Dubai November 2009

My Dubai trip was short and fun. I left Iran airport while weather was about 0 degree/32F cold but in Dubai it was +38C/100F. I truly loved it.

Dubai is a highly modern and cosmopolitan place. You can hardly meet local Arabs there... Workers contain a big deal of Chinese, Philipinas,Pakis and Indians. Westerns are usually the tourists or having office jobs. At night buss tour the guide said Persians were the first foreigners who went to Dubai and invested there but considering UAE fast progress it really doesn't matter now. I noticed many of architectural elements such as "wind-makers" are taken from Persian architecture but they don't mention the reference.... Persian gulf in their map is written as Arabic gulf. In Dubai camel dolls as a national sign are selling well to tourists. I thought of Persian cats and wondered nobody knows they are national symbols of Iran. At the moment the fact is ... Dubai was a desert 40 years ago and Iran is totally destroyed now.

Dubai is very expensive. A dinner can cost too much more than average price in US and taxi expense is not comparable with Iran. The Aquarium part which is the biggest in the world and desert tour that ended with belly dancing and a Lebanese dinner were exotic and nice.

Dubai has no culture and when there is no history you just can go straight forward and make things more modernize and build more buildings and shopping malls!
For me it was a place you could enjoy and have fun for 7~10 days... Of course if you are a swimming or shopping maniac person you would enjoy it more but if you are as primitive as me who enjoy art and theater and history and museums more than beaches, you might get bored soon! I think best part of this trip was a few days relaxing with my lovely boyfriend far from phone calls and work and annoying people. We are probably going to have a tour in neighbour countries of Iran and we thought of Turkey. That's more historical and we will meet more locals and less Chinese and Pakis there!