Doing Dubai For The First Time — Carry On, from Amanda Kellner Klein

A recent Editor's Letter in Conde Nast Traveler closed with a quotation from an article within the edition: "This is why I travel: to demythologize fear of the unknown."

It is also, in part, why I travel: to feel closer to people who are surface-level different from myself and to improve my cultural understanding to the point of relating to others around the world. Traveling from New York to the American South or to far flung continents, I am acutely aware of the challenge of putting my innate biases on hold long enough to engage as deeply as possible in the society I'm experiencing.

It may be that I have not faced so obvious a challenge as my most recent trip to the Middle East. Usually, in South America or parts of Europe, I can hold tight to my knowledge of the Romance Languages and having been, at least generally, to those areas before. This provides a level of comfort that I didn't entirely appreciate until English words were accompanied by intricate Arabic script and temperatures in March rose above 100 degrees. The United Arab Emirates, even with all of its urban similarities to the likes of New York, was very much a new world for me.

The Flight

I can't rave enough about Emirates Airlines. Yes, the check in process was somewhat tumultuous (after waiting on a very long line we learned that a backpack counts as a carry on and not a personal item) and the size of the flight was intimidating (an Airbus 380 carries about 850 passengers on two levels). But once we boarded and were settled in our seats, it didn't take long to realize that Emirates economy class is comparable to business class on Delta. Food quality, seat space, entertainment system, and frequent hot towels delivered by expert flight attendants made this clear.

Initially the idea of flying to Dubai sounded prohibitively expensive. Although we had a free place to stay, thanks to the family of the friend we were traveling with, I was unsure of how to reconcile paying over a thousand dollars for a flight when traveling to Latin America or Europe would be significantly less. What I didn't know was that Emirates has great deals.

Over Black Friday weekend we were tracking flights for this trip when Emirates sent a deal via email: round trip tickets, non-stop, for $700 each. We jumped on the opportunity and with the additional expense of reserving seats the total came out to around $750. I have also heard that Emirates does two-for-one deals on certain holidays. Generally I have no problem flying no-frills airlines like Norwegian for a few hours long flight but when faced with 13-14 hours on a place, it was comforting, and to a degree, luxurious, to fly Emirates.

The City

Dubai boasts many of the "largest X in the world" with the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, being the most prominent of all of the largest things. Coming from New York where I am hard pressed to be wowed by skyscrapers, I admit to being impressed by the Burj. It really is massive and so often as we were around town in Dubai, we could spot the top levels of the building peaking out over the skyline.

As we circled the building and the Dubai Fountain at its base (of course, the biggest fountain in the world, a larger version of the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas and designed by the same company) we were surrounded by travelers from all over the world; from within the UAE and elsewhere.

Dubai, in this way, is a conundrum. Female travelers in strapless summer dresses waited for the fountain show alongside women donning burkas. This juxtaposition of female apparel mirrors the incongruity innate in the amalgamation of western culture with the laws of Islam that make Dubai so unique.

The Culture

A question I was often asked before leaving for this trip was, is it safe? The short answer is yes, it is safe. The complicated answer revolves around a legal system derived from Sharia law in which consequences for committing crimes are so severe that it is simply not done. The clearest example I have of this from my trip was when we were enjoying a drink at Long Bar (the longest bar in the world) and the man sitting next to us left his wallet and cell phone sitting on the bar, unprotected, while he went to the restroom. We were shocked but this is the way of life in Dubai.

One of the most tangible differences I felt being in Dubai versus a western city like New York was the lack of PDA among couples, to the degree that holding hands is considered taboo. The inability to hold hands felt uncomfortable but necessary out of respect for the local rules.

It wasn't until our first metro trip to the Dubai Mall that I experienced an intentional separation of men and women. The Dubai Mall (the largest mall in the world) is thriving thanks to a very wealthy local patronage and the fact that, with drinking alcohol being illegal, the men and women of Dubai often spend their weekend nights shopping. We entered a metro car and I was pleasantly surprised when the men crammed into the car parted to form a path for us to enter. I soon realized that the path was for us to find a place in the Women and Children Only car.

