Dubai Part 2

 Our first visit of the trip was to the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. They are in charge of, you guessed it, marketing Dubai to tourists and businesses. We were given a presentation about Dubai's future plans which consist of building more hotels, more attractions and just plain more of everything. They don't have any intentions of slowing down over the next 10 years. Amongst their plans are the world's largest airport and a place called Dubailand, which is a development that will be twice the size of Disneyworld and will be the largest collection of theme parks in the world. There are going to be 45 projects divided amongst 6 different zones. Check out Wikipedia or Google it for more info.

 Besides seeing the presentation, we also caught a glimpse of how the work environment is a little different in Dubai. I took this picture as we were leaving. In the background, standing at the desk, is the gentleman who had given our presentation. In the foreground is a random office worker doing some business on his phone. Only the locals wear the traditional dress so not everyone is walking around like this but it is also a common sight we would encounter as we visited the different businesses.

After our visit, we stopped for lunch at a buffet style restaurant. Have I mentioned how much I enjoyed the food?  

I tried to capture some shots of the city as we drove around, but that first day was a little hazy so the pictures didn't turn out all that well. Regardless, you can still see how unique each building is and how they are looming over you as you drive down the main road. You can also see the Burj Khalifa looming in the distance everywhere you go. Even though it is surrounded by skyscrapers, its height makes it look like it is the only building around.

Our first tourist stop was the Palm Jumeirah. If you haven't heard about the Palm, check out this website http://www.thepalm.ae/ or just Google it. Basically, it is a man-made island that is shaped like a palm tree. The picture above is what it looks like as you drive up the "trunk". These are condos and then each palm frond (leaves) has beach front villas on it. Those were all gated so we didn't get to drive down any fronds.

At the end of the "trunk" there is a tunnel that goes under the sea and emerges on another island at the top of the palm tree. There is a brand new Atlantis resort, pictured above, and other developments on this island.
Also above is a picture of myself and a classmate with our backs to the Persian Gulf. The country of Iran was only a short boat ride away!

I snapped this picture as we were leaving the Palm. This is looking from the Palm at an area called Dubai Marina that was started in 2003. Just think, 10 years ago most of those buildings did not exist.  

 

Our next stop was a beach that offered some nice views of the Burj Al Arab. It is billed as one of the nicest hotel in the world and you are only allowed inside if you are staying there or have a reservation at the restaurant. Some people from our group went there for dinner one night, but at $140 per person I decided the views from the outside were good enough for me! (Yes, it is very disappointing that we were not able to change clothes before doing our afternoon tour. After this picture was taken I took off my shoes and socks and waded in the water because it was killing me to be on a beach in these clothes!) 

Our next stop was on the other side of the city so I took the opportunity to take some more building pictures. There were many mosques and skyscrapers around. One of my favorite buildings was the twisty building pictured above. It seemed to defy physics.

 Our next stop was the Dubai Creek area. This is the oldest section of Dubai and tidal creek splits two different sections of the city. These pictures are looking toward Diera. Wooden boats, like those pictured above, are still used to ferry goods to and from Dubai from other middle eastern countries.

Our next stop was the Dubai Museum. The museum is actually an old fort and the oldest structure in Dubai. It contained a lot of artifacts and displays about the history of Dubai. In the middle picture I am sitting on a well in the middle of the courtyard. A mosque tower is in the background. The third picture is me next to an old boat. Pearling was one of Dubai's biggest industries before oil was discovered. These boats were used to take people out into the Gulf where they would attach weights to their ankles and free dive to collect oysters and then would be pulled back up to the boats when they ran out of breath.  

Our next stop was across the creek so we boarded some wooden ferry boats, which are shown in the first picture. It was only 30 cents, we got a nice boat ride with excellent views.  

Once on the other side, we made our way to the souks (markets). There is a spice souk and a gold souk, with a little bit of everything else sprinkled in. In the first picture, they are explaining all of the different spices and natural remedies that can be found here. If you look closely, you will even see a sign offering the natural version of a popular pill. The Gold Souk was amazing. There were hundreds of stores filled with gold in every form imaginable. A few of returned on a different day to actually shop and although I didn't buy any gold, I did manage to pick up a few souvenirs.  

 And to cap off our wonderful day, we had an amazing dinner at a restaurant called Bastakiah Nights. It is in a section of town called the old quarter which mimics the architecture of the old Dubai. The towers you see are called windtowers and were built in the old days to cool the houses by catching wind and funneling it down into the living area. The food was Lebanese and consisted of hummus, tabbouleh, fried kebbeh, and various lamb and chicken kebabs. Good food and a wonderful setting made for a memorable end to a great day.