Dubai

I am an avid traveler/adventurer; but I do not like to splurge big-time. This makes me go for the things that are maximum bang for the buck. So when I saw that Emirates Airlines provides an overnight stay in Dubai if you have more than 3-4 hours layover; I went ahead and booked a returning ticket from Mumbai that would give me an evening in Dubai and overnight stay to relax and continue on my long journey back to Seattle.

A day before my return, I was freaking out a little. I revisited my memories of going to US for the first time. The slight anxiety of not knowing how it will turn out and excitement of getting to explore foreign land; was getting the best of me. I researched a bit, called up Emirates Airlines support to confirm the hotel stay and visa situation and how much Derams (UAE currency) I have to carry.

After packing everything at the last moment, doing the short/on-the-run visits of some close relatives; I boarded a plane to Dubai. I met a nice Bengali lady working from US dept of commerce in Asia; and got some tips for my short stay in Dubai. As much as I love seafood, I realized I score zero marks when it comes to Bangali fish. She was kind enough to tell me a few places to try in Mumbai and I made a mental note (because it always works, you see :P) to add this to my ‘things to do in next India trip’.

So after short conversation and catching up on some sleep (India trips are never physically relaxing!);  I landed in Dubai. I could sense my heart beating faster with anxiety and excitement. After some usual going-out-the-wrong-way, then cursing how the system is designed to be non-intuitive and thinking about what I can do it better (smartass that I am ;) ); I got out of the airport little shy of two hours. (Trust me that was usual and I had anticipated it). I checked in to a hotel and inquired about tours or hiring a taxi or driving around in a rental car to make the best of my next 5 hours (although physically tired, such trips pump extra oxygen in my lungs and a gallon fresh blood in my veins!). To my surprise, there was a Dubai bus tour leaving in 10 minutes and it was dirt cheap (compared to what I was thinking of paying a cabbie or on a rental car). I booked this trip, literally ran to my hotel room, changed and came down all in 10 minutes.

In general, I despise the touristy kind of trips because they don’t give you real picture or do not allow you the joy of exploring things on your own. But I made an exception this time, as I had heard bad things about Dubai traffic.

As it turned out I had landed on Monday evening, a day after the Dubai shopping festival – the biggest freaking shopping festival in the largest freaking mall in the world (which is really very Dubaish) Traffic jam wasn't much of a problem and the driver cum tour guide was friendly enough to give me a passenger seat and answer all pointless questions I ask when I get excited.

First stop was one of many famous mosques in Dubai at Jumeirah. It being an Islamic country, mosques are well maintained, decorated by the government. You can see the beautiful end result below :)

Next stop was the famous Burj Al Arab by the Jumeira beach. It was fabulous summer weather (for a Seattleite that is J ) with cool sea breeze, white sand and relaxing water. At the end of this beach stands the Burj Al Arab. It was lit up in alternating blue and green colors.

My first memories of Burj Al Arab were the endless email forwards I used to get that had countless pictures of this hotel that sports a tennis court on the top (what do they do if ball falls down, a stupid question I would ask myself while trying to relate this affair to my terrace or gacchi cricket experience :P ). From those emails, my impression was that it is either one of those places that is either super-exclusive or a superb photoshop work. It turned out to be former. Apart from being a flamboyant piece of architecture; the hotel was extravagant beyond my wildest imagination. They provide each guest with a Rolce Royce (you heard it right!) and if you don’t like that they provide you with a helicopter which lands on a helipad built at the top of this place. A regular three course dinner can cost anything between 2000 to 5000 USD. Still I asked the guide if there is any way to sneak into the tennis court. He told me it requires advanced reservation for a simple tea of $100. ‘Maybe some other time’, I said to my frugal self.

Moving on, we went to Palm islands, which is a freaking man-made island on reclaimed land (land in Dubai so uber-expensive that huge land reclamation ventures like Palm islands and The World are pretty common)

Right in the middle of the hotel stand the majestic hotel Atlantis - another freaking expensive hotel that costs $32000 per day (I am still not convinced about this!) and requires a minimum stay of five days (WTF!!). 

After few short stops, we reached our final destination – Dubai mall, largest freaking mall in entire world and Burj Khalifa – current tallest freaking building on Earth. 829.8 meters to be precise. 

To me, Dubai mall looked like just another freaking big mall, with lots of shops (95% of which I would never go to) and huge food courts. There was a fascinating aquarium built inside the mall where you could see sharks hovering over or next to you while strolling. I grabbed a bite of original Lebanese falafel wrap  (that’s what the menu card said, don’t get all legal). It didn't taste any different from the one I have at a local mediterranean joint. Then I looked around and noticed how dapper and well groomed locals (girls and guys both!) are. Locals are very few enough to make you wonder if they were planted to give you taste of culture of Dubai!

Next stop was the high point (in both figurative and literal sense) of the trip -the observation deck of Burj Khalifa. This is on 124^th floor of the building, which is tall enough to look down at rest of the Dubai. I was smart enough to find out that online reservation of the deck visit would cost 3-4 times less than the on-site price. I had booked the only available time slot of 11 PM the day before. It fitted perfectly with the tour thing  and it allowed me a dazzling night view of lit up gold that is Dubai .

Only other observation deck that has come close to it was the ‘Top of the rock’ in Rockefeller Plaza, NY. After some more Patel shots; I headed back to the hotel.

Luckily, I reached the hotel just few minutes before the kitchen was closing. I devoured on mouth-watering mutton biryani. Knowing a little bit about how it is really made (never been patient enough to devote that much time to make one); I feel insulted when I am served with some twisted version of fried rice or pulav as a ‘biryani’. But this one was undoubtedly one of the best biryanis I had off late.

As the food coma swept in and my body started giving to physical exhaustion; I dropped on hotel room bed to catch up 4-5 hours of sleep before catching a long flight to Seattle.

In all, I could relate Dubai to Vegas. When you go to Vegas, you know you are gonna have some fun, see fake replicas of Taj Mahal, Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower and come back. Dubai on the other hand takes  inspiration from famous structures in the world and builds them bigger, larger or maybe better. I saw twin Chrysler towers that were bigger than the original ones in NY. I saw the Atlantis hotel which was built based on the one in Bahamas, only bigger and much more expensive. To top all that, they are building The World made of 300 small islands shaped and proportioned to corresponding countries. Apparently, Angelina Jolie bought ‘Cambodia’ for her adopted Cambodian child (one lucky kid! ).

To me, Dubai is a side-project you would do when you are provided with infinite resources of everything you need for that project. Dubai strives to be a perfect and most elitist/ambitious or rich-most version of the world. The price tags make it the most exclusive place on Earth; but like all other hypes or bubbles it makes you wonder whether this is all worth it. How much comfort or splurging is really enough? Where do you draw a line between occasional splurge, blowing off some steam and always living in the unreal world which is not accessible to 99.9999999999999999999% people. I guess my bourgeois conscience coupled with conditioning in eastern philosophy never allows me to not think about these issues.

Anyways, as I headed back to Seattle I was only glad to see the splendor that is Dubai. I told somebody that ‘If I ever get rich enough to not know how to spend my money; I would come to Dubai’. But I am not sure I will follow it through if I ever build wealth of the Shaikhs of Dubai. My gut feeling or conscience wants me to go to the Bill Gates way instead..