I think I must win the award for the best non-shopper, as today we spent quite a few hours in Dubai Mall – arguably the world’s largest mall with over 1200 retail outlets not to mention an iceskating rink, a waterfall, an aquarium and zoo, and so on – and bought nothing but food. Oh, and an aquarium souvenir bought with our free gift shop voucher. And that was a struggle. What to spend our precious 40 Dirham on?
Our preference for today would have been something like exploring Al Bastakiya, Dubai‘s historic area dating back to the 1690s, but with another day forecast at 33-43°C that wasn’t going to be on, so instead we did the mall. There are many, many malls in Dubai but we chose this one for a few reasons – it’s supposed to be the biggest; it has an aquarium; and the hotel provides a free bus service to it. As it turned out, we were having so much fun shopping – well, mall crawling and people watching, anyhow – that we gave the return bus a miss and had a go at using Dubai’s driverless metro. It seemed to work! Our journey started with a travelator that covers most of the kilometre between the Mall and its nearest metro stop – a boon for footsore mall-crawlers. I was very grateful when a nice young man (at my age, I think I can say that) offered me his seat in the packed carriage. The hardest part was working out which exit to use and which way to turn when we did exit at our stop and then to walk the three or four blocks in low-40s heat and no shade.
Anyhow, the mall. What to say, except that it’s a mall. The aquarium was great, particularly the fish and reptile tanks in the upstairs section. The people watching was fun. As it’s school holidays we saw many families: the Emirati men in their white thawbs and red and white head-dress, and the women in their abaya and niqab. Not all women cover their faces but most who wear the abaya do, and some cover their faces completely. We understand why the men’s dress is described as well-suited to the climate here, but blowed if we understand why being totally covered in black is. Dubai, like many places I suppose, is a fascinating study in contrasts. There is a lot of evidence here of the traditional – the dress, the limited access to alcohol, attitudes to gender and family, the old boats – and yet what a hold the west has. Shopping is clearly a big past-time, and I’d be hard-pressed to think of a major western “name” that is not here, from fast food to fashion, from KFC and Gloria Jeans to Rockport and Armani. I’m probably not the first to say this, but I suspect Dubai is to travellers today, what Hong Kong was two or three decades ago.
This evening we did what our friend Paula, who came through Dubai only a month or so ago, recommended, and that was a dinner cruise on a dhow. The evening included a buffet dinner served with soft drinks – I’m sure you all know how much I loved that! The food was, though, very tasty. Described as international, it included Indian dishes such as dhal, Middle-eastern ones like hummus and tabouli, and western-style chicken and beef dishes. While we ate, we ploughed Dubai Creek, along with several other dinner dhows and dodging the little, poorly lit abras (which I mentioned in our Day 1 post). The highlight of the evening was a rather breathtaking performance of Tanoura, an Arabian dance similar (or related perhaps?) to the dance of the whirling dervishes. Check out the video below.
Random facts which may or may not be right!
- Skyscrapers: We read that in 1991, Dubai had only 1 skyscraper and that now it has 900! We didn’t count but from what we sa we could believe it. The interesting thing is – as most of you know – the skyscrapers are far from boring or brutal. The shapes and sizes are fascinating, creative, eye-catching … and we got a good look at many, for example, when we rode the travelator from the mall to the metro.
- Demography: According to Wikipedia, 53% of Dubai’s population is Indian, with the next concentration being Emirati at 17%. Those Indians … they sure have got around. As I recollect they make up a goodly proportion of Mauritian demography too. Anyhow, we’d certainly believe it from the prevalence of Indian restaurants we’ve seen!
Three-words-of-the-day
LEN: Huge, Full, Polite
SUE: Global, Gendered, Confident
and the stills…
and the videos…
Arabian Dancer onboard Dhow dinner cruise
ah, if you had gone to lunch or dinner at the Indian restaurant at the Arabian Courtyard Hotel, you not only would’ve enjoyed superb Indian cuisine accompanied by live music (3 piece group, I think), but you could have had wine with your food. Something for next time as one who has has the odd stopover in Dubai can testify.
Yes, I recollected that you are an Emirates fan. We could have had alcohol in our hotel but it was never the right time. Unfortunately Len wanted to avoid Indian food on this trip … But next time we’ll remember.
Sparkly fish! Your photos are amazing. And I do like this “three word” game. Oh my gosh the people on the waterfall! (Yes, I’m writing this comment as I watch the slide show.)
The fish were amazing Hannah … Dad might load some moving footage somewhere. Will let you know.glad you like the three-word-game.
Greetings from the frozen south…
Our three words for today:
Windy
Snow
Blossom
Keep up the great work out there on the track!
Much love
Andy and co.
Oh Andy, lovely to hear from you … And to have you join the game … I saw it was to be 9 on Tuesday. 9 for you, 43 for us! The blossoms won’t last long with that weather.
PS I did draw something on my computer. Is that a fair start. Too scared to se that nice paper!
I love hearing about the details of the mall, such as the lighting and the transport to the driverless metro. Were you able to surreptitiously snap any pictures of people? What I wonder is how little children recognize their mothers when the mothers are covered head to toe in black?
Thanks for commenting Carolyn … It was certainly an interesting experience. Life there was quite a contrast to Spain, where we arrived yesterday afternoon.
Wot! No shopping? Hannah will be wondering.
She’ll just have to wonder … there were chocolate shops after all but we ate/drank there and ran. No buying. Whatever we bought would have melted within seconds of leaving the precinct anyhow!
Photos are wonderful — well done for not succumbing to all the temptations !
Thanks Sylvia … glad you enjoyed the photos. I might have succumbed to some temptations if we’d been at the end of our trip and I had space in my bag!
Hey, i love the slide show…nice blog you two! The emergence of many towers reminds me of il torre in Italy, which seemed a bit of a power display for all and sundry..We’ve got more towers than you…
Wise to avoid the heat as much as possible. Enjoy!
Thanks Kate … we’ve got more towers than you! I love it. Hard to avoid the heat really. I don’t think we’ve had a day with a maximum under 39°C since we left home. The heat knocks Len about more than me – though I go red and look more knocked about – but my feet are giving me some trouble so I’m collapsing from that! I fear for my walking days but haven’t given up yet!