Dubai: destination re-branding urgently required - from 'playground of the rich' to the complex compelling place we know it can be

"Dubai has always been seen as a playground for the rich. What is the Dubai tourism authority doing to pull in people with less money?" That was one question among others that came to me Friday via the DK-Rough Guides PR office, as author of DK's Top Ten Dubai and Abu Dhabi guidebook, from a London journalist writing a story on Dubai. Although I suggested he contact Dubai Tourism for comment, I still shared my thoughts. While Dubai Tourism has appeared to focus on marketing Dubai as a luxurious, safe 'sun, sand and shopping' destination, the media, which loves covering the rich and famous and the glitz and glamour, has lapped it. There's no denying Dubai does luxury well (better than many places), but it's always been so much more than simply a lavish destination where you can spoil yourself silly, especially to the people who live in Dubai. When I lived in Al Mankhool, for five days a week my everyday experiences were more centered on Dubai's gritty backstreets (the 'off-the-beaten-track') and the city's heritage, culture and arts. We'd regularly walk to the Creek and Bastakiya, wander through Bur Dubai souq to Shindagha, both for exercise and to shop at the Shindagha supermarket, browse the souqs at Bur Dubai or across the Creek at Deira, or see a traditional performance at the Heritage and Diving Village. We'd frequently stroll along the Creek and through the parks, especially Al Seef Road and Za'abeel Park. We'd attend opening nights at galleries like The Third Line and B21, and we'd go to events like the Dubai International Film Festival. Occasionally we'd do very 'local' things like watch the camel training or even go falconing with some of the local guys. It was only on weekends when we'd go out with friends for drinks, dinner and a dance, at the bars, restaurants and clubs in the five-star hotels that we'd experience 'luxury Dubai'. But our Dubai, the Dubai most locals and many expats (not all) experience, is the one I've always tried to promote through our guidebooks and writing like our Insider's Guide to Dubai. But while Dubai for us is a set of complex experiences and representations, for much of the global media and potential tourists (as I'm reminded everyday) it's nothing but a luxury destination. It's time Dubai Tourism gets serious about re-branding Dubai and telling the world about the things its residents love about the place. Don't you think?

Dubai on a budget: the best things in life are free

So what do budget travellers do in Dubai? There’s lots of fabulous stuff to do that is free or costs next to nothing. Your biggest costs are going to be hotels, transport and food: see this post for ideas on keeping those down. After that, Dubai’s your oyster:
1) Dubai’s museums – Dubai boasts a number of fascinating but compact museums that take no more than an hour or so to see yet offer an extraordinary insight into the way of life in pre-oil days. Most museums are either free or cost a dirham (30 cents) or three (one dollar). Dubai Museum in Al Fahidi Fort, near the Bur Dubai waterfront is the best, providing a great introduction to Dubai’s rapid development through a multimedia presentation and engaging displays of musical instruments, coins, firearms, costumes, and jewellery, a rather whimsical and very kitsch life-size diorama of an old souq, and a small but superb archaeological exhibition. Also, don’t miss the lovely Heritage House, a restored pearling master's residence, and Al Ahmadiya School, Dubai’s first, near the Gold Souq in Deira.
2) Bastakiya – this tiny old labyrinthine quarter on the waterfront near Dubai Museum boasts breezy narrow lanes that are home to traditional Persian merchants' houses that have been restored and in some cases reconstructed; the area was ramshackle and almost lost until it was decided it should be rejuvenated in the late 90s. The buildings are now home to charming boutique hotels, superb art galleries such as XVA and Majlis Gallery, and atmospheric cafes such as the enchanting Basta Art Café. Try the refreshing Basta Special, a thirst-quenching fresh mint and lime juice drink.
3) Dubai Creek and Dhow Wharves – it costs nothing to wander along the waterfront of Dubai’s buzzy Creek. From the Bastikya, stroll through Al Seef Road Park for spectacular views of the Deira skyline opposite, with its stunning architecture. We never tire of the reflections in the glass buildings of the shimmering water and dhows (old wooden trading boats) and abras (small wooden water taxis) cruising along the Creek. In the opposite direction, wander through the wooden arcades of lively Bur Dubai textile souq, and then take an abra (1dh/30 cents) across the Creek to Deira to saunter along the dhow wharves and check out the amazing stuff they load and unload from the boats – everything from enormous flat screen TVs to chickens and cars – and see how the guys live on these things! Or continue to stroll along the Bur Dubai side of the Creek to the…
4) Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum's House – one of several wonderfully restored old houses lining the waterfront. This grand building, like most in this area was built from gypsum, coral and sand, and boasts big cooling courtyards and beautiful wind-towers, the traditional form of air-conditioning. The former residence of Dubai’s ruling family, it's home to a fascinating and eye-opening exhibition of old black and white photos of Dubai.
5) Heritage and Diving Village – Dubai’s wealth initially came from the pearling industry and the city was once a diminutive pearling and fishing village, so visit this recreation of the first settlement at Shindagha, at the mouth of Dubai Creek to get an idea of what Dubai was like not all that long ago. There are barasti (palm frond) houses, a small souq, beautiful old wooden boats, and traditional performances (pictured), when you’ll see more Emiratis than tourists. It’s loveliest and liveliest in the evenings. Afterwards, you can head next door to the sprawling al fresco Arabic eatery KanZaman when you can feast on Arabic food (a few mezze and a juice will cost you around $10) and try the aromatic sheesha, as you savour the sublime views of Dubai Creek, enchanting at night when the fairylights twinkle on the boats.

10 Reasons to Shop Dubai - a taster

Since you twisted my bangled arm, here's a taste of my 10 Reasons to Shop Dubai or The Ultimate Dubai Shopping Guide. Visit Viator for the full article, which includes fab extras like what to buy where, and a lesson in bargaining.
1.Dubai Shopping Festival - citywide sales, massive discounts, crazy promotions, extravagant raffle prizes, entertainment, street fairs, food stalls, nightly fireworks, and cultural activities, in the cool winter months (Jan-Feb).
2.Dubai Summer Surprises - summer (Jun-Aug) equivalent; hotel prices are slashed but it’s a sweltering 45 degrees Celsius outside. It's as if you’re in a giant sauna or God has placed a blow heater above Dubai. An experience!
3.Dubai’s Shopping Malls - I’m not a fan of malls normally; give me a shopping 'hood like Amsterdam’s Nine Streets any day. But in Dubai, where it’s too hot to stroll the streets for six months, malls make sense. Dubai’s malls boast restaurants, cinemas, theatres, art galleries, child minding centres, mosques, and ski slopes!
4.Mall of the Emirates - my favourite; enormous, opulent, marble floors, spacious ‘avenues’, fab selection of shops, swish Harvey Nichols, Virgin Megastore, superb restaurants (Almaz by Momo) and bars (Apres), chic Kempinski Mall of the Emirates, and indoor ski slopes.
5.Dubai’s Souqs - these bustling bazaars aren't the most attractive (get Marrakesh and Istanbul out of your head) but they’re atmospheric, gritty, ramshackle, and real; they don't exist for tourists, this is where real people shop for everyday stuff.
6.Because in Dubai Bargaining is a Fine Art - part of the fun of shopping Dubai’s souqs is haggling; it’s not a requirement as in Cairo or Istanbul, but if you pay the first price offered, you’re probably paying double the value. See my Viator article for bargaining tips.
7.Dubai’s Best Buys - Dubai’s best buys are carpets, textiles, perfume, spices, and gