For my last day in Dubai prior to flying to India, I planned to be a tourist.
The Wall of Dubai is the last remains of the ancient town of Dubai. It marks the edge of the town a thousand years ago when it was on the spice trade route. I decided to start my day there.
I asked at my hotel how to get to the “Wall of Dubai”. Most had never heard of it. One staff member knew about but had never been there. Dubai is all about modern. More than anyplace else I have ever been, Dubai strives to be the largest, the tallest, the most extravagant. They have zero appreciation for history.
Archeologists have discovered artifacts in this area dating back 125,000 years. Until the discovery of oil in the 20th century, this entire area depended on trade as their only industry. United Arab Emirates (UAE) didn’t become a country until 1971.
I asked Google. Fortunately, it knew exactly where the Wall is and how to get there. Take three different Metro trains then walk.
As I approached the location of the Wall, I found myself in an area obviously designed for tourists. In particular, there were two restaurants decorated to look like a classic scene from the movie Lawrence of Arabia. One of the two advertised a camel burger. Clearly intended for a naive tourist. But, hey, I’m a naive tourist! I will probably never again have a chance to eat camel meat.
I ordered one. It was huge, about half a pound. It tasted exactly like a well-done hamburger. For all I know, it could have been well-done hamburg being passed off as camel. How would I know?
The wall was a huge disappointment. Only a few mud bricks remain. I’m guessing that someone discovered it accidentally and figured that they could make money by labeling it as a tourist attraction.
Sorry, I can’t post any photos. Prior to leaving home, I purchased a large tablet with a full keyboard for the specific purpose of writing my blog. At the last moment, I decided to bring my old netbook computer instead of my new tablet. Big mistake! My old netbook computer can’t connect to the internet here which make it absolutely useless! And now, without my new tablet, I have only my old tablet with a tiny onscreen keyboard. I can touch type at over 90 words per minute. Much harder with one finger! Sigh…
After viewing what little remains of the Wall of Dubai, I took a ferry to the Dubai Gold Souk. It’s item #2 of every list for “things to see in Dubai”. And, yes, it was just as cliche as expected.
After the Gold Souk, I took two more metro trains to the Burj Khalifa. It’s item #1 on everyone’s “items to see ” list. It’s currently the tallest building in the world. I told you that Dubai wants to have the tallest.
After that, I took yet another metro plus a tram, and a monorail to Aquaventure Waterpark, which claims to be the largest water park in the world. Not sure how it justifies that claim since it’s only slightly over half the size of one in Brazil. What did I say about Dubai? They will figure out how to get title of largest.
I didn’t enter the waterpark. I went there for the opportunity to ride the monorail to the end of The Palm Jumeirah, a man-made complex designed to look like a palm tree when viewed from space. It’s famous for its glitzy hotels, posh apartment towers and upmarket global restaurants. One thing I’m certain of is that Dubai loves hedonistic extravagance.
After another ride on the monorail, another ride on the tram, and two more rides on the metro trains, I was back at my hotel. Just in time to retrieve my luggage and head for the airport. But that’s another story…
