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Dubai
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On my way to India, I did a short stop over at Dubai for a few nights – the place is positively bonkers! :)
Dubai has two parts that seems to be separated by not just the Dubai creek, but also a few decades! The old part of the city, Deira, north of the creek is what I would imagine ‘Persia’ of the stories would look like! The narrow streets where merchants who come in ancient wooden boats from far away places, sells their strange and exotic spices, oils and tobacco, ornate hookahs on display thru a film of dust and smoke, traders touting their products and offers of ‘special prices’, ‘where you from sir?’ and ‘come in please madam’ etc. Typical ‘Arabia’! Another souk nearby is the gold souk, in Deira has thousands of shops selling silver, gold and precious stones! Each shop has so much gold and diamonds on display, you could spend your life’s earnings there and you wouldn’t have emptied even a small corner shelf!! However, its not all glitter and charm in the old part. What you don’t see in Deira: Women and children. People are very traditional, and you would only see men in the streets, other than a few tourists, who are more often than not inappropriately dressed! My tip for girls would be to dress conservatively – loose fitting trousers and top to cover entire arm, or in other words show as little curves and skin as possible!
The new part of Dubai, called Bur Dubai, which I believe is how the ruler of the country want Dubai to be known as, is a fabulous modern city – a tastefully designed ‘concrete jungle’! The roads are wide and full of expensive cars, buildings so tall your neck hurts to look at them, shopping complexes are so big, you could spend days in there, you can lunch watching a musical water display, and then turn the corner, enter a swiss chalet like settings and go skiing for reminder of the day, or you can go dune bashing, flying, diving, golf… list is endless! Where ever you look new skyscrapers are being built, and artificial island chains are being built for the rich (and reckless) of the world. Property prices are doubling every few years. People walk around wearing designer labels, drive flash cars, spend money like there is no tomorrow. Supermarkets’ store food from around the world and are so large, they would make largest Tesco/Dunnes you know look like a corner shop! Frisbees and surf boars are out in action in Jumaira beach, right next to what is allegedly world’s only seven star hotel. What you don’t see in Bur Dubai :: Elderly and Children. The Arab natives of Dubai prefers to socialize in each others houses, the immigrant workers find the cost of living in Dubai prohibitive to bring their families with them and the Western workers who live in Dubai don’t think its a good place to have a family, and the rest are tourists!
In short: Strange place, but totally worth visiting from a photographers point of view – also if you are looking to buy a engagement ring or something (like I did. She said yes. ;) )
PS: I wish I could let the photos do the talking, but obviously I am not good enough with the camera, hence all that sales pitch! Sorry!!
PPS: Let me know if you want to know more about getting there etc, I have been flying that route for a while now and have a few contacts who work there.
And one more thing, apparently Dubai stands for ‘Do Buy’, as the administration want you to spend as much money as you can while you are there! :D
How did you manage to take a photo of what looks to be a shopping mall with no one in it?
Some nice shots there Ashok – bottom one in particular (I’m a sucker for a sunset.) Haven’t been to dubai for a few years now – it is supposed to have changed dramatically.
Congratulations on the engagement also.
Niall, thats Dubai’s “Dragon mall”, a brand new shopping center in the middle of nowhere in particular, selling all sorts of Chinese products like iFone, iMack amongst other legitimate Chinese products. Thats the entrance hall of the mall, and all crowd was further inside the mall.
Gary, thank you very much! :D
Great pics. The last one is really breath-taking. My sister went to Dubai on an educational (she works for a travel agency so they send her on sample holidays for free :evil: ) and she said that it really is a stunning place, but very much the playground of the rich. hehe
Hope you enjoyed yourself. Great shots. The last one is real postcard quality.
Brian
Dubai is the second largest and second wealthiest of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates.Its amazing modern Structure, luxury Hotels and other best fun places encourage Travelers. dubai apartments are very modern structure many Peopel come form arround the world for just take a look of here’s Modern appartment and stay here modern and luxuary hotels.
You’ve a talent in writing in addition to taking good pictures! Very good selling story :D Always wanted to visit the place. Suppose to reflect all the different sides of Dubai,you’d end up with a full album here. I think you’ve done well with these few shots, the last one is a cracker. :)
If you could post your pictures a bit bigger, would be nicer for the viewers.
Congrats on the engagement :)
Great photos and excellent commentary. I definitely want to visit Dubai some day.
And congrats on the engagement.
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