Shopping and More Dubai

Hugh & Colleen Gantzer explore beyond the 'shop till u drop' culture of Dubai

Five thousand years ago Dubai was on the trade route between Mesopotamia and our Indus Valley civilisation. We believe that traders and travellers in pursuit of commerce evolved into tourists. And tourists, encouraged by the no-tax regime, became shoppers. Shopping, in turn boosted trade thus setting the next loop of the spiral in motion, encouraging air connectivity. Today 120 airlines connect Dubai with 132 destinations worldwide and they, too, have been caught up in the vortex of commercial growth.

To find out more about the Dubai phenomena we chose their flag carrier, Emirates. It was a good choice. We were cosseted from the time we checked in at their counter in Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). They had a very efficient hostess overseeing the counters and she ironed out all the knots and glitches that the two over-laden passengers ahead of us created. Such ground-level efficiency probably accounts for the fact that their First and Business Class seemed to be more over-booked than their Economy. We didn’t, however, get that impression in their counter in Dubai, on the way back a week later. Perhaps our Indian fellow travellers, with their pseudo-Yankee accents, had flown on to colder climes.

Emirates’ Business Class lounges in both the IGIA and Dubai were excellent though their Dubai one was much, much bigger. A word of advice: If you are catching the early morning flight back, snack lightly in the lounge in Dubai or else you won’t be able to do justice to their in-flight breakfast. We don’t, personally, appreciate the Indian cuisine offered by airlines for lunch and dinner because they tend to lie heavily under our safety-belts. But since our fellow citizens seem to suffer from withdrawal symptoms unless they can gorge on ‘desi khana’, we will let that pass.

Both flights were relaxing: comfortable seats, plenty of leg-room, reading lights mounted at the back of the seats, individual TV screens with a wide choice of programmes. And the in-flight service was very caring, even though two of the passengers and one of their kids should have been made to fly Baggage Class.

Immigration in Dubai was quick, but the walk to the baggage retrieval seemed to take us through corridors ‘measureless to man’. Happily, for senior citizens, very junior citizens and mothers carrying citizens to be, the airport’s authority provides chauffeured electric buggies. Their luggage trolleys are excellent and we wheeled ours up to the Taj Dubai’s limousine waiting to transfer us.

The Taj is a gem of a hotel, not small by any means because it even has its own apartment wing, but a gem nevertheless. Its lobby is spacious, its bubble lift gives soaring views of Dubai, its rooms are the largest in town with their own balconies, its breakfast buffet is scrumptious rivalled only by its Friday Brunch, its restaurants well worth visiting with its Indian Handi presided over by chef Mohd. Rashid Qureshi, who is a nephew of the man who made Dum Puktha a gourmet cuisine. And its staff and junior and middle level management are warm and quick to respond to their guests needs.

In such an environment, senior management seem to be as redundant as fifth wheels: We never met any of them! Most importantly, the Taj is in the heart of town and just ten minutes drive from the airport. When we had finished our two 500 ml of drinking water, generously supplied by the management on check in only, it was a pleasant evening’s stroll down to Al Maya Lal’s department store where we bought still mineral water at one Dhiram a litre.

Dubai is a crisp, clean, 21st century town of glittering high-rises, with disciplined traffic and law abiding people: expat trouble makers are sent home, there is a zero-tolerance for driving after drinking and an international travel magazine rated it as the safest city in the world. We did hear some Arabic spoken in the streets, the stand-alone shops, and the enormous shopping malls like the City Centre. But far more frequently the languages were English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Gujarati.

By our sub-continential Indian standards, every place is close to every other place in Dubai. The entire Emirate is a little smaller than the district of Meerut and even that is a deceptive description because much of it is desert and the entire town is massed around Dubai creek. On their fabulous, illuminated, roads even the most distant destination wasn’t more than an hour’s drive away.

The icon of Dubai is the Burj Al Arab: a towering hotel pointing like a finger into the sky. If you want to visit its palatial ground floor, because visitors can’t go any further, you will have to pass through a security check, pay a fee and agree not to take any photographs. The interiors resemble an amalgam of Goldfinger’s lair and a Pharaonic tomb: the ultimate expression of glamorous glitz. More to our taste were the public beaches: very clean because Dubai’s water is distilled from their seas, but filled with Caucasian and East European bodies marinating gently in the sun and sun-tan oil.

