February 10th, 20202020 great time to visit Dubai’s World Expo

IT IS coming up to a great time to visit Dubai with the World Expo looming from October 20 this year and going all the way through until April 10 next year. With the motto being “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” this is shaping up to be an amazing science-bending event.

Last year, on a connection back from Europe, we took a couple of days out, albeit in the humidity and heat of June, to take in some of the sights of this amazing city. We had arranged with a private guide over the internet from Australia for US$250 to meet us in our hotel lobby, so we weren’t exactly sure how things would go.

At precisely 10.30am, as arranged, in swans a vision from Lawrence of Arabia, perfectly groomed, pressed and dressed from head to toe in white flowing wear. This chap’s name was Sammy, our fabulous tour guide. We clambered into his immaculate Range Rover, with fresh bottled water and cool fragranced air pumping around the cabin.

First stop was the spice markets where the atmosphere was thick with fragrance and humidity. The local hawkers had recently been told by the Sheikh, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum not to hassle the tourists, not a man one would want to disobey, so it was a lot gentler experience than the rough and tumble I went to a few years prior at the markets with stallholders pushing, shoving and yelling to try to get my foreign coin.

Although this sightseeing tour took in all the major sights you would expect like the Sheikh’s mostly unguarded residence and Palm Island, it was Sammy’s explanation of what it was like to live in Dubai as an Egyptian national that was the highlight for me. His take on Westerners, his explanation around his religion and the meeting of what turned out to be the love of his life were all up for discussion.

It seems that there is a fair bit of racial pecking order going on in Dubai which starts from the top as an Emirati, who if they marry another Emirati get showered with gifts including a house in an exclusive estate valued at US$15 million, which of course comes with a car and boat as well as a financial gift from the Sheikh. In fact, we even spotted some Emirati royals driving past, no armed guard needed as these guys are protected, they are the ones with only three digits on the number plate.

The pecking order goes lower to include the Egyptians and other United Emirates races with the bottom of the ladder being the labour force which we saw being freighted into worksites in non-airconditioned buses in the searing heat and oppressive humidity with nothing but a bush to sit under for their break in the middle of the 15-hour day. These guys were from India and the Philippines.

In terms of the religion Sammy explains: “Salat is the obligatory Muslim prayers, performed five times each day, in Islam, the direction of prayer has to be towards the city of Mecca.” I asked him how he knew which direction that was. His reply? “Oh, there’s is an app for that.”

Our guide also talked about meeting his wife. “I saw her in a shopping centre and asked for her number and she simply wrote down her father’s number.” It turns out that if she had provided Sammy with her number, she wouldn’t have been the right girl for our Egyptian oracle.

The courting went on for months with chaperones and no touching until their fathers could work out the dowry details.

It seems that on our way around this desert city affectionately known as “Gulf Tiger” everything was on a large scale. They were getting close to finishing the world’s tallest building with an 828-metre reach into the sky along with bigger versions of the London Eye, Eiffel Tower and Little Venice with 20 new hotels in various states of construction which all must be finished by October in time for the World Expo – by order of the Sheikh.

It seems to me that Dubai is getting set up to be a Middle Eastern playground. And if that isn’t enough of a reason to stuff yourself into a tin can hurtling at 1300kph at 12,000 meters through the sky for 15 hours then there’s Elon Musk’s latest offering. A hyperloop moving passengers from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in just 12 minutes instead of the 90 minutes it takes by car now. That’s also opening in October.

In terms of the religion

Sammy explains: “Salat is the

obligatory Muslim prayers,

performed five times each day,

in Islam, the direction of prayer

has to be towards the city of Mecca.”

I asked him how he knew which

direction that was. His reply?

“Oh, there’s is an app for that.”

Link: www.toursbylocals.com

Words & images: Kyle Barnes