Day 1: What time is it?

The arrivals hall at Dubai Airport was
unchanged since our last trip.
It was still deserted.

It says 13:24 in the computer but it is in fact 06:24. I am confirmed in my view that long-haul flights are vastly over-rated. We had had a very good experience with Emirates last time we flew but this time, I have to say, the cabin crew were not on top of their game. There was a clear lack of leadership. Nonetheless I watched five movies of which I can recall the titles of none and even if I could you would be none the wiser as none were of great filmic quality.

There is not a lot one can say about a flight really. You’re packed in like sardines. People behave the most peculiar and random ways and there is nothing you can do except to go with the flow. Drink lots of water and stay of the booze. But we have arrived at the Hyatt Regency which of course had our booking screwed up (who knows whose fault it is and who cares: it’s all fixed).

There was an ample breakfast selection at the hotel.

We have an expedition lined up today. Robbo, who is in charge of the residence while we are away, has a brother (Neville) in Dubai and he and Georgie have been planning all sorts of exciting things. I will be able to say more, of course, when we have sampled these planned delights.

Later ... 

Neville picked us up at just before 1000. I was of course pretty much sound asleep and had to be dragged kicking and screaming from my bed. We headed off to one of the older parts of Dubai. In some ways there isn’t any old Dubai in the sense that there isn’t really any old stuff still around. Signs of habitation of the area that date back almost 10,000 years have been found and some pre-Islamic ceramics dating from the 3^rd and 4^th centuries CE have been found as well.

Archaeologists recently unearthed a 6th-century AD caravan station at Jumeira, about 10km south of Dubai, indicating that the area's population was still ensuring the trade routes were well used. The Venetian pearl merchant Gaspero Balbi (he of course is well-known to all my readers: hands up anyone who has heard of him) visited the area in 1580 and mentioned Dubai for its pearling industry.

After several struggles between the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British the Brits finally got control of the region’s waterways at the end of the 18^th century. Although Dubai got caught up in all this unrest it managed to turn things to its advantage and develop the pearl trade. Pearls were a big deal for several hundred years until the Japanese discovered how to culture them and then the bottom dropped out of the market. But Dubai is close to Iran and its inhabitants are a commercially capable lot and by the 20^th century it was a pretty important trade location.

During the 20^th century Dubai benefitted from two long reigns by Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum from 1912 to 1958 and then Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed al-Maktoum from 1958 to 1990. These two rulers, perhaps better described as benevolent dictators (if that is not too great an oxymoron for you Gentle Reader) steered Dubai toward becoming the remarkable centre of commerce that it is today.

Enough history: we drove with Neville to the Al Fahidi District of Bur Dubai. Of course you are none the wiser as where exactly this district is but it is pretty much the nearest there is to “old” in Dubai. Neville knew of a coffee museum that is here but of course as is the way of these things it was closed for repairs.

The Al Fahidi District offered us
the prospect of much fossicking.

We found solace in a café-hotel call VXA which seemed to incorporate one or more art galleries. We took refreshment and found that Dubai’s First & Only Vintage Fair was in full swing in no other place than the Al Fahidi District. We set off and wandered around finding a number of interesting artistic establishments. I should like to tell you their names but of course I cannot. One seemed to be a gallery-cum-coffee shop with a school art attached where classes were in full swing. What this meant was that hordes of young people were clustered around a large table upon which reposed a large sheet of canvas or some other such medium. They were entertaining themselves, and possibly learning about art and its place in the post-modern world, by throwing paint at the canvass and each other. I may say that they made learning fun!

(L) The G was impressed by the bougainvillea even though it is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, and (R) the walls of this house (and others we saw) are built in a herringbone fashion out of coral blocks.

We spent a pleasant morning wandering around and visiting philatelic exhibitions, coin exhibitions, an establishment purporting to be dedicated to Dubai’s old architecture (but which in fact was an emporium from which I acquired a shirt and The G a necklace) and a house built by Mohammed Sharif Sultan Al-Ulama, who was a Dubai judge.

Some street scenes from the Al Fahidi District and, on the right, The G peering round a corner.

(L) Students prepare for creative activity and ® the result of such activity.

The shirt and the necklace were not the sun total of our acquisitions. We passed a rug shop and entered. It was run by a Syrian fellow who, when we speculated in conversation that he could not go back said with some determination, "we will be back". The G was impressed by his wares as indeed was I and we invested in a magnificent piece that can be used as a tablecloth. The light cotton weave is spectacular but I failed to take a picture so you will need to wait to see it as Neville is looking after it until we return. The rugs and coverings were very impressive and the enthusiasm and knowledge of our Syrian friend were impressive. Perhaps he is just a good salesman and when we get home we will wonder why we bought something. But I think not.

Black lemons: I'm going to try doing
these bad boys.

A little down the lane there was a spice shop with baskets laden with spices many of which I had never seen, like frankincense (heard of it, of course, but never seen it) and sums of sulphur. This was in addition to spices I do know though I will be trying to dry ginger and turmeric. Most interesting were dried, one should say desiccated, limes and lemons. These looked like large nuts though with a thinner shell. The outer shell (formerly the rind) of most was cracked. They are added whole to biryanis and allow a flavour that has none of the bitterness of the original fruit. I did a little research and found that they are made by boiling ripe limes in salt water, and then sun drying until the insides turn black. The outside color varies from tan to black.

Neville had arranged for us to lunch at the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Cultural Understanding. The objective of this establishment is to educate expatriates in the traditions and customs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The place was fairly full when we arrived (you had to book in advance) and after we had removed our shoes (which is clearly one of the traditions and customs that we were to be educated in) we sat out down expectantly. I say expectantly because a fairly substantial meal was waiting for the assembled throng to eat and enjoy.

A view from the rear balcony of Mohammed Sharif Sultan Al-Ulama's
house: a dhow sails gracefully downstream (or perhaps upstream).

Rashif in full flight: he was really good.

We were entertained by a man called Rashif who had been educated in the US and who was not only very funny but also very thought provoking. His input was driven by questions from the floor which started with a question about why he was wearing a white dish-dasha and why the women all wore black which was really hot and uncomfortable. We were served coffee and dates to start with and then we got stuck into the food which I may say was particularly succulent. The food was of Indian influence which he explained was because of the trade and other links between the region and India. Starting with dates is apparently about lining the stomach before eating: there were little doughnut-like things at the end of the mean that were served with a sweet date sauce .

Our luncheon was laid out on the floor and we all sat,
shoeless, on cushions. It was a very good luncheon.

I had determined that I would visit the Thomas Sabo shop in the Dubai Mall with a view to investing in a skull ring. Neville took us from the Al Fahidi District to the Mall by a route that might best and most charitably be described as scenic. Of course, I hasten to add that I could not have done any better myself and certainly a good deal worse. We found the shop but the rings were not as I had envisaged them from pictures. One was too big, was too small, and one was no use at all … no that’s not true; there were only two types. We wandered outside to look at the large building that had caught fire on New Year’s Eve. It is now covered in hessian and the 3,000 people who lived there (who were all rich nobs) have been kicked out. Neville indicated that the Sheikh was “not amused” and that fire regulations have been tightened up. They do things pretty quick around here, which is this case is not a bad thing.

I find the Burj Khalifa a remarkable sight and
a remarkable feat of civil engineering.

This impressive water feature graces the
Dubai Mall. What's more amazing is that
someone thought of it and persuaded some
committee that it should be built.

By this time I was fading fast. The G seems to be able to keep going without flagging at all but my nine-month’s seniority in age clearly makes a lot of difference. I am now resting at the hotel.