The largely subterranean Dubai Museum, in the old Al Fahidi Fort, is an interactive journey through the history of Dubai and into the nomadic lives of the Bedouin. Well worth visiting. We also enjoyed our stroll through the old area of Dubai around the Bastakiya wind-tower and its courtyard houses, very much like those in Rajasthan and Gujarat. And then, inevitably, to the famed Gold Souk and the Spice Souk.

A souk is, essentially, a covered market where traders sit in open-fronted shops. But if the gold souk ever had that character, it’s lost it now. All the shops are protected by plate-glass windows and doors with the occasional police prowl car parked on the pavement. It is still, however, one of the largest retail gold markets in the world and every shop glitters with a king’s ransom of the fabulous yellow metal. Most of the shop assistants are.... naturally, naturally.... from our sub-continent.

The Spice Souk has a far more romantic look, and aroma. Here, all sorts of familiar and unfamiliar spices are displayed in open sacks, along with flower petals, slabs of incense, which look rather like pink and black rock salt, and pumice-stone capable of abrading the roughest skin into satin smoothness: or so one of the few English-speaking traders assured us.

Away from the souks we spent an afternoon enjoying the vicarious delight of kids in the Wonderland amusement park: carousels, dodgem cars, go carts, freefall, sluice rides, trampolines, the works. We had our own adult version of adrenaline kicks when we went on a Desert Safari, dune bashing in a land- cruiser. Driving up and down 30 meter high pyramids of sand is a stimulating way to tempt fate.

On a more relaxed note we had wanted a dhow cruise but our contact person felt that may be too rugged for us, even though it was an air conditioned dhow, and so he booked us on luxury dinner cruise on the Danat Dubai. Great if you want to impress someone but we are not on that trip. We also had lunch on the deck of the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club while gulls swooped and mewed for morsels. Their grounds are being re-designed so there won’t be any golf for a year or so, but you can hire their sports fishing boat and try hooking a prize catch of marlin, sail-fish or barracuda.

We went on to the impressive grounds of the Emirates Golf Club where Tiger Woods will be showing his form from the 4th to the 7th of March in the Desert Classic. Dedicated golfers were polishing up their drives, while others were putting on the practice green. The Desert Classic will be played on the highly rated Majlis Course of the Club. Some professionals believe that Dubai is the best venue for golf tournaments anywhere in the world.

The often heard argument in India that golf courses degrade the environment has been given the lie by Dubai. All its golf courses, parks, gardens, roadside planting and farms are, apparently, fed by drip irrigation supplied by purified and recycled waste and sewage water. Natural underground water occurs in the Hajjar mountains where we visited the eco-friendly Hatta Resort, ideal for a week-end getaway. Visitors who drop in for lunch can also cool off in the swimming pool to make a day of it.

We were also, delighted with the food and service in the oddly named Automatic restaurant. This was one of a chain of restaurants that specialise in Lebanese food which, we understand, is the most sophisticated version of Arabic food. It features great helpings of fresh, crisp, salads, breads like our naans, a large variety of sauces and appetisers and a vast selection of grills including, naturally, a mouth watering array of kebabs.

Equally naturally, we visited the shopping malls. They are enormous and are stocked both generously and imaginatively. In their music shops we discovered recording that we had not been able to find in any other country during our travels. And we saw tourists from India shopping enthusiastically in all these havens of merchandise. Here was a vindication of our belief: trade expands into tourism and tourism enhances trade. The Government of Dubai became aware of the value of tourism when its expats began to find ways to entertain themselves in the Emirates. And now Dubai’s widely advertised Festivals serve both the commercial and tourism ambitions of Dubai.

These ambitions are formidable. This modern emirate wants to be become the trade and tourism hub of the world. And while its on its way to that position, it gives every visitor a very good reason to choose Dubai.

Accommodation

There is a wide choice with most international hotel chains having properties in Dubai. Here are two hotels:

Taj Palace Hotel, PO. Box 42211, Dubai, Tel: 232222; Fax: 2278222. Email: tajdubai@emirates.net.ae; 159 rooms including suites plus 90 apartments.

