Well, there's a few things I know (second-hand) about Dubai. Here's the list:
- Incredibly crowded
- Traffic is hell
- Very difficult to get a taxi
- Incredibly expensive
So, this is what I was expecting from the city when I got there. When I arrived a few taxis fought over me. I didn't have to wait more than 30 seconds until I was picked up by a cab, that nearly crashed into another cab, which was also trying to 'get the fare'. When we hit the road the streets were empty. Traffic flowed like a brisk current. None of the ''grid lock' Ive heard so much about. That was also the case later on that evening. I had to take a cab cross-town to get to Cirque de Soliel. I was told by a friend to allow about 2 hours for the 20 Km. ride. It took about a half an hour, very few cars on the highway, and we bobbed and weaved our way straight to the Ibn Battuta mall (named after a famous Arab explorer, each wing is decorated in the style of one of places he explored). It is a fairly large place, made to look even larger by the fact that no one was in it. The mall was deserted ... I mean, like an American mall on a Tues. afternoon. This was also the case on the next night, when I went to the outlet mall. A very popular and tremendous place on the outskirts of Dubai. Also, completely empty (on a Thurs. night), not to mention the streets were sparsely populated with automobiles and getting to and back on a weekend night around midnight was a breeze.
As you can see from the above, I spent a lot of time at malls, and with good reason. Dubai is known for its shopping. However, everything in the damn town is on SALE. I don't mean half off, I mean 75%. That's right, there's a fire-sale right now in all shops in Dubai, and still no one is shopping. I bought things to wear, which I have never been able to afford, even with my salary now. I walked away with 3000$ in Pierre Cardin, and Ted Lapidus fashions for about 750$. I bought a whole new wardrobe for the price of 2 formal outfits. It was crazy.
Needless to say, the city of Dubai is in very bad shape economically. The thing is no one is allowed to talk about it. In true Arab fashion, there is a 1,000,000 Dirham fine for reporting on the Dubai economy. There were job losses in droves in the past two months. After the losses, the Ex-pat flight began. Thousands of cars were left at the airport abandoned as people fled the sinking sands. Check out this article on that LINK. I was talking to one of our cabbies, a upper tier manager not 2 months ago. A very intelligent dude, with many interesting insights on the state-of-Dubai economics. He was an Indian (one of the largest immigrant groups in the Emirates). He said that about 75,000 Indian children had been issued 'transfer certificates' at the schools (these are like academic records and transcripts), as their parents were moving back home to India. This is made all-the-more strange, by the fact that India is in no better shape economically. But, I guess that if your going to be out-of-work and poor, its better to do it around family and friends, in a place you view as home.
for more on the economics check out these links
All-in-all, I had a great time, with none of the 'downs' I had heard about, it was all fun-and-games. It was really great, like NY with sunny weather in Mar. and very few people. I feel as if I had the entire town to myself. My advise to anyone, go here now, and cash in on the great deals, there's still a lot to see and at a savings of 75%, you get a lot of bang for your buck. I think its a great place, and now while the going is great, visit.
1 comment:
Hey man, great post!! I wrote a different view of it in my blog: middleeastthoughts.blogspot.com
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