In daylight Dubai looks much less pretty. Everything is brown/grey. The air is thick with dust & sand. The sky is brown, not blue, even though the sun is shining. The freeway is lined with skyscrapers. Many are finished and impressive. Just as many others are half built. The skyline is filled with cranes. The roads are big. A four lane freeway, lined with big American model cars. Plenty of expensive machinery surrounds us.
We stop at a random hotel of Stuart's choice near our meeting, to prepare. I don't remember where, just in "old Dubai". The hotel is beautiful inside. Apparently that's common here. We then walk a short distance, perhaps 5 minutes, to our meeting. It's not 10am yet and already the temperature is over 35 degrees. We're wearing dark suits, suitable for Wellington / Edinburgh weather. Natives are wearing traditional white Arabian clothes, cool and comfortable, designed for the heat. Can I have some too please?
Once our meeting was over, we try to hail a taxi on the gridlocked 3 lane road. The temperature is now over 40 degrees. We found the the bus stops are fully enclosed and air conditioned so hide in one for a while. Eventually we brave the heat some more, find a taxi, and head back to the hotel.
I have some free time for the afternoon. I head out for a walk around, to get a few photos near the hotel.
Cars keep honking at me. They are taxis looking for their next fare. After a while one of them gets lucky. I have him drive me to a nearby area, the far end of The Palm Jumeirah. It isn't the paradise I expected. A multi-lane road, with a monorail up the middle, flanked by apartments and skyscrapers in all directions. It's all private so just keep on driving up the middle!
Atlantis The Palm looms in the distance. It's slowly getting bigger but be patient, it's huge and it takes a while to get there. We drive under a big multi-lane tunnel to finally arrive there.
We drive half way around the outside of The Palm Jumeirah before turning back to my hotel. I have the taxi driver stop here and there so I can get a few photos. It's really windy and the visibility isn't good with the dusty air. The cost works out to about £10 for the round trip. Not bad I thought.
Next I catch a shuttle bus to The Dubai Mall. The journey is about 35 minutes, back along the freeway again. It's getting familiar now. The bus goes via some rather unsightly building sites where where are dozens of skyscrapers being built.The mall is massive. 444,000 square feet. 1,0200 retail shops. 38 restaurants. 49 fast food restaurants over many food courts. Big is best here. America can't answer to this.
There is a 2 story high aquarium with a "Kelly Tarlton's" tunnel within.
There is an ice skating rink. Float around on ice while being reminded of who His Highness is.
There are large water features.
I could go on forever talking about this. I could spend forever here too, as deciding to visit a special shop will take 10-15 minutes to find it. Do that a few times and you're getting exercise and losing time fast! Every part of the mall looks different, yet is architecturally impressive in its own right. Here's a few samples.
Right outside there's more impressive structures, including the world's tallest building almost next door, still unfinished. It doesn't look as tall as it is, due to its tapered appearance you lose perspective. A square building like the late World Trade Centre keeps that perspective and looks taller (in my opinion).
I head to Chilis for dinner, an American restaurant. Then I catch the shuttle back to the hotel. On the way, the sun is setting. It's only about 7pm, much sooner than sunset in Edinburgh. I snap this shot from the shuttle bus as we drive along the freeway. The great thing about dusty, smoggy air is the sunsets that result.
By the time I catch up with Helen on Skype, and catch up with Stuart for a nightcap, it's knocking on 11pm. Time for bed.
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