Shades on a mannikin in the textile souk.

It’s 11:30PM here in Dubai and the family is asleep after a long day of jet-lagged tourism. Since in a few days I’ll be on the strangest MotoGP schedule of the year (arriving at the Losail circuit in the late afternoon and working until around 3AM) I’m trying to stay up to make those first late nights a bit easier. So I thought I’d write up a few of our adventures to give a little taste of what Dubai looks like to us.

Until a few hours ago, it looked very similar to Doha, Qatar as I’ve experienced it for the last three years. We drove from the airport to our Marriott residence apartment in the dark, spent today in one of the older sections of town, and saw many of the same kinds of things I’m used to in Doha. Then for dinner we took a taxi south and saw a side of Dubai that put an entirely new perspective on Doha.

Off-duty water taxis resting on Dubai Creek

Our hotel is near Dubai Creek, a term largely understated as the waterway is wide and deep as it wanders to the ocean. The original Dubai settlement from centuries ago was on the shore of the ‘creek’ and the old section of town retains some of that ancient feel similar to how the old section of Doha does the same. We took a water taxi from our side of the river to the other, after misreading the sign that the fare was going to add up to 150 Dirhams. As we stepped onto the barnacle barge with the smoky engine, I thought the price was a bit steep for the accommodation, and when the driver looked at the four of us, which includes a 7-yr-old and a 2-yr-old, he said something like “thirty,” or so I thought. But thirty sounded much better than 150, so I handed over a 50 Diram note, only to receive as change 47 Dirams. The fare was 1 each, about 30 cents in US currency. But ever the seasoned traveller, I’d have handed over 150 if he’d asked for it, or paid the 30 and felt like I’d gotten a deal.

Naming your local business to attract English speakers ain't easy.

Once on the other side of the river, E, my first-grader, spied the word Strange on a shop and was wondering what it might be about. She thought she saw candy so we risked out lives to cross a hectic street to investigate. The only strange thing was the name, the folks inside pleasant and friendly as they tended their tidy displays of sweets and nuts. E got to put a handful of candies in a plastic back for weighing, while I got a bag of not very spicy “spicy” cashews. They look spicy, but can’t compete with a palate that has been beaten into submission by habanero abuse.

We then wandered along the river, looking for the museums we’d read about that looked interesting. Along the way I noted down a few of E’s gems. “People think the Egyptians kept iPods in the pyramids but it’s not true.” Looking at large photographs of made-up and stylized models in front of a snazzy spa: “Is it Oprah’s fault that people think they have to look like that to feel beautiful?” Earlier that day, while writing in her journal (assigned by her teacher because E’s missing a week of class) she got frustrated writing the date for some reason and declared “4 sucks!” The other numerals are ok, apparently, but 4, not good.

It's polite to say Please.

We visited several museums related to olden times in this region, saw some ancient coins, muskets, those curved knives etc., as well as a photograph of a swarm of locusts moving through Dubai in 1953 that made it clear swarms of locusts are to be avoided if possible. We ate a pleasant lunch on the river, and enjoyed E’s reaction when her grilled tiger prawns arrived in tact and I had to extract the edible parts and remove the fins, heads, eyes, antennae etc to another plate. After lunch we hit the Dubai Museum, which features an underground area of life-sized dioramas depicting traditional Emirati life as it was before the oil industry arrived. As I only carry my point and shoot camera when with the family, I regret that the few photos I attempted in that underground and very dark area didn’t make it out of there alive.

Magic carpet not included.

The textile souk was yet another area that dwarfs Doha, which has all of its departments crammed into a single Old Souk Waqif. Dubai has its specially souks spread over the city. The wife got some “genie” shoes that she’s very excited about, though she decided against the style shown here with the turned up toes.

We returned to the hotel to rest a bit before heading south to meet the son of a friend back home who has been here for a month working for an ad agency. As we drove away from the old section and toward the tallest building in the world, my perspective on Doha began to change. So far I’d seen more similarities than difference when comparing Doha with Dubai. But as we drove and drove, the first big difference I noted was the size of Dubai. It’s enormous compared to Doha. And while I’d formed the opinion years ago that Doha was trying to be just like Dubai as it works around the clock to construct its shiny buildings and condos, I had no idea how off the mark Doha is, and not just for the dramatic size difference. Doha could strive to be a miniature Dubai, but that’s it. There just isn’t enough of it to match up to how Dubai sprawls across the coast line.

George Jefferson would've loved this one.

And there is the Burj Kalifa building. This P&S snap just doesn’t convey the feeling of standing beneath it, looking up as it goes and goes and goes. It’s so tall it took my breath away from its very size. It’s surrounded by sophisticated buildings of daring architecture that are certainly reminiscent of Doha, though the latter seems to be buying even more daring styles to make up for the lack of breadth. But Doha cant come close to Dubai’s Las Vegas-level of shine. The Burj Kalifa looms over a mall made up to look like an old-style souk, sort of, but it’s really a shopping center for the wealthy with most if not all of the world’s top luxury brands.

What happens in Dubai stays in Dubai.

And in VERY Vegas style, the large pond in the middle contains the world’s largest animated water fountain system, which presents highly choreographed water shows to music every half hour. My little camera couldn’t go wide enough to get the water and the top of the building in the same frame. The streams of water happen to be shooting straight up in this frame, but most of the heads are movable and controlled by computer to creates shapes and effects in time to the music. It’s pretty cool, actually, and the effect of standing on the promenade beneath this enormous shiny sky scraper as the water dances to the music made me realize how far Doha has to go if it is earnestly trying to compete with Dubai in the opulence department.

In other departments Doha is doing better, though, or was last time I was there. For example, I’ve never felt the slightest threat while out in public in Doha, even if carrying expensive camera gear around at 2AM. But last night as I walked out take-out Thai food back to the hotel, a couple of dodgy types tried to get my attention, and I saw 5 or 6 working girls on the clock, something I’ve never noticed in Doha. Dubai still feels quite safe over all, nowhere near the experience I had in Barcelona. But I think Doha’s smaller size helps the local authorities maintain a strict No Shenanigans policy.

I’ve mentioned before that many in the MotoGP paddock dislike the Qatar round, largely for the absence of the party atmosphere present at the Eoropean rounds. If Dubai were to build a track and claim the MotoGP event, I think that attitude would change dramatically. Dubai is, in many ways, a world apart from Qatar in spite of its many similarities.