UAE - Exploring Dubai, an oasis of commerce in the desert

Special to the Plain Dealer

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Our group had just arrived at a camel camp in the Arabian Desert 40 miles south of Dubai City. It was the first week of December, and the day was warm, but the evening turned cooler. The tour guides from Arabian Adventures navigated the plump dunes with aplomb, and when we got there, a phalanx of dromedaries was lolling on the sand, ready to accommodate tourists willing to take a brief ride.

Willing, perhaps, but in my case, not precisely eager. I can still feel it: My tailbone was hurting from a bump I sustained the day before at Ski Dubai, the fully equipped ski resort inside the Mall of the Emirates at the heart of this relentlessly futuristic city. Think of it: a fittingly chilly ski resort inside an air-conditioned mall in a big city in the Arabian Desert. Swaddled in rented parka and boots against the surreal cold, I bobsledded twice and loved it despite banged elbows and knees. But when I went tubing, I slammed my coccyx hard on the ice.

I wouldn't fully recover for a month. But I went for that leisurely camel stroll anyway. It was mercifully short and surprisingly exhilarating. I clambered up with help, wrapped my legs around the animal's unexpectedly thick trunk, and fixed on the back of a fellow rider as the minder led us around a makeshift track for a few minutes. Getting off was as challenging as getting on.

Such is the frenetic, entertaining life for a visitor to Dubai, the most modern of the seven emirates. I was the hotel writer in a group of five travel journalists on a quickie tour of Dubai late last year. It was my second time; the first was for a mere two days at the end of 2006, when Dubai was bristling with cranes and billed itself as the busiest construction site in the world.

The worldwide recession has stymied some of that; now, one sees structures just short of completion. Nevertheless, the lodging market is certainly booming, with 27 upscale hotels set to open this year alone. A $10 billion bailout from oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate (Dubai comes in second), two years ago seems to have put Dubai back on track.

And what a track that is. A city of more than 2 million (though it seems a lot bigger), Dubai boasts the striking Burj Al Arab, an ultraluxury hotel that looks like a sailboat with a helipad sticking out of its side. It trumpets the even more imposing Burj Khalifa, at more than a half-mile high the world's tallest building (it's a key "character" in the latest "Mission Impossible" movie). It boasts the best shopping ever, particularly in the Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Mall (tourists who want to consume in a more Western-style context should visit the Gold & Diamond Park, more purposeful and organized than the city's older and rowdier gold souk).

Dubai offers a startling range of attractions, from beachfront resorts to desert adventures to museums, mosques and horse racing. This very safe, clean city resonates with the sound of prayer issuing from minaret-topped mosques just off the main drag, its roads bristle with wild cars, tourists from all over revel in its lures -- and there's no gambling. Which makes it strange that the richest horse race in the world, the Dubai World Cup, carries a prize of $10 million.

It's likely that the wealthy patrons of the Meydan Grandstand and Racecourse in the suburb of Nad al Sheba will be drinking sweet tea or Dubai's weak, cardamom-infused coffee when the Cup takes place later this month. There's no consumption of alcoholic beverages in Dubai outside of places that foreigners frequent, such as hotels.

The benefits of Muslim country

This is a Muslim country, home to an absolute monarchy that does not tolerate dissent. Dubai's is a "zero tolerance" culture when it comes to such transgressions as drug use, public nudity -- even kissing in public.

Living in such a place, however, has benefits, especially for the expatriates who make up 70 percent of Dubai's population. There is no income tax, there's a month of vacation per year, and general medical care is free. As one expat who has lived in the Emirates for four years after being unemployed in the United States for a year notes, working there -- especially in Dubai -- is alluring.

"This is an open society, not perfect, but yet within the Arab focus this is the most open and welcoming," he wrote in an email. "There is a temptation for living the good life as some would consider it. The brunches, the latest restaurants, trends, fashion, consumer items . . . You will find that you are spending all your income caught in a cycle of consumerism and leisure. (Sounds like the U.S. -- right?)"

For the most part, Dubai, architecturally a very tall city, feels rich indeed. While the souks are earthy and casual (inspect the gold carefully; at 22 karats, it can be too soft to hold its shape), the malls are heavily and elegantly patronized, their staff as well turned out as their customers. SUVs are common, as are outrageously costly cars like Lamborghinis, customized Porsche Cayennes and glistening Maybachs.

