United Arab Emirates by www.born2travel.it

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At the hotel reception, while I was checking in, with my two camouflage backpacks on my shoulders and my shorts cut from a camo uniform, I felt like a Vietnam veteran coming home...

As in the American TV series "Over There", the first thing I did after entering the room was fill the bathtub... a sea of foam and boiling water... I immersed myself slowly while thinking that paradise sometimes existed... I soaked for only twenty minutes but it was enough to recharge me...

Shortly after I was already in a taxi heading to the airport to pick up Nick, arriving from Doha.

[Nick]: "Here I am in Abu Dhabi. It's strange doing a flight alone, arriving in a new city without really knowing how you'll manage to get to your hotel at midnight... luckily Mark was there waiting for me! Tomorrow morning early wake-up and visit to Abu Dhabi; in the evening departure for Dubai. Off to conquer the Middle East again!"

Abu Dhabi (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES) 22.10.09

The grand mosque of the capital. The one the Emiratis had planned to be even bigger than the one in Mecca, sparking protests from the Saudis that led to the scaling down of the majestic original project... We tried to reach it by bus, at the ridiculous price of 20 dirham (20 euro cents) but three quarters of an hour later, noticing that we were still ages from our destination since it stopped every 30 seconds, we hop on a shared taxi and shortly afterwards there we are before this great wonder!

The bus experience surprised me because I didn't imagine there was an entrance reserved for women and one for men and that half the vehicle was meant for them and the other for us... here there's great respect for women since they have priority and reserved seats everywhere...

The "Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan" mosque is truly picturesque... to be able to enter we had to equip ourselves with white tunics and a turban... Inside nothing was left to chance, marble everywhere, finely decorated mosaics...

As we were leaving, a big Mercedes driven by a young Emirati in a spotless white tunic and red turban pulls up to us... he asks if we need a lift... We explain that we were heading to the opposite end of the city and ask how much he wanted to take us there... He laughs and says he wants nothing... We accept.

The kind Ibrahim proves to be a great friend, he not only drives us around for a couple of hours but when we ask to visit the prestigious "Emirates Palace", parking right outside the main hall while a long line of butlers watched us puzzled, he even manages to get us in to take a look. This palace is famous because it's the hotel where all the politicians or Hollywood stars stay... What splendour inside, all in fine marble; there were even Formula One cars on display in a hall... Along some corridors were exhibited antique pieces of Egyptian and Chinese art...

And to think that until the discovery of oil this was a poor desert area inhabited by shepherds and fishermen...

Our lucky day doesn't end: we meet a Somali girl, Sofia, she works there as a hostess and secretly she shows us parts reserved only for hotel guests, a private beach aboard an electric car, one of those used on golf courses...

[Nick]: "As we wander through those enormous hotel spaces I think that it's only by travelling that you have experiences like these... It's hard to understand what drives a guy like Ibrahim to pick up two people he doesn't know along the road, take them to the other side of the city acting as a tour guide and ask nothing in return! Seeing Mark again for a new trip gave me an idea of complicity I had somewhat lost... I, like him, really needed to leave...

To rest a bit we pop into one of the big malls; there almost all the girls wear long black tunics, often showing only their eyes, those curious, inquiring glances fascinated me...

Dubai (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES) 23.10.09

The Abu Dhabi-Dubai trip, though very cheap, by bus, was quite tiring... Almost four hours, roads that even if they had seven lanes were super crowded!

The first impact with this Middle Eastern New York: skyscrapers and concrete everywhere... The Burj Dubai, the tallest in the world with its 700 metres of height and 160 floors...

We decide to spend the evening wandering inside the "Mall of Emirates", said to be the biggest shopping centre in the world, so big that it contains a real ski slope inside!

Dubai so far seems to be a collection of malls, mosques and skyscrapers where the Emiratis, like the Qataris, scratch their bellies from morning to night while all the manual work is done by people from all over Asia!

Dubai (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES) 24.10.09

Morning wandering around the "Deira" district, first visiting an area that the Emiratis tried to keep in its original, ancient state, but in my opinion they didn't succeed.

From there, aboard a "dhow" boat, we crossed the river and reached the souq area. The gold one is characteristic, every window displayed bracelets, rings and necklaces in industrial quantities! We kept well away from classic Dubai, the one of skyscrapers and banks, and ended up in an Arab Bombay! There were only Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis around us!

It was fun to see the Muslims coming out of the mosque... each one collected his pair of flip-flops and, prayer mat rolled under his arm, calmly walked away from the place of prayer!

It's late afternoon when we decide to pop over to the "Burj Al Arab", the legendary seven-star hotel also called "the sails"...

Inside it may well be wonderful, considering that just to visit it you have to book days in advance and the visit costs 50 euros per person! But from the outside it's nothing special. A bit disappointed, we decide it's time to relax! Pool, sauna, gym at our disposal! In the sauna we meet Nelson, a friendly 27-year-old Indian software engineer who works here...

We make plans for the evening... A stroll and then a drink in a pub that reminded me so much of Cartagena: Westerners surrounded by prostitutes (African, Russian, Filipino...)

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