December 3 – Thursday – Abu Dhabi
There’s nothing you can’t do if you have oil! That would be the theme of this blog entry from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Abu Dhabi may not get as much ‘play’ in the media but it is the world’s richest city and the capital of the UAE. Per capita it is better off than Dubai, but then its population isn’t all that large either. Here are all the government buildings of the UAE and a thriving community.
We decided that since our next days would be in the large city of Dubai, that we would go out into the countryside. Our guide, Samir (call me ‘Sammy’), gave us all the relevant data about Abu Dhabi as we drove our 2 ½ hours towards our destination --the oasis town of Al Ain:
· Sheikh (literally ‘old man’)is the word for King
· Emir is the word for Prince
· Sultan is a ‘super king’ but isn’t used much
· UAE produces 2.3 million gallons of oil/day
· Oil was first found in 1959 by Continental Oil
· The 7 emirates (states)merged in 1971 each run by a Sheikh
· There is almost no crime in the UAE since there is full employment and thus little poverty
· To help the nomadic Bedouins, the sheikh built something called ‘Gift Houses” for them. Here a family lives free of charge – no utilities, no air conditioning fees, no nothing. The only other people who can receive these “gift houses” are young couples who marry- IF both bride and groom come from Abu Dhabi
· Camels are multi-purpose: food, transport, or racing. A good racing camel is worth over $10 million. Since there is no betting allowed, there are prizes for the winners such as automobiles, houses or money.
· Instead of real jockeys, the camels are ridden by remote control …’robot’ jockeys are controlled by rich Emirati owners sitting in their cars…like a live Nintendo game.
· All camels here are one-humped (dromedaries) and can drink 100 liters of water in less than 10 minutes. The water is stored in their blood cells, or turned into fat which is stored in the hump for future use
· When married, the wedding feast will feature fine camel and goat’s meat and will go on for a minimum of three days
· Dowries are still expected and therefore young people must wait until they have enough accumulated to both provide a dowry (for the woman) and a three day wedding feast for hundreds of tribal member·
I found all this information interesting because I have no frame of reference that is similar, and so I find myself sucking up information like a sponge.
We arrived in Al Ain which is an oasis on the border with Oman. By definition, an oasis has a natural source of water and is irrigated in the traditional manner, unlike most of the UAE which depends on desalinated water. What was astounding was that we expected that since we were going to an oasis that we would be passing through miles of sandy desert on our two hour ride. But the sheikh wants his country to be hospitable and lovely, so he has had trees planted from Abu Dhabi straight thru to Al Ain. Therefore on either side of the road between the road and the sand dunes - going back about 150 feet - we saw trees being watered by irrigation pipes, and in some cases entire ‘forests’ being built in the desert. (This has already had an effect on the climate… making for more rain, and milder, less harsh winters). As we neared our destination we were following along next to a large chain fence which was the border between Oman and the UAE . The fence was built to define borders and more importantly to keep illegal immigrants from trying to sneak in to get jobs.
Our first stop was the Hilli Archaeological Park where we were shown a circular mud home built around 3000 BC and a tomb built with limestone blocks which dates back to 5000 BC. The park itself was empty though, and while it was lush and grassy it seemed eerily deserted for a holiday. Next up was the date palm oasis which is privately owned, and where a sign declared that it was open to tourists and owners only. It was lush and shady where the date palms soared above us providing relief on a fairly warm day. We saw demonstrated how one shimmies up a date palm to get the fruit which is harvested in the summer and a few of our group tried it – getting no more than two feet off the ground.
Our next stop was the Al Ain Museum ,built at the turn of the 20th century as a palace by the grandfather of the current Sheikh Zayed. Here we saw on display the pottery and remnants found in the Hilli site we had seen earlier, as well as costumes and household goods used by residents of the area prior to the discovery of oil. We have to keep remembering that this is not exactly an ancient civilization – since most of this area was an arid desert until 1960 with nomads roaming the area.