A pink line on the floor of the car separates the spacious Women Only car from the crowded side where men compete for space. Signs in Arabic and English explain the 100 AED (27 USD) fine for men who are on this side of the train. The most disoriented I felt in Dubai was on this metro car. The idea that women should be separated for their own benefit, and that we should be more comfortable this way, while our boyfriends waited it out just a few feet away with the masses of men, was, for lack of a better word, foreign. To my own surprise, I grew to love having the Women Only car, a place where I didn't have to fight for a seat and could enjoy some personal space in public setting. The complexity of this situation, though, doesn't escape me.

Inevitably, each time we rode the metro, there would be a lone western man seemingly lost in the women's car until a local woman would point to the sign for the fine and he would get the point. This particular separation was accepted as normal and, incidentally, became so for us.

The view looking up on Sheikh Zayed Road

The rooftop bar at the Four Points by Sheraton Sheikh Zayed Road

Dubai is not a walking city. From the bar at the top of the Four Points by Sheraton Sheikh Zayed Road we overlooked the 6 lane highway that connects the city with the capital emirate, Abu Dhabi. This road is the artery of Dubai and a necessity to travel from point A to point B while visiting. There were several times that I was reminded of Las Vegas while on this trip and Sheikh Zayed Road was definitively reminiscent of the Strip, simply larger.

A note on drinking alcohol: it is illegal for Muslims to drink alcohol but generally accepted for visitors to drink in hotels. We had no problem as most restaurants and bars are, in fact, located in hotels around the city. As long as any kind of public show of intoxication is avoided, I got the sense that drinking is fine.

This year, 2018, in the UAE is the Year of Zayed which celebrates 100 years since the birth of this revered leader. Sheikh Zayed was responsible for forming the United Arab Emirates in 1971; anecdotally I learned that he educated the people of his homeland, taking them from living in Bedouin tents in the desert to living in high rise buildings, and created a country of wealth and unity among the formerly separate emirates, or states.

The Water

Internationally known as a beach destination, there is no shortage of white sand in Dubai. With the city being as stunningly huge as it is, it was easy to forget that we were, in fact, in the middle of the desert. The beaches of Dubai act as an oasis.

We visited La Mer, a newer beach development, on the first day of our trip. This area is structured as an outdoor mall with shops and restaurants leading up to a boardwalk that spills onto a medium sized beach. I was glad to find that the beach wasn't overcrowded particularly after how long it took us to find a parking space. Apparel on the beach varied but at least 75% of the female population wore bikinis. I did learn that the boardwalk is a bit of a barrier: on the beach side bikinis were perfectly acceptable however once you cross the boardwalk into the mall area, full clothing is required.

Within the Dubai Mall, there are several points of interest. Aside from the endless array of stores touting the top retail names from all over the world, visitors may be surprised to come across an Olympic-sized ice skating rink or a full scale dinosaur skeleton. The mall itself has an app, which we did end up downloading, to help navigate the immense building.

A favorite sighting was the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo where sharks and sting rays floated past hundreds of onlookers. To our surprise, a group of divers had entered the giant tank and were taking underwater GoPro photos interacting with the wildlife, as mall goers watched. An uncommon experience to say the least.

When traveling, I always have in mind the intention to find the most authentic experiences. So, when presented with the idea of a water park, I was not immediately on board. After many days in the hot sun exploring the city, the idea of a day to relax and cool off started sounding better and better. We selected the Aquaventure Waterpark at the Atlantis, The Palm Hotel on Dubai's man made island in the shape of a palm tree.

We were able to get discounted admission thanks to my friend's parents' residence card which made an expensive activity more reasonable. The water park, I have to say, was awesome. There is access to the hotel's beach and many different slides and rides. We floated the lazy river, which also had some unexpected rapids, around the park, hopping off when we arrived at the site of a slide we wanted to try. Arriving at the park around noon wasn't the greatest laid plan; it was extremely crowded and we waited around 45 minutes for the first slide. After that the conditions improved.

