DAY 91 - DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - APRIL 28, 2010

DUBIE, DUBIE, DU,...NO MAKE THAT DUBAI, DUBAI, DUBAI. THERE REALLY ISN’T ANYTHING YOU CAN SAY ABOUT DUBAI...IN JUST A FEW WORDS. PERHAPS, INDESCRIBABLE, UNBELIEVABLE, INCREDIBLE, COULD DO AS STARTERS, BUT IT GOES WAY BEYOND. I’M NOT SURE THE PHARSE “A PICTURE SAYS A THOUSAND WORDS” REALLY FITS THE BILL EITHER.

THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT DUBAI IS YOU CAN’T SEE IT CLEARLY. THE EXTREME DESERT HEAT, TODAY IT WAS 100 DEGREES, AND HUMIDITY CREATE A CONSTANT HAZE THAT HIDE MANY OF THE TALL BUILDINGS FROM FAR DISTANCES. THE NEWEST, AND WORLDS TALLEST BUILDING, THE BURJ AL KALIFIA, IS OFTEN HIDDEN. OCCASIONALLY THERE IS A THEATRIC TOUCH TO VIEWING THE BUILDING WHEN ONLY SECTIONS ARE HIDDEN AND UPPER PORTIONS CAN BE OBSERVED.

EVEN THOUGH THE COUNTY IS EXPERIENCING SOME FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES AT THE TIME, CONSTRUCTION STILL CONTINUES. WE WERE TOLD THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NOW AND SEVERAL YEARS AGO IS THAT THE DEVELOPERS HAVE PRIORITIZED THE PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND SITES ARE BEING DEVELOPED AT A SLOWER RATE. MANY PROJECTS HAVE BEEN STOPPED AND ONLY TO CONTINUE AS THEY RISE TO THE TOP OF THE PRIORITY LIST.

DUBAI IS PART OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AND RICH WITH OIL. THE ARABS OWN THE OIL, DO VERY LITTLE WORK, IF ANY AT ALL, HAVE VERY POOR WORK HABITS AND RELY ON EXPATRIATES TO PERFORM WORK ALL OF TYPES.

THE ARABS ONLY MAKE UP 10% OF THE COUNTRIES POPULATION WITH THE REMAINDER COMING FROM INDIA, CHINA, PAKISTAN AND SOUTH AFRICA TO NAME A FEW. IN ORDER TO COME TO THE COUNTRY TO LIVE, ONE MUST FIRST HAVE A SPONSOR TO HELP GET A WORK VISA. ONCE OBTAINED THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT AS TO HOW LONG YOU STAY HOWEVER YOU WILL NEVER BE GRANTED CITIZENSHIP. OUR GUIDE HAS BEEN IN DUBAI FOR TWENTY-FOUR YEARS, IS MARRIED AND HAS TWO CHILDREN AND NOBODY IN THE FAMILY IS A CITIZEN OF DUBAI. BY THE WAY, HER CHILDREN WERE BORN IN DUBAI.

BASED ON WHAT WE HEARD, ITS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE MUSLIM THINGS WHERE THEY PROVIDE ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES TO “COMMIT SINFUL DEEDS”, BUT DON’T PARTICIPATE, IN PUBLIC, IN ANY OF THEM. THIS WOULD INCLUDE MOST SIGN OF AFFECTION, WEARING SHORTS, SLEEVELESS BLOUSES, ETC. I TOLD GEORGIA THAT AS LONG AS I DON’T KISS HER, HOLD HER HAND OR GRAB HER BUTT, I’LL STAY OUT OF JAIL.

SO MUCH FOR EDITORIALIZING, ON WITH THE TOUR. IF YOU HAVE EVER WATCHED THE TRAVEL CHANNEL YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN SPECIALS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROJECTS FOR THE MAN MADE PALM ISLANDS OR THE WORLD ISLANDS. YOU MAY HAVE ALSO SEEN THE HOTEL SHAPES LIKE A BIG BLUE AND WHITE SAIL. THIS WAS OUR CHOICE OF TOURS FOR TODAY.

DUBAI HAS BECOME SUCH A GREAT PORT OF CALL FOR THE CRUISE LINES THE GOVERNMENT HAS BUILT A NEW CRUISE TERMINAL TO ACCOMMODATE THE PASSENGERS. IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THEY WILL BE ADDING ADJOINING BUILDINGS TO ENLARGE THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT. OUR CRUISE DIRECTOR MENTIONED THAT OVER 400 PASSENGERS WERE BOOKED ON FIVE DIFFERENT TOURS. FOR WHAT EVER REASON THERE WERE ONLY TWENTY-FIVE PEOPLE ON OUR TOUR AND WE HAD A FABULOUS TIME.

OUR FIRST STOP WAS THE HOTEL, SHAPED AS A SAIL, SEVERAL MILES FROM THE PIER. THE PROPERTY IS GATED, AND ONCE CLEARED WE DROVE ACROSS A SHORT BRIDGE, OVER THE WATER, TO THE BUSTLING ENTRANCE. WE WERE HERE TO HAVE TEA. WE WOULD EQUATE THIS TO THE ENGLISH TEAS WHERE THEY SERVE SCONES, VARIOUS PASTRIES AND MINI SANDWICHES. THE TEA IS SERVED ON THE TWENTY-SEVENTH FLOOR OF THE HOTEL, THE TOP.

