Dubai

We were not quite sure what to expect in Dubai. We had seen the port brochures and looked at the ship excursions. We knew the HOHO bus was $75 which told us this was going to be an expensive city.

Here is what we found. An immaculate, modern terminal shoreside. Uber Black will get you a ride in a new Tesla. Or you can order up Uber Helicopter; about $200/30 minutes. ATM’s issue money in Dirhams, US dollars or gold. Yes, gold mini-ingots. Multiple shopping malls with high-end designer stores, along with huge aquariums, an ice skating rink and an indoor ski slope. The highest building in the world. (Burj Khalifa). The most photographed building in the world (Burj al Arab) and the Palm and World island developments, all reclaimed from the sea.

Mosques are placed every 500 meters so the locals don’t have to go far for their five times a day prayers. Only 20% of the people here are locals, the rest come from other countries. There are no taxes to speak of, so everything has a fee—schools, residency permits, rent, health care, etc. Unless you are a local, then these things are provided by your sheik.

We have definitely transitioned to a different type of climate than we found in our first ports. Today is 71 degrees, not all that humid, although the sky is very hazy. It is much more comfortable walking around.

Our tour took us on one of the small boats across the river known as Dubai Creek which separates the two parts of the old and new city. The skyscrapers were not even started until 2000, and the story is the national bird is a crane—the construction kind. Also included was to the Dubai Museum and to the gold souk. Haggling is required, and the intricate detail of the gold work is amazing. We did not buy anything in the limited time there, but we were told 70 tons of gold pass through this souk each year.

I have added picture links below...courtesy of Port Rashid medium speed WiFi...so not sure how long it will take to upload for you.