Our latest monthly trip was to Dubai. It is the closest place to fly to other than Abu Dhabi, so that's where we went.On wednesday evening we packed up baby and bags and ventured out the Front Door and got swept away once again.
I must say, this was not my favourite trip. My impression is that Dubai is about looking pretty and money money money! It is one huge big bright city with tall towers, huge shopping malls, glitsy hotels and all that goes with it. We stayed at the Rydges Plaza Hotel, an older 3 star establishment. They make up for the slightly worn out plumbing with great service and breakfast. You can make yourself a fresh waffle for breakfast, with home-made caramel, chocolate, or strawberry sauce (why choose only one?). Now that is something I would go back to Dubai for! It was incredibly delicious!
Hanging out in shopping malls is something neither Rean or I wanted to do on a week-end away so we looked hard for alternative actvities. Travelling with a busy baby also complicated our options a bit as we had to accomodate her nap times. I thought the spice souq (market) was something I would like to visit and Rean wanted to visit the beach and see the sail shaped Burj Al Arab tower. So, after a super incredibly unhealthy and satisfying breakfast, and long nap, off we went to the Spice Souq.
I got the impression it was mostly window dressing for the tourists, but the bags of coloured spices, herbs and minerals made nice photos, and it was fun to smell and poke around and haggle fot bits of liquorice root, saffron, indigo and all sorts of masalas. Dis you know that the word 'masala' is an arabic word meaning a mixture of different things? So the masala spice we put into meat dishes is really a spice mix. I bought a pot of tea masala with rose buds, cinnamon and lots of other goodies for example. I loved the indigo! I never realised it was so very blue.
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| Indigo from Iran |
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| Liquorice roots for teething, seems to be quite yummy! |
Walking from the spice souq we ended up seeing what I imagine is the textile souq. Again, this was very disappointing, I have seen much nicer markets for scarves and things. We also walked through the gold souq which was quite impressive. Here we got sidetracked for a spot of dinner at a dingy little indian restaurant. We had no idea what we ordered but it was quite tasty in the end! Rean also popped next door for a quick haircut and beard trim at a local barber, definitely not on the tourist route! This was probably our most authentic experience of Dubai. Another stop that I enjoyed was one of the many indian stalls which sold carpets and scarves and camel leather shoes, which of which Mieke and I each got a pair.
The next day all the shops were closed, so this was our beach day. We spent a glorious morning on a pearly white beach. We saw lots of western ladies lying around in their bikinis and an Arabic lady veturing into the clear blue water complete with Abaya. The contrast was quite thought provoking. Have you thought much about the meaning of the concept of Modesty as a virtue? I think it means different things in different cultures. In situations where these cultures mix, you have quite an interresting dilema.
The Burj Al Arab tower was our next stop.It is the world's tallest hotel and is quite impressive. From an ecological point of view of course, this and other beach developments are another story, but we won't go there. We drove through the Palm Islands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Islands), also very impressive! Then we drove back through town and all its very tall and spikey towers, past the Ski Slope in the Mall of Emirates, back to our hotel and eventually home.
