Dubai....Where East Meets West

Dubai is a huge sprawling metropolis on the edge of a vast desert.  Their riches have been spawned from trade and tourism and they have buildings that compete with the novelty of Singapore without the beautiful landscaping.........

 

 

 

This tower is the tallest structure in the world and has over 160 stories..........

It is an Islamic country and mosques are everywhere......

This is their most famous one, which we were not allowed to enter, the Jameera mosque....

The houses here are expensive and opulent and cost in the millions.  I did not see where the poor or working class people lived........

And of course shopping is everywhere.....

Since we stayed overnight I went out on my balcony before sunrise and listened when the Muslims where called to prayer,  The lone singer's voice wafted through the air and was strangely beautiful as he sang the verses of the Koran.

We visited Jameera beach, a popular local place......

And it was here we were able to capture pictures of the only 7 star hotel in the world.  It is shaped like a sail and has slightly over 200 rooms, all suites.  The most expensive goes for $28,000 a night!!!

We visited the Dubai Museum in the old part of the city which is by the city's first fort.  It had been a trading area with sea going merchants on the Mesopotamia/Indus route (no inside pictures allowed)......

 

We were fascinated by these wind towers.  They somehow helped cool the buildings prior to air conditioning.

 

 

 

We had to cross the river in these rickety "ferries" which are used by everyone to get to the deira district where the old "souks" (shopping areas) are located.......

The "souks" sell everything from textiles to gold.  This one was the spice market......

And this one was the gold market where jewelry can be bought at much reduced prices than in the west after a great deal of haggling...

Note the ladies in their burkas.  They do not like to be photographed so I captured them in the corner of my shot.  All of the conservative Islamic women wear these very hot clothes and some cover their entire face as well...........

 

The next day Carolyn and I went on an adventure by ourselves and after visiting the souk took a cab to Atlantis.....

It is built on Palm Island, an area reclaimed from the sea.  From the air it looks like a giant palm tree with 17 fronds.  After crossing a 300 meter causeway, on it can be found these very expensive condos in a beautifully landscaped community....

Then we came to the grand Atlantis.......

It has spectacular interior architecture, very over the top and grand.....

 

 

 

 

 

Even the bathroom is spectacular......

 

 

And here is where the guests were enjoying the water with a view of the city skyline.....

However it is these HUGE windows with the interior aquariums that really impress.....

 

 

After stuffing ourselves on an international buffet there we took a cab back to the ship and were shocked by the cab driver.  Apparently the hotel transportation guy thought it appropriate that we get a proper driver.  It was a woman in less conservative Islamic dress with a pink hat that said "Ladies Taxi"!!

Dubai is much more western than its Islamic counterparts and the middle eastern wealthy flock to their city.  It has limited usable area so is constantly reclaiming land from the sea and so far have reclaimed 75 miles of sea.  Their plan is to be an international trade city and so far, so good.

Next stop is Egypt and the Temple of Karnak but first we have 5 days at sea traversing the Persian Gulf and Red Sea before stopping in Egypt then going through the Suez Canal!