Perhaps that is what astounds one most – in less than 50 years this area has grown from nothing to being one of the richest area s in the world. How does an old Emirati wrap his head around this? He was once a pearl fisherman, a farmer or a nomad and now – presto - he’s got cars, electricity and 5 star hotels where before there was nothing. As we had our lunch at the lovely Intercontinental Hotel , we noted that all the staff were NOT Emirati but Philippine, Indian, Pakistani etc. Over 85% of the people living in the UAE are foreigners and the rules for them are quite strict: if they work, they can live in the country and own a home…if they aren’t working, they must leave.
Our last stop was my favorite – the Camel Market. Here again was a brand spanking new area built in ochre mud. Row upon row of animal pens holding sheep, goats or camels. In each pen were anywhere from 3-10 animals – little babies to full grown adults. These are not for racing, these are primarily for eating and we watched as some very rich Emirati in their chauffeur driven car pulled up and without getting out of the car identified the animals they wanted to purchase and the trade was completed. Later the animals would be trucked away to become someone’s wedding feast or some restaurant’s special: Roast camel with a side of potatoes. We took a zillion pictures since camel meat is rare in the states and camel markets even rarer.
It was now time to drive back to Abu Dhabi …past huge sand dunes, other camel and goat pens, businesses, a university, wide tree lined avenues, and everywhere large banners with the face of the Sheikh prominently displayed. Everything is so new and is so proudly displayed: the most palm dates, the most camels, the biggest mosque, the most universities in one spot, the best medical facilities and on and on. There is great pride in what’s been accomplished and since the Sheikh understands that oil can’t last forever, he’s planned for the future – or so we’re told.
My question is – what happens when it stops flowing? What happens to all the foreigners? Who maintains the entire infrastructure? What happens as young Emirati, who are now educated, choose to leave the country? Where will it all be in another fifty years? When Daddy traveled in this area he didn’t even bother to stop – it was deserts and poor villages. Who knows what comes next.
December 4-6 – Dubai
Bob and I didn’t plan any tours here since we were told that Dubai was one huge ‘work in progress’, with tons of enormous shopping malls and gated communities all built out of the sand. The tours provided by the ship were meant to appeal to those hoping to ‘feel and see’ the wealth of the area: Dubai by Helicopter; Hot Air balloon Adventure; High Tea at the Burj (the largest hotel structure in the world…built to resemble a sail …where the entry fee for tea begins at $50, and no one is allowed in without a reservation). Our goal - feeling less wealthy - was to use the Hop On Hop Off bus (HOHO), which for $80.00 gave us a two-day pass and promised to take us to all the highlights of the town – sans the Burj.
The impression one gets is of uncontrolled growth, infinite resources, and amazing cleanliness. As we drove along the waterfront, we would pass a large high rise complex under construction and be told that it would hold over 27,000 people, and within a mile there would be another construction site promising equal occupancy. Who will be in all these buildings is the question. We rode out to the Atlantis Hotel, which is at the tip of the large Palms island complex. This is a man-made complex built out into the Arabian Gulf, designed to resemble an enormous palm tree. Only from an airplane (or from a postcard) can one actually see this design. The’ trunk’ consists of a 4-lane roadway, an elevated monorail tramway leading through the complex, and a series of high rises – each identical to the next. Each ‘frond’ of the tree consists of another community of private homes and waterways. The whole is girded by a circular roadway which consists of a protective sea wall. At the end of the main ‘trunk’ was the mammoth Atlantis Hotel built to resemble the one in Nassau, Bahamas. It is a luxury hotel (to match the other 16 luxury hotels in the Palms), with an aquarium, dolphin pool, 2 mile water ride, and, of course, a golf course among its many amenities. I kept thinking – why would anyone want to live here? But someone must, since they are planning two additional palm-like complexes in the future. The Burj is another of the off-shore complexes, on a man-made island, built to resemble a large wind-filled Dhow sail, and now stands as the symbol of Dubai.
Of course there is also the off-shore complex called The World where each little privately owned island helps to make up a map of the world – again only visible from the air, or post cards, or the top of the Burj. In between all this wealth built out to sea, are beautiful sandy beaches and perfect aquamarine waters.
