first Louvre branch outside of France) in 2012 with the cool price tag of US $520 million.

In case you are wondering about the supposed "amazing shopping in Dubai" we were not impressed. We saw Europeans at the airport duty free buying mobile phones, iPods, and Bose headphones like there's no tomorrow, but we did not find the prices tempting at all.

Back to Dubai...

If you must have a drink at the The Burj (one of the most famous buildings in Dubai; it looks like a sail on the ocean), I will save you from sticker shock to warn you that it will cost about US$75 per person for 2 drinks and some canapés. We passed, in case you’re wondering. (note: You will have to pay a toll unless you are staying there or have dinner reservations)

Did we love Dubai or hate it? We loved it (I think) because we certainly didn't hate it. I loved the fascinating, crazy mix of cultures, almost like it was a scene from the "It's a small world" at Disneyland. But if we really wanted the true Middle Eastern experience, we would have been better off going to Egypt or Jordan, I believe. After only two days there, I cannot pretend to understand or know the city, but I liked Dubai and if ever another opportunity came up to visit again, I know I would.

Emirates Airline -- one of the world's best airlines???? Really??? Emirates Airline at Dubai airport may have the worst customer service in any place I have ever encountered. Our flight was delayed over six hours (four hours before we boarded the plane, then we sat on the tarmac for another two hours as they did some more safety checks) and the worst part was there was no information. Anywhere. As far as the airline was concerned, we were leaving on time. They didn't even bother to update the "Departure boards". But I will add that the flight itself was comfortable as could be expected and the flight attendants were lovely. I understand that Dubai International has since opened Terminal 3 but when we were there, the airport was complete chaos and almost no a/c in 40 C / 104 F temperature outside. Ugh!

I had a last-minute chance to stay in Dubai for 2 days in June. It seems that people who travel to Dubai have a love-hate relationship with this rather fantasy city. The city is so new, so modern, so beautiful, so over-the-top, so everything!

Flying into the city, you see this crazy city is literally in the middle of nowhere. It’s desert, desert, desert, then BAM! suddenly a shiny, glittery city before you.

The temperature hovered around 40 C/ 104 F while we were there. It was an unusual dry heat with a slight humidity, akin to having a hair dryer blowing right into your face. The only thing you can do to combat the harshness of the heat is to drink plenty of liquids and slap on that sunscreen.

If you can get past the extreme heat to appreciate the natural beauty of this city, the water on the Arabian Gulf is stunningly beautiful. Mamzar Beach (Al Mamzar Park in Deira Dubai is about a half hour away from the city) is one of the loveliest places I have ever seen with the clean turquoise blue waters and beautiful soft white sand. In complete contrast to the natural beauty of the Arabian Gulf, the largest man-made ski hill in the world "Ski Dubai" (at the cold sterile Mall of the Emirates) was also a unique experience and fun.

We stayed at the Le Meridien Dubai
Airport Road · PO Box 10001 · Dubai · United Arab Emirates Phone: (971)(4) 217 0000

It is very close to the airport yet we never heard any noise from the planes. The hotel has a free shuttle from the airport which we took advantage of (go to the Le Meridien Dubai "Meet and Greet" desk, just outside Customs)

We also ate at their Lebanese restaurant on-site, called "Al Mijani". They had a good assortment of cold and hot mezes... mixed pickles, hummus, tabbouleh, spicy lamb. The food here almost made us start planning a trip to Lebanon.

We were surprised by the lack of good public transportation for such a large city and although taxis are cheap (gas is cheap), traffic is dreadful. Supposedly they are in the midst of constructing a lightrail/metro line to be completed in 2012.

Admittedly, we were amazed by such a wide representation of cultures and nationalities (I just read an article that 85% of the residents in Dubai are foreign workers). Women in their burkas next to young sun-tanned Australians wearing shorts and flip-flops, tall dark handsome men from the Indian subcontinent and the smiling Filipina ladies. If we came looking for a real experience of the Middle East, we would have left disappointed. We had never seen so many American chain restaurants and shops outside of the USA.