Highlight #1: the group slides in which all of us sat in a large tube and were flipped every which way while holding on for dear life.

Highlight #2: the two person slide that took us through a pitch black tube for about a minute then opening up into a transparent passageway where we were surrounded by a tank full of sharks and fish, much like the Dubai Aquarium. Being surrounded on all four sides by fish was very cool and a unique addition to the traditional water park experience.

It doesn't hurt that we caught a beautiful sunset when leaving the park. The Palm juts out into the Gulf and there was an unobstructed view as the sun dipped into the horizon.

The Burj Khalifa

There are many faces of the Burj Khalifa; it is seen around the city as a shadow in the distance, from below as a sky scraping feat of engineering, and from within as one of the most incredible viewpoints in existence. Burj means "tower" in Arabic and Sheikh Khalifa was the leader of Abu Dhabi and the President of the UAE at the time it was being built. Interestingly, the building was originally called the Burj Dubai but when the financial burden became too much for the emirate of Dubai to bear, Sheikh Khalifa lent them money and it became his namesake.

At 2,717 feet high and 163 stories tall, the Burj Khalifa houses a hotel, residences, viewpoints, corporate offices and restaurants. We ventured up to the 124th and 125th floors in an elevator that can be described as a space ship in training. The entire ascension took 1 minute and a film was played on all four walls as a countdown clock timed the ride. My ears popped as I stepped on the observation deck, an outdoor space overlooking downtown Dubai and with a view all the way out to the emirate of Sharjah.

The 360 degree view gave credence to the understanding that Dubai is truly a city built in the middle of the desert. In the past 50 years, this metropolis grew out of deep ambition and the utilization of a questionably ethical international workforce. Standing in the Burj Khalifa and looking to the east, there is nothing but sand and a few roads. Two sides are surrounded by city views and to the west, the Gulf.

We paid a bit extra for a 4pm ticket to the top (for some reason the 124th/125th floors at called At The Top while they are actually almost 40 floors below the top) and after waiting downstairs for our turn on the elevator it was perfectly timed with the sunset. After perusing the multiple views on the two levels, we situated ourselves on the floor right next to a window and discussed how the Burj is so tall that the sun actually sets minutes later from the top of the building than it does on the ground. Theoretically, one could catch the sunset on the ground, take the elevator up, and see the sun set all over again.

The Miracle Garden

One activity I wanted to make sure we did was a visit to the Dubai Miracle Garden. The location was a bit out of the city so on our drive to Abu Dhabi where we spent one day we stopped at the gardens in the morning. Because we went early it was not very crowded but already the temperatures had reached high 90s.

An avid plant grower myself, I love spending time in local parks and botanical gardens when I travel. The Miracle Garden is quintessential Dubai: impeccably created flower arrangements in the form of Mickey Mouse, a village, hearts, people, animals and, of course, an Emirates Airbus 380 which is, of course, the largest flower arrangement in the world. The sea of flowers was a beautiful sight particularly in the midst of so much urban development. After all, the city is preparing for the Expo 2020 by constructing buildings at light speed. We discussed the amount of maintenance a place like this must require and appreciated the Disney-like attraction of a place so well curated in the context of being natural. In my mind, the 11 USD ticket price was worth an hour walking around this park.

The Conclusion

Dubai, for me, was a mixture of worlds. The luxe, new money society that incorporates the biggest, best and newest elements to showcase to the world. My growing understanding of Muslim culture in a place that, itself, is negotiating the difficult combination of old and new ways of life. The beautiful beaches and perfectly curated landscaping that snakes around a massive system of highway, made so complicated to drive on because it was meant to look like a flower when viewed from a plane.

Coming from city living New York, I would say a long weekend in Dubai would be a great way to see the town. Just enough time to explore (by car or metro) and to take in a the bustling urban center along with the luxurious vacation-ready seaside.