ALTHOUGH WE UNFORTUNATELY WERE NOT ABLE TO USE THE GLASS ELEVATORS TO THE TOP FLOOR, WE WERE REWARDED WITH ONE SPECTACULAR VIEW OF THE PLAMS PROJECT, THE BEACHES AND THE BUSINESS AREAS. I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT KIND OF VIEW WE WOULD HAVE BASED ON THE HAZY CONDITIONS BUT WE WERE BLESSED OUT OF OUR SOCKS AS OUR GROUP ENTERED THE SERVING ROOM. WHAT REALLY MADE OUR DAY WAS THE COMMENT BY OUR WAITER, “YOU PEOPLE ARE VERY FORTUNATE, YOU COULDN’T SEE ANYTHING YESTERDAY.” AMEN, AMEN.

WHEN TEA WAS FINISHED MOST OF US WALKED A SHORT DISTANCE TO THE RESTAURANT/BAR WHICH OCCUPIES THE WATER SIDE OF THE FLOOR. ADDITIONAL UNOBSTRUCTED VIEWS OF PALM ISLAND, THE WORLD PROJECT AND BURJ AL KALIFIA PROVIDED OPPORTUNITIES TO SNAP MORE PICTURES.

I WOULD BE REMISS IF I DIDN’T TELL YOU ABOUT THE LOBBY. IN ADDITION TO THE COLORFUL MOSAIC TITLES LINING THE ENTRANCE WALLS THE FLOORS ARE ALL MARBLE. LARGE WINDOW PANELS PROVIDE THE DAYTIME LIGHTING AND YOUR EYES ARE DRAWN TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE LOBBY WERE DOZENS OF TERRACED SPOUTS SHOT WATER FROM SIDE TO SIDE. AS YOUR EYES ADVANCE TO EACH LEVEL THEY SOON BECOME TRANSFIXED ON THE MULTI-COLORED TRIANGULAR TWENTY-SEVEN STORY HOTEL ATRIUM. WIDE AT THE BOTTUM AND NARROWING TOWARD THE TOP, IT ALSO LOOKS LIKE SAILS.

AS YOU BOARD THE ESCALATORS TO THE UPPER MEZZANINE LEVEL THE SOUND OF THE WATER SPLASHING BACK AND FORTH A NEW DIMENSION IS ADDED TO THE TERRACES...EACH DIAMOND SHAPE IS OF A DIFFERENT COLOR. BLUE, GREEN, RED, YELLOW AND PURPLE, ALL IN VARYING SHADES, AND ALL GLISTENING FROM THE LIGHT AND RIPPLES.

AS YOU EXITED THE ESCALATOR A NEW SET OF DELIGHTS CAUGHT THE EYE. A LARGE CIRCULAR FOUNTAIN WITH THE SAME TYPE OF SYSTEMATIC WATER SPOUTS. THERE WERE SMALL COLORFUL SQUARES HIGHLIGHTING EACH SPOUT. INTERSPERSED IN THE MARBLE FLOOR LEADING TO THE ELEVATORS WERE SEVERAL MOSAIC DESIGNS EACH MORE COLORFUL THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE.

OUR STAY AT THE BURJ AL ARAB LASTED NINETY MINUTES. WE THEN BOARDED OUR BUS FOR A DRIVE THROUGH THE CENTER OF PALM ISLAND. OUR DESTINATION WAS THE ATLANTIS HOTEL. THE ATLANTIS IS THE ONLY HOTEL ON THE BREAKER THAT IS COMPLETED AND OPEN FOR BUSINESS. THE BREAKER CIRCLES THE PALM ISLAND PROJECT AND PROTECTS THE HOMES AND CONDOS FROM WATER EROSION DAMAGE. EVENTUALLY THERE WILL BE FORTY HOTELS. TIME DIDN’T ALLOW FOR US TO ENTER THE HOTEL BUT WE WERE ABLE TO TAKE PICTURES FROM ACROSS THE STREET. THE AVERAGE ROOM RATE IS $900 A NIGHT...ALL INCLUSIVE.

TRAVELING BACK THROUGH THE CENTER OF PALM ISLAND OUR LAST STOP WAS A LITTLE PIER WITH A FEW SMALL CHARTER BOATS, BUT MOSTLY LARGE PRIVATE YACHTS. THE BOAT EASILY HANDLED OUR TINY GROUP OF TWENTY-FIVE. OUR PILOT GUIDED THE BOAT THE BREAKERS AND OUT TO SEA.

HE FOLLOWED OF THE COAST OF THE PALMS BREAKER UNTIL WE REACHED THE ATLANTIS HOTEL. WE TURNED AROUND AND HEADED TO THE PIER AFTER FORTY-FIVE MINUTES. HALF THE GROUP SAT ON THE UPPER OUTDOOR DECK SOAKING UP THE SUN AND ENJOYING THE VIEWS ALONG THE SHORELINE OF THE CITY AND PALM ISLAND. THE BREEZE WHIPPED THROUGH YOUR HAIR, IF YOU HAD ANY, AND WE FELT LIKE IT WAS OUR OWN PRIVATE YACHT.

THE PACIFIC PRINCESS LEFT PORT AT 11:00 PM. THE SHORELINE WAS NOT AS COLORFUL AS I HAD EXPECTED BUT IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT. THE TEMPERATURE HAD DROPPED AT LEAST TWENTY DEGREES; THE FULL MOON AND GENTLE BREEZE CAPPED ANOTHER SUPER DAY.

BYE-BYE DUBAI