You can tell the natives by dress: Most local women wear the head covering known as the hijab and the long black cloak called the abaya. Their male counterparts wear long white robes known as thawbs and wrap their heads in a keffiyeh, a modified turban that often sports the colors of the man's tribe.

Women who traveled with my group expressed no difficulty with the conservative culture and dress. "One should always respect the local customs by dressing and behaving properly, as you would anywhere in the world," said Laurie Griffith, a New York-based writer. "I have traveled alone widely in that part of the world in particular and never experienced a moment's discomfort."

Opulence amid Arabian tradition

The ambience is a singular mix of patient Arab tradition and go-go Western commerce, blending the sound of Muslim prayer with the pulsating beat of radios blasting from cars cruising the boulevards.

On our first morning, we visited the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, where the traditionally attired Abdullah Bin Suwaidan schooled us in Dubai history and attractions. The country began as a pearl-fishing center, oil was discovered there some 80 years ago but is no longer an important source of Dubai's wealth, and it has always focused on trade (the welcoming letter from "destination management company" Arabian Adventures called it "the City of Merchants").

"The planning is deep here," said Suwaidan, the department's deputy director of inward missions/overseas promotions. He called Dubai a virtual school of business, and it is decidedly business-oriented, with zones devoted to media (Media City), the Internet (Internet City), Motor City, wellness (Healthcare City), Dubai Investment Park, Dubai Sports City -- you get the picture.

What you can't imagine is the opulence. The hotels I visited were all five-star and remarkable, from the ultramodern, sweeping glass fantasy of the Meydan to the Arabian Nights rhapsody of the Ibn Battuta Gate (named after 14th-century explorer Ibn Battuta, the Muslim world's counterpart to Marco Polo) to the cushy, European feeling of the Kempinski Hotel & Residences on Palm Jumeirah, a vacation destination created by dredging the Arabian Sea.

They're also pricey. As Inna Gernega, head of public relations at that Kempinski, told me, most of the residences, or apartments, there sold for $2 million to $8 million. At the Meydan, rack rates range from $735 for a standard suite to more than $8,000 per night for the presidential suite. Even in the summer, when temperatures can reach 140 degrees, deluxe room rates at the Shangri-La, a comfortable and seasoned downtown hotel where we spent two nights, are $165 for a deluxe room.

Some things cheap, relaxing

Some things are cheap, however. In early December, on the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Emirates (the area's July 4), we visited the Heritage & Diving Village, a restored site designed as homage to Dubai's maritime past. It was a bazaar cum flea market cum crafts show. A coppersmith displayed his craft, and there were plenty of local food and candy (I picked up a tube of biscuits for the equivalent of 60 cents, linguistic barriers notwithstanding). I even came across a guy selling eight-track tape machines, black-and-white TVs and a sealed copy of Eric Carmen's 1978 "Change of Heart" album. Roaming the place was relaxing, though it was dense with visitors, most of them local. Temperatures in the 70s helped.

Also relaxing: shisha, or smoking a water pipe filled with flavored tobacco. We did this after dinner one evening at the graceful, low-key Ritz-Carlton Dubai Financial Center. I chose mango tobacco. It went down cool but left my throat sore the following morning. Still, shisha is the Arab equivalent of an after-dinner drink, and it's downright sociable.

Other impressions: The Armani Hotel at the foot of the Burj Khalifa is gorgeous. Studded with exceptional restaurants, decorated in Giorgio's inimitably understated and sleek style, it's super-hip and super-pricey, with units going for $950 to nearly $11,000 a night. Maseratis and wildly exotic Audis provide animal grace to its parking lot.

The Burj Khalifa certainly stands out. Not only is it the tallest building in a city lined with tall buildings, it's sensual and impressively high-tech. You get to "At the Top," the observation deck on the 124th floor, in an elevator that bathes you in a multimedia show during ascent. To reach the elevator, you pass through a hallway bracketed by a computer-generated movie on the history of Dubai and construction of the $1.5 billion Burj Khalifa, which opened a little more than two years ago.

The view "At the Top" is panoramic and startling. If memories aren't enough, you can always buy a gold bar, a faux leather Burj Khalifa jacket or a T-shirt. Small wonder Dubai is a merchant's dream. A tourist's, too.

Carlo Wolff

cleveland.com

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