Hatta Fort Hotel, P.O. Box 9277, Dubai, Tel: 9714 852 3211; Fax: 9714 852 3561. Email: HFH@jaihotels.com; 50 spacious rooms, including suites in Chalet style

Contact info

To know anything about Dubai, you can contact:

Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Dubai:

India address: 51 Bajaj Bhavan,
5th floor, Nariman Point,
Mumbai 400 021.
Tel: 22833497/ 2284 1849
email: dtem-in@dubaitourism.ae.

Dubai address: P.O. Box 594, Dubai, UAE. Tel: (9714) 2230000; Fax: (9714) 2230022;
Website: http://dubaitourism.ae

Fact File

Climate: Summer is hot, rising to a maximum of 41 degree C in July. From December to February it is approximately 14 degree C minimum to 26 degrees C maximum, getting chilly during the night. Rainfall is about 13 cms and this is generally in winter.

Language: Arabic is the official language but English is widely spoken and understood. Indians will, however, feel almost at home hearing Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Tamil and Telugu being spoken.

Transport: Metered cabs from Dubai Transport Corporation start at Dhs 3 flag down (Dhs 3.50 from 10 pm to 6 am) followed by Dhs 1.17 per km. Hire of a taxi for 12 hours is around Dhs. 500. Pick up from the airport is Dhs 20 and goes by 1.17 per km.

Car Rentals: Thrifty Car Rental, Arenco Bldg., Zabeel Road, P O Box 2622, Dubai, Tel: 04 3370743, 3349799; Central reservations - Toll free: 8004694; Email: thrifty@emirates.net.ae has a wide variety of vehicles, either self drive or chauffeur driven.

Working Hours: The weekend in Dubai is Thursday and Friday. Banks - 8 am to 1 pm - Closed on Fridays; Government Offices - 7 am to 2 pm, closed on Thursdays and Fridays; shops - 9 am to 1 pm and 4.30 pm to 10 pm, Saturday to Thursdays and after 4 pm on Fridays. Malls are open 10 am to 10 pm.

Tipping - There is usually a service charge of 15 % is included in the bill. If not, 10 % is usual. For bellboys, Dhs. 5 to Dhs. 10 depending on baggage.

Fact File

Telephones: Overseas calls are cheaper between 9 pm and 7 am on Fridays and public holidays.

Currency and Credit Cards: Dirhams (Dhs) 1 Dh. is divided into 100 fils. Notes are available in denomination of Dhs. 5, Dhs.10, Dhs.20, Dhs.50 Dhs.100, Dhs200, Dhs.500 and Dhs. 1000. The exchange rate is Dhs. 3.65 to US $ 1. American Express, Diners Club, Visa and Master Card are generally accepted in banks, travel agencies, hotels and big shops.

Tours: SNTTA Emir Tours, P.O Box 8859, Dubai. Tel: 971 4286 5758; Fax: 971 4286 5859. Email: sntta@emirates.net.ae; run various tours including a desert safari with dune bashing, dinner in a desert camp and entertainment by a belly dancer.

Cruises: Danat Dubai Cruises, P.O Box 12940, Dubai. Tel: 971 0 435 11117. Fax: 971 0 435 11116; offer various cruises on a dhow and a catamaran, some with dinner.

Setting Base In Dubai

1. There are no corporate or income taxes

2. There are no foreign exchange controls or trade barriers

3. There are competitive import duties (4 per cent with many exemptions); competitive labour costs; competitive energy costs; competitive real estate costs.

4. In the free Trade Zones of Jebel Ali, Airport, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and the Mohammed bin Rashid Technology Park the following additional benefits are offered-100 per cent foreign ownership and control; renewable guarantee of no taxation; no customs duties; flexible investment options; efficient transport and distribution facilities; full administrative and recruitment support; abundant inexpensive energy supply.

5. Requirements for setting up a Free Zone establishment, which will be registered and regulated by the Free Zone authorities are:

a) Must have capital of least Dhs 1 million and liability limited to amount of paid-up capital. It need have only a single shareholder.

b) A completed application form to be submitted and a decision will be granted in 30 days. If permission granted, details will be entered in the FZE Register and a Certificate of Formation issued.

6. In 2002 the government introduced freehold ownership for expatriates in certain select property developments like the Palm Jumeirah and the Palm Jebel Ali. These are massive man made islands in the shape of a palm tree. They are expected to house at least 3,000 homes and about 40 hotels on each island. 25 year mortgage loans are now available. There are also some other developments.