This post could also have been called “Tallest, Fastest, Biggest…” – a theme here in the UAE, at least in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But let’s back up for a minute and give it some context of place and time.

The United Arab Emirates was not even a country until 1971 when the Emir of Abu Dhabi convinced his tribal neighbors that they would be stronger together, and then it took another 20 years or so for any kind of coordinated development to really begin. There are seven emirates – that you might think of as city-states:  Abu Dhabi (the capital, and that with the most wealth); Ajman; Dubai; Fujairah; Ras Al Khaimah; Sharjah; and Umm Al Quwain. The Emir [king] of each sits on a Supreme Council governing the UAE. They control most of an ancient and strategically important peninsula of sandy dry land between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. And given the oil and gas reserves, it’s an unbelievably vast amount of wealth and power concentrated among very few.

While this part of the world has evidence of humans dating back 125,000 years (!!), oil and gas discoveries are recent in historical terms, having not occurred here until the late 1950’s and 1960’s. A country is formed and comes into its own in the 1990’s. That timeline catapults us to a very modern experience in traveling to Dubai! Let’s just say we didn’t ride camels through the desert for weeks on end, but rather took a 15 hr flight from SFO. Normally I’d spare you blog readers the journey, but it was pretty spectacular and is a window into what can happen with tons of money and government-sponsored enterprise that wants to show the world its prowess and luxury. We splurged piles of miles to get first class seats on Emirates Airlines, and it didn’t disappoint:

Not only did we board the plane directly from the lounge (god forbid you should have to go back into the airport chaos of information monitors and lines of people), we were personally escorted to our suites that, yes, have doors for privacy. Champagne and caviar and pretty much whatever you’d like to eat or drink, whenever you want. We settled in, made friends with the flight attendants, and after getting to altitude, went to the onboard lounge where a bartender is making cocktails. As if all this luxury isn’t enough, there is a “shower spa” that is larger than many apartment bathrooms! Indeed, I took a shower at 39,000 feet before landing in Dubai. A once-in-a-lifetime flying experience.

After battling the first night of brutal jet lag (11 time zones crossed to get here), the sun pushed its way through the horizon made hazy by the humidity, and we got going. We booked a ½-day tour around Dubai for our first day, and were picked up that morning by Major, a kind and low-key guide who was perfect for a city orientation. While there was an occasional language barrier (Hindi being his first language), he shared many tidbits about the city. He advised about bargaining, and was always there to snap a pic like the one at the Dubai Frame. The Frame is a soaring artistic symbol of progress, truly framing “new Dubai” when looked through from the vantage point of old Dubai. 

Wait a sec – Hindi is the guide’s first language? Not Arabic? One of the unexpected things about the UAE: it is a country of immigrants. Fully 80% of the 10 million or so who call this home are expats, the majority of whom come from India and Pakistan. Looking around at the people on the streets, in restaurants, in malls, and those just going about their daily lives, it is incredibly diverse. 

We visited the souks (markets…gold, spices, general goods, lots of touristy stuff) in old Dubai, which required some fortitude to fend off the aggressive shop keepers who insisted we “come look, no need to buy”..one after the other and another. We cruised all around this city of soaring skyscrapers, massive housing developments, luxury hotel resorts, and royal palaces. There is so much construction everywhere, it’s unbelievable, and for better or worse, the architectural style is all over the place – at times beautiful and at times just…awful.

Later that evening, we made our way to the Dubai Mall and the amazing fountains that provide a wondrous spectacle. Against a blasting musical backdrop, the water dances across the night sky like a perfectly choreographed ballet, punctuated by a light show that climbs the incredible heights of the Burj Khalifa. It is quite the scene, and seems to say to the West “you may have the Bellagio in Vegas and the Freedom Tower in NY, but look what we can do…”

After a tasty meal of Arabic delights enjoyed lakeside to the fountain, we made our way to the towering – an understatement – Burj Khalifa. We bought tickets ahead of time, opting for the VIP “at the top” adventure, not really knowing what to expect, just that it would take us as high as you can go – to the 148^th (gulp) floor in an elevator that flies at 10 meters per second. We arrived at the crowded maze of people in line at the building’s entry, asked if we were in the right line, and were quickly whisked away to a private windowless room to wait, thankful we had bought the upgrade. When there were maybe a dozen of us, we were escorted through a series of doors and hallways and past more lines with people wondering why we got to go ahead of them, finally getting to an elevator. 

Expecting an unsettling rush of g-forces as we ascended, we got quite the opposite. The only indication that we were going anywhere was the rapid fire change in the floor indicator…5 became 12 became 37 became 56…72…94…113…129…136…and we stopped at 148. A true feat of engineering that you could not feel the elevator moving at all as it brought us up so high so quickly. The view is unbelievably spectacular, especially from the outdoor viewing deck, on which you can feel the building sway a bit in the warm night air. The whole structure is over ½ mile high, and designed to move at the top about nine feet! It is a marvel and a wonder of architecture and engineering, and currently the tallest building in the world.

