Our flight to Kuala Lumpur had a layover in Dubai, UAE much longer than we originally thought. Susan and I cleared customs and hopped in a cab to get driven around the city. The taxi driver let me use his cell phone to call a colleague of mine, Zahid with whom I met when I was in the Exchange Ranger Program. After stopping at the Burj Al-Arab Hotel, Zahid called us back and we met up for a short meal and more touring of the city.

A few thoughts on Dubai: Entering the city, it felt like Las Vegas with the lights. It is extremely clean and new. There is virtually no crime. There is a lot of money. There were a lot of US chain restaurants (Chili’s, Applebees, TGI Fridays, Tony Romas, etc.). They like to do things BIG! For example, a 300 story building is currently under construction and the height recently past the Empire State Building. The people were very friendly. The heat and humidity at 11:00PM was VERY HIGH! My camera lens and Susan’s glasses fogged up within seconds of exiting the car. It was interesting that anything goes from mini-skirts to middle-eastern dress. Dubai City is essentially being built from the desert floor up and is currently a work in progress. We would love to visit in the cooler months, during the day, and perhaps in a few years to see what the development looks like.

Check out some additional pictures

Thanks Zahid for meeting up with us, driving us around and telling us about the city, and the meal!

-Allen

This entry was posted on Friday, June 15th, 2007 at 6:04 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.