DUBAI - JEWEL IN THE DESERT

An oasis of colour and light, jewels sprouting from the middle of nowhere. Site Editor BRIAN CANTY gets dazzled by the beauty of Dubai...

First Sight

The plane banked hard to the right as it started its descent. I pressed my face hard against the elliptical pane of my window seat, as I peered beneath the wing. I couldn’t see much except for an ocean of sable desert, seemingly darker than the sky.

After a few minutes I began to notice a scattering of lights, tiny little pin pricks in the liquid sheet of black. When suddenly, a bright glow erupted, first formless, then mushroom-shaped. In a moment, the city became visible, the brilliant bright lights of downtown feeding into a long radiant strip, flanked by mammoth hotels, mega structures, and stunning wealth. Such an assault on my vision forced me to blink and wonder had I arrived in Las Vegas.

 I found it almost impossible to believe as I leafed through the glossy in-flight magazine that less than half a century ago, this was once a sleepy, sun-scorched village occupied by pearl divers, fishermen, and traders who worked 16 hour days for a pittance. But in the meantime they found oil and what was once a drowsy fishing village is now a tax-free business haven and world capital of glittering excess.

All that Glitters is Probably Gold

Dubai, it must be said, is like no other place on Earth. This is the world capital of living large; the air practically crackles with a volatile mix of excess and opportunity. It's the kind of place where tennis stars Andre Agassi and Roger Federer play an exhibition match on the rooftop helipad of the opulent Burj al Arab megahotel; where diamond-encrusted cell phones do a brisk business at $10,000 apiece; where millions of people a year fly in just to go shopping. In fact, Dubai now attracts more tourists every year than the whole of India, more shipping vessels than Singapore, and more foreign capital than many European countries.

Dubai is already home to the world’s only seven-star hotel, the spinnaker shaped Burj Al-Arab, famous for its $5,000 per-night rooms with 100-mile views and an exclusive clientele of Arab royalty, English rock stars and Russian billionaires, as well as an underwater restaurant where guests are taken to via submarine. Other plans afoot in Dubai are Dubailand, a Disneyworld-style theme park which, with its 45 separate “worlds”, will be bigger than Dubai itself. The world’s biggest shopping mall is also under construction, as is the world’s tallest building, and everyone is very excited about the soon-to-be-built world’s biggest indoor ski slope. Notice a pattern emerging?

 Activities

Despite the impossible-to-avoid wealth of the place, Dubai does have an array of activities to offer the most intrepid traveller. If you are in need of a place to escape the rigours and vigour’s of everyday life, Dubai is for you. If you have just tied the knot and sealed the deal, Dubai is for you. Or even if you are just a keen traveller, like myself, Dubai certainly wont disappoint.

The second largest of the seven emirates that comprise the UAE is a destination which aims to cater for everyone so it is, of course, possible to have an authentic desert experience without the weighty price tag. Tour company ‘Arabian Adventures’ offer a dune safari experience complete with camel trek, sand-boarding, and dinner under the stars. For just €50 it is probably the best value you’ll find, given it’s a full days entertainment, and all transport as well as meals are included in that.