As the sun rose the next morning to begin its daily torment of heat and humidity, we were greeted by Zeeshan, our guide for the day-trip to Abu Dhabi. He had already picked up two guests from another hotel, and we joined them in the minivan to begin our journey – just the four of us – me, Bobb, Pritti, and Morit. They were absolutely charming and friendly; we got lucky in sharing this adventure with them. Zeeshan was great, and began with some basics about the UAE, first quizzing us about whether we could name all seven Emirates (we couldn’t, and still can’t). As we drove the perfect-condition seven lane highway, he told us about a new high speed rail being constructed between Dubai and Abu Dhabi that will make the trip in 12 minutes (the car takes over an hour). It will be the fastest rail in the world, of course. He pointed out the massive natural-gas power plants, how the road surface changes color when you enter Abu Dhabi (from grey to brown), and the desalination plants. 100% of the fresh water comes from desalination; there is no fresh water to be found in the area.

We trundled alongside the nondescript desert scenery, Zeeshan falling quiet as the four of us chatted about life and work and travels. It wasn’t long before we came to the highlight of the day, the Sheikh Zayed mosque.

It was absolutely wondrous…white marble, gold,, gleaming, finely inlaid with intricate stone flowers, and spiritual at the same time it is earthly. The whole complex is on a scale that pictures don’t capture: 100,000 people can pray here at the same time. 83 domes…8- and 12-ton crystal chandeliers…the largest single-weave of carpet in the world that 1,200 people spent two years hand-tying. The building and the grounds took ten years to complete. It is pure and peaceful, and a reminder of the tenets of Islam that are so far from the terrorist story told by the media. The long hallway from the parking to the mosque is adorned with words like compassion, community, tolerance, responsibility, volunteering, flowers, lovingness, and more. It is moments like this in a house of worship that we are reminded religion itself is not to be feared, it is a minority’s interpretation and zealotry – amongst all religions – that cause so much strife around the world.

After the mosque, we rambled around other parts of Abu Dhabi, which is a bit greener than Dubai (wealthier means more water?). Again, that theme of bigger, taller, better comes through at places like the Emirates Palace Hotel which cost $3B to build; the Etihad Towers; and Royal Palace Row (my term) that is a couple miles of giant mansions behind high-walled protective security in which members of the extended royal family live. Surrounding all this is more and more development in varying stages of construction, mostly on landfill that will eventually become islands wrapped in man-made canals and lakes. We couldn’t help but wonder for whom? “If we build it, they will come” is the mantra that keeps coming back into the conversation.

Auto racing is a big thing here, and thus they have Ferrari World. Essentially an indoor amusement park complete with three different roller coasters and Ferraris to drive, it is, of course, attached to a giant mall. We agreed on a few hours to explore the place, first finding our way to the fastest roller coaster on the planet. Lunch would definitely be after the roller coaster! Our timing was great, as the lines were short, and we were soon whisked – no, thrown – to top speed of 145 miles an hour, plastic goggles protecting our eyes from the wind and hands clinging to the restraint surrounding our waists. Bobb and I were both a little wobbly afterwards, my frizzy blown hair and frayed eyebrows evidence of what we had just gone through. We needed to sit down…

A bit of lunch, a bit more Ferrari World, a bit of the mall, a bit of gelato, and we’re ready for the drive back to Dubai. Arriving at our hotel, we bid farewell to our new friends, and collapsed after a long day.

Our last day in Dubai was intentionally one of leisure. The Dubai Aquarium (which is at the Dubai Mall – are you sensing a theme here?) was our first stop. Some cool and unusual fish, a really old enormous alligator, and a creatures-of-the-night section (not aquatic for some reason) lined a meandering path through the place. The whole thing was capped by a glass-bottom boat tour that was super hokey as it made a small trip around the top of the shark and ray tank. For five minutes, if that. Did I mention the Aquarium gift shop that dumps you right back into the mall? 😄

It’s hard to convey the scale of the largest mall in the world, but check this out:

That is not a map of a city. It is but one floor of six in this mall! Some cool tech on the interactive map will plot a course of escalators and storefronts from  “you are here” to wherever you touch on the map. Unlike the malls in the US, there was nary an empty shop space, and where there was one, it was under construction. This just has to be government subsidized in some way…

We were absolutely done with malls, but intrigued by signage pointing to “the waterfall.” We made our way there and were pleasantly surprised by three beautiful walls of divers plunging to pools of water that gathered at the bottom of water streaming down from three stories above. It’s wonderful to see that in the midst of all this hyper-consumerism, there is time for art.

The daytime mall wandering turned into evening before long. The city comes to life at night, as the day holds too much sun and heat for us mere mortals to tolerate for long. It is then, under the blanket of nighttime stars, seeing the crowds of colorful faces from around the world, that it becomes clear the Emiraties are realizing their vision: “we have built the tallest, fastest, biggest…and they are coming.”

Salaam.