Dubai -5 degrees, I nearly got frostbite

We arrived at Dubai Ocean Terminal to a colourful milieu of jangling belly dancers twirling away on the dock welcoming us to their country. Having jangled and shaken enough these beautiful women waited to offer us photo opportunities as we swarmed, like lemmings off a cliff, down the gangways into their world.

Everything is bigger than big in Dubai, no reference to the belly dancers. The buildings, the boats, the shopping malls, the desert; where to start?

Dubai is the commercial capital of United Arab Emirates, population 4.4 million people, with most appearing to drive Ferrari’s, Range Rovers and Bentley convertibles. There was a LEXUS showroom for the working classes. The shopping centre car parks look like luxury car dealerships.  The multi section shopping centres make Westfields look like St Vincent DePaul outlets. The Dubai Mall is so large you get around in golf buggies and even then it takes over ten minutes to get from one end to the other through the Egyptian, Persian and Chinese themed sections!!!!

What sound does an Arab make when bumped into with an electric shopping buggy?

“Jihad, Jihad, something, something, something” (at least that’s what I thought it sounded like)

It’s 45 degrees outside and rising. Being outside is not a comfortable environment. A brown haze, that at first looks like industrial pollution but is actually sand, blows in from the Arabian Desert. You can taste it in your mouth and it covers everything in a gritty blanket that must play havoc with car paint.

Back to the frostbite; As we drove through slowly thru the mall we happened upon a shop (bigger than any Westfield) called “Ski Dubai”. I am a keen skier so I thought I would pop in to see what was on sale. After considering some new equipment I was invited to try it out and to step into the trial area. We geared up and stepped out the back and as you can see Dubai had imported Perisher Valley complete with lifts and coffee shops. There were fast and slow runs, learning areas and snow boarding jumps. Some three hours later I had to leave as I could no longer hold the stocks (didn’t think I would need gloves ha-ha). The temperature was -5 degrees. Absolutely unbelievable, I am sure I was in the Tardis (Dr Who) because it just kept going and going. 

I thanked the storeowner and went to the next small shop in the mall, Bloomingdales, to warm up.