Dubai, United Arab Emirates: 24.9500° N, 55.3333° E

I’m starting at the end of my recent travels with these pictures of Dubai.  I have the least amount of photos from that leg of the trip as I spent most of my time indoors. It was very hot and arid while I was there.

So as it was explained to me an emirate is a state or territory under the jurisdiction of an emir who is the local head of state. The United Arab Emirates aka UAE is a country made up of seven emirates.

1. Abu Dhabi – the capital
2. Dubai
3. Sharjah
4. Ajman
5. Fujairah
6. Ras al-Khaimah
7. Umm al-Qaiwan

Dubai I am told is the second largest emirate. Our tour guide provided the following information:

• It never really rains
• Only 20% of the population are native Emirati. The rest are people who have come from all over the world to work mostly in the service industries
• The Emirati citizens don’t have to pay for healthcare, school or taxes and just about everything is free for them
• Sunday is a normal working day
• A lot of their wealth comes from the 1996 oil boom
• They predict they will run out of oil in about 20 years so they are focusing on the tourism and financial services industry
• The Dubai Mall is the largest one in the world
• If you are a foreigner and you want to open a business here you need a local Emirati to sponsor you and they will get 51% of the profits
• Camel milk is the Viagra of the desert
• You need a license to buy wine outside of the hotels

If I had to sum up Dubai in one word I couldn’t. I’d use five: luxe, ambitious, futuristic and service oriented. I got the impression that if you can imagine it and afford to pay for it they can make it happen.

Burj Khalifa at least what I could get from  my camera

That tall gleaming beauty rising from the sky is the Burj Khalifa. It is reportedly the world’s tallest building and tallest man made structure.  You can take an elevator from the first floor of the Dubai Mall to the 125th floor for panoramic views of the city.

Jumeirah Beach

If you are like me and are curious about what a beach in the desert looks like(you can take the girl off the island but she will still search for the sea) then head to Jumeirah Beach  pictured above.

That building in the backdrop is another famous Dubai landmark. It’s the 7 star Burj Al Arab Jumeirah hotel. I can only imagine the kind of toiletries you find in a 7 star hotel. Argan oil and honey saved from Cleopatra’s dresser perhaps?

 I had a couple friends ask me when I got back about the dress code and the people. The city was very cosmopolitan. I saw women in shorts, skirts, pants and flip flops walking around with no issues. The people I dealt with were professional, friendly and helpful. It was clear that good customer service is one of their hallmarks.

I would definitely give Dubai another visit. That sand dune tour sounded really good if it wasn’t for the 100+ degree weather they were having while I was there.

Costa Coffee is their version of Starbucks. You can also find them in the UK.

I also fell in love with their Costa Coffee chai tea.  So much so that I decided to bring back one of their mugs as a souvenir.

Have you been to Dubai or any of the other Arab Emirates? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading.

Stardate :1417.10