Dubai

Wednesday November 29 Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia. It is located at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula and shares land borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia, while also having maritime borders in the Persian Gulf with Qatar and Iran. Abu Dhabi is the country's capital, while Dubai, the most populous city, is an international hub.
The United Arab Emirates is an elective monarchy formed from a federation of seven Emirates, consisting of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. Each emirate is an absolute monarchy governed by a ruler, and together the rulers form the Federal Supreme Council, the highest executive and legislative body. The Federal Supreme Council elects a president and two vice presidents from among their members; as of 14 May 2023, the president is Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
As of 2023, the UAE has an estimated population of 9.97 million. Islam is the official religion and Arabic is the official language. The United Arab Emirates' oil and natural gas reserves are the world's sixth and seventh-largest, respectively. Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the country's first president, oversaw the development of the Emirates by investing oil revenues into healthcare, education, and infrastructure. In the 21st century, the UAE has become less reliant on oil and gas and is economically focusing on tourism and business. The UAE is a member of the United Nations, OPEC and the World Trade Organization.

First day in Dubai

Because Dubai is 13 hours ahead of Toronto time, plus the 13-hour flight, our calendar was advanced by one day. Our breakfast this morning was quite rushed because it was served in a large, spread out restaurant with six different food stations. It was confusing just to find what you want to eat, let alone how to find your way back to the table.
Our first stop at the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, the first universal museum in the Arab world, was approximately a 2 hour drive from the hotel. As we left the ultra-modern high rises of Dubai, and headed towards Abu Dhabi, the scenery changed dramatically into great expanses of desert. The highways are straight and smooth, and the speed limit is 140 K for cars but lower for trucks. In previous years, there were so many accidents on the highway due to camels crossing back-and-forth, they erected fences along the entire length. Not just normal fences, but very ornate, which attested to the riches of the Emirates. We saw some domestic white, one hump, dromedary camels in the distance.
As we got closer to Abu Dhabi, the landscape turned decidedly greener. The king of Abu Dhabi had a vision of a green city and ordered that tens of thousands of trees be planted all of which needed to be watered. This required constructing massive desalinization plants to irrigate the trees because there is no rain, virtually none, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi all year round.
The drive was quite pleasant. Because of strict traffic surveillance and stiff penalties for drivers who break the rules, everybody drives courteously and safely. There is very little horn honking.
Everything in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is over the top, seemingly without limits in extravagance. They have a number of large theme parks just outside Abu Dhabi, one of which has a roller coaster ride that reaches 240km/hr. There is a Warner Brothers Theme Park and a racehorse track. They also have a Formula One racetrack, thanks largely to the encouragement of the German Formula One race driver Michael Schumacher, who, in return for his involvement now has a 7 million residence in the Jumeirah Beaches.
They even have camel races, and we wish that we had the chance to see one of the races. Even though we didn’t, the spectacle is so interesting, here is some information about the races.
-Camel racing is a huge sporting event. UAE has 15 camel racetracks situated throughout the country. The name of the one in Abu Dhabi is Al Wathba
- Winners of the camel race can win cars and cash rewards up to 1 million USD.
-Ancient camel racing that was practiced by the Bedouins used small boys as jockeys. These boys were flown in from Pakistan or India but as time went on Human Rights groups pressured against this practice as it was regarded as a form of child labor. Since the year 2005, robots, that are equipped with whips, are used to control the camels. The camel owner follows on a 4x4 vehicle, controlling their camel with the help of the robot jockey and voicing out commands through the speaker attached to the robot. The whip is controlled by the owner with the help of a remote control.
-Racing camels are worth anywhere between $750,000 USD to $1,635,000 USD, with the highest recorded sale of a racing camel going at $9,530,000 USD.

Other Interesting facts about Dubai/UAE

-40% of the population of Dubai Is of Indian descent.
-there is 0% interest rate.
-there is 0% income tax.
-education and medical treatments are free.

-there is mandatory four year conscription for men because the King feels it is important for them to realize what others had given before them and it also gives them four years of additional education to help them learn good English.
-there are 200 islands in Abu Dhabi
-alcohol consumption is OK for tourists and non-Muslims
-the mandatory retirement age is 60 years of age
-bus stops on all the streets are air-conditioned
-The incredible wealth of the emirates began in the 1960s but when oil supplies started to diminish, they realized they had to replace that revenue with something else and turned to tourism and commerce. Today, oil accounts for only one percent of their GDP.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( born 15 July 1949) is an Emirati politician and royal, is the current ruler of Dubai, serving as the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A billionaire, Mohammed generates most of his income from real estate and is described as one of the world's most prominent real estate developers. However, one source of information noted that there is a "blurred line" between the assets of the government of Dubai and those of the ruling Al Maktoum family. Land which is owned by him is managed as an asset of the state. He oversaw the growth of Dubai into a global city, as well as the launch of a number of government-owned enterprises including Emirates Airline, DP World, and the Jumeirah Group. Mohammed has overseen the development of certain projects in Dubai, such as the Palm Islands and the Burj Al Arab hotel, as well as Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
-And check this out. He also has 26 children from different wives

The Louvre in Abu Dhabi was made possible by cooperation with the Louvre in Paris, and they have been given the opportunity to display art, statues, and artefacts until 2030. The building itself is expansive, with a grey, lace like, multi layered dome covering the roof.
The building is surrounded by the ocean with large exhibition rooms linked together by glass windows, overlooking the bright and shiny water areas.
It is quite incredible to see the wide variety of items dating back 5000 or 6000 years BC up to art and crafts from the modern age. They even have a children’s museum which is a very interactive section that allows the children to get involved in hands-on digital experiences.
Following our visit, we had a short bus ride to the ocean resort Conrad Hotel with magnificent beaches and swimming pools where we had lunch.

After lunch we headed back to Dubai for a visit to the world famous Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. While the dress code was relaxed for men, it was more rigid for women who were required to wear head scarves, no white or risque clothing and no short sleeve shirts.
The access to the mosque was via a long, underground tunnel, more like an underground mall, that sold every type of replica and souvenir imaginable.The mosque covers an area of 30 acres, not including the extensive landscaping, and is the largest mosque in the country. It has 82 domes reaching as high as 350 feet. The main prayer hall accommodates 7000 people and two other smaller prayer halls each hold 1500 people. The large Carpet Hall has a carpet considered to be the world's largest carpet made by Iran's Carpet Company and designed by Iranian artist Ali Khaliqi. This carpet measures 60,570 sq ft, and was made by 1,200-1,300 carpet knotters. It weighs 35 tons, contains 2,200,000 knots, and took two years to make. The total capacity of the mosque is 41,000 people and as might be expected for Dubai, the mosque claims to be the largest marble mosaic in the world.
The trip back to the hotel was very long due to extensive traffic,
As we got closer to Dubai the highway turned into six lanes for the express lane +3 lanes for the collector lane going each way so there was a massive amount of traffic. We arrived back as tired travellers after the 12 hour outing, and with very little appetite. However, we took advantage of another of the 12 Restaurants in the hotel, to have a glass of wine and a light dinner. Before packing it in for the night, Lee and I went up to the 68th floor to check out the fine dining restaurant with 360° views of the city and then up one additional floor to The Vault, which is a bar and cigar room with 360° views as well .Read more