The HOHO had two routes: the blue route which took you to all the malls, the residential complexes, and the various government and business complexes built to accommodate the startling growth in the area...and the red route: the older core city, with souks, museums, boat rides, and the old commercial ‘river’ commerce. There were ‘cities’ for knowledge, for technology for medicine. The malls – each larger and more elaborate than the last, had something unique: an indoor skating rink, an indoor ski run, an aquarium, ’24 waterfront restaurants’, an Egyptian pyramid, etc.. And every known retail store, be it French (Gallerie Lafayette), English (Harvey Nickels and Debenhams), American (Saks 5th Avenue), or Swedish (IKEA). The major benefit seems to be that there are great tax advantages both for the customer and the retailer.
The narrative on the HOHO bus spoke proudly to the boom that has taken over Dubai – be it the number of businesses moving in, the number of complexes built, the height of buildings, the number of stores in any of the malls or the number of dollars flowing through the country. All of this exists because oil was found in 1959. But the current Sheikh ‘also understands that the oil can’t last forever’, and is building Dubai to become the center for financial, academic and retail industries. His picture is seen everywhere - HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum is part of the Baniyas tribe that has been in Dubai since 1833. He appears to be well liked and has created a world that is comfortable, safe and tolerant of the many foreigners brought in to build this unique place. For now Dubai is enjoying a real hay day where growth seems endless. Of course the news reports, which came out days before we arrived, noted that they have a serious debt issue and are trying to restructure their finances. My question is – what will there be to see in 100 years? Is this going to be like the tomb of Ozymandius?
Since this is not our concern, we went into the humongus Emirates Mall to spend some money. This is the mall with the indoor skiing slope. It was fun to see modestly clad Arab women, in their full black clothing, donning mall-provided-parkas so they could play in the snow with their children. Outside the enclosed, and obviously cold, ski area, they had an Apres Ski restaurant complete with a fake fire in the fake fireplace. What a hoot.
The stores were all very upscale and had all manner of high fashion including ones selling full Arab gear for men or for women. I kept wondering what these fully clad, modest people thought of the tourists going through the mall in more scanty apparel. Obviously it’s the price of their success, but you can see how a terrorist who believes in the Koran would take offense at this western immodesty.
Were it not for my knee, I could have walked these malls for quite some time enjoying not only the stores but the people in the mall. (They are obviously doing well since everyone was carrying bags and the stores were all busy). Instead we covered only a small portion, had lunch, and made a great acquisition: Camel’s Milk Chocolate bars - Amazingly good. The young man who was selling it said that it was made by one of the sheikh’s farms where he has over 2000 camels.
Shopped out, we returned to the ship for the day to relax. We still had the Red route of the HOHO and we would conquer that the next day.
The red route turned out to be very interesting in a different way, in that it focused primarily on the inner core of Dubai – the older section which has existed at least since 1950. This older portion with its many souks, is centered around the creek which runs to the sea. In olden days this creek was critical to traders, and even today, in very rickety dhows, merchandise which has come into Dubai sails out to Persia, India, Pakistan, and other Arab states. These dhows, crammed to the hilt with everything from refrigerators, to TV’s, to food, didn’t look sea worthy… but what do we know. They certainly were colorful. Our HOHO ticket allowed us to take a one hour boat ride up and down the creek to get a sense of Dubai from the water. We watched the small abra water taxi’s scooting from one side of the creek to the other. Each carries no more than 20 people and based on the traffic jams we saw, proves to be a most efficient way for locals to get about. These abra, reminded me of the ferries in Hong Kong – just a lot smaller and simpler. I must say I liked this older section better because it seemed more authentic and not so glitzy. This was a Dubai of the past where people bartered and traded and lived simple oil-less life…where cars were almost a hindrance, and men with push carts moved through narrow alleys. I’m sure that the current residents are quite happy that they have been able to improve their life, but it is truly a world built on sand.
Here was the prime example to me: we were told that in the UAE having a car is secondary to having the right numbered plate. The lower the number the richer you are, with some of them selling for millions of dollars. Once you have the plate, THEN you buy the car to match it. How nuts is that?
It is all so artificial and instant. There is almost no history and it is only a short time since this was a poor fishing port. I keep trying to find the words to describe it and they escape me. Surreal works best. But now we’re off to India which is surreal in a whole other way. Good-bye to cleanliness and modernity and back to a life where wealth and luxury do not exist. I’m ready.
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