Postcards from the Past: United Arab Emirates

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

When and Where: 01/2020 – Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sir Bani Yas

53^rd Country Visited; 3^rd Asian Country Visited

Interesting Facts:

- Dubai currently has the largest building in the world.

- The UAE gained their independence from the UK in 1971.

- The UAE is an absolute monarchy; each of the 7 Emirates have their own royal family.

- Dubai has the world’s largest driverless metro system. It has more than 46 miles of track.

- Dubai’s airport is the third busiest international airport in the world, just behind Atlanta Hartsfield and Beijing Capital.

- Only 11.5% of the people in the UAE are citizens.

Back in January 2020 and right before COVID became a thing, Aaron and I took a MSC Middle East cruise out of Dubai to Abu Dhabi, Sir Bani Yas (island), Manama Bahrain and Doha Qatar. We also took a side trip to Muscat Oman. Weeks before we traveled, the US government killed and Iranian military general by drone strike. So I was nervous traveling to the Middle East. My good friend and coworker, Anjanette bought Aaron and I some Canadian sportswear. I told Aaron that if asked, to tell people we were Canadian. We even practiced using “ay” at the end of every sentence, much like Canadians do when they speak. We had a morning flight out of Newark Airport and flew nonstop on Emirates to Dubai, arriving 12 hours later. I enjoyed the morning overseas flight as I hate red-eye flights. And Emirates is a world-class airline. We arrived in Dubai and took a cab straight to the port. The first question we were asked upon entering the cab was “Where are you from?” We were immediately put to the test. I responded “Canada” We passed the test and made it to the Port of Dubai. We boarded the ship only to find out we had been upgraded to a balcony with amazing views of the city of Dubai. The skyscrapers stood out, especially the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. The city is huge and sprawling. Since we had a long flight, we were both tired, so we chilled.

The next morning, we arrived in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The sun was out and the temperature exceeded 100 Fahrenheit. We took a tour of the city. Abu Dhabi, like Dubai, is very wealthy. The skyscrapers were glistening in the bright sunlight. The city is sleepy compared to the over-the-top Dubai. But in my opinion, Abu Dhabi was more beautiful. We took a day tour of the city. Our first stop was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. This was our first trip ever to a mosque and we followed the dress code. Other men on the tour were made to wear paper skirts to cover their knees. To date, I had never seen a building as grand. The archways, columns, and minarets were white marble with gold accents. We walked about the inside of the mosque following all the protocols and taking off our shoes. Our tour continued with a number of photo stops of the brilliant Abu Dhabi skyline. Next, we boarded a small boat to tour around the Abu Dhabi waterfront. The key attraction is the stately and ornate UAE Presidential Palace, which would be the equivalent to the White House. Soon after, we returned to the cruise ship.

The following day we arrived at Sir Bini Yas, an island off the coast of the UAE. The beach was stunning, and we had another sunny day. Aaron and I got a few chairs close to the water under a tropical hut. We sat and drank coconut juice and listened to beach music playing over loud speakers. After a while, we decided to walk the beach for shells. We picked up over 100 small conch shells. This day was the most relaxing our our Middle East trip. Unfortunately, when I got back home, I realized customs removed all the shells from our luggage.

On the back end of our trip, we had a day tour in Dubai. We had another scorching hot day. Our first stop was at a harbor with amazing views of a cluster of skyscrapers. Like everywhere in Dubai, the wealth of the citizenry is on full display. As our tour took us around the city, we saw million dollar cars, and multi-million dollar homes. Our tour continued on to the Palm Islands, a series of artificial islands which collectively look like a palm tree from above. The wealthiest residents live on the Palm Islands and each residence has waterfront property. In addition, there are many resorts and restaurants on the Palm Islands. Next we stopped near the Burj Al-Arab, one of a handful of hotels worldwide considered to be a 7-star resort. It boasts a tennis court on the roof. Our final stop was the Dubai Mall, the third largest indoor mall in the world. Like everything else in Dubai, it was over the top. It’s a four story mall with the most upscale designer fashions, restaurants and more. The largest aquarium in the world is in Dubai Mall boasting a 10-million gallon tank and 140 species of undersea life. The mall also has an indoor skating rink and an indoor ski resort. Without a doubt, this was the nicest mall I had ever visited. If I had to describe Dubai, I would say it is like Las Vegas on steroids. It’s an amazing city, but too congested, over developed and far too snooty, in my opinion. We headed back to the ship, gathered our belongings, and headed to the airport for an early evening flight to Muscat Oman.

We took an Uber to the airport. This driver also asked where we were from, and I again replied “Canada”. When we arrived at the lavish airport, I was confused by our plane tickets. We found out our flight wasn’t on Emirates, but on flydubai, the low cost-subsidiary. We had to take a $50 cab ride to get to the flydubai terminal. Unlike the main airport, the flydubai terminal was sketchy. We checked-in and proceeded through customs to our gate, 4 hours early. As I looked around the terminal, we stood out as non-Arab. The majority of flights departing from this terminal were headed to Iraq and Iran. I was nervous. The terminal was poorly lit adding to my anxiety. Aaron and I sat for hours texting each other, rather than speak a word in English. I felt a sense of relief when we finally boarded the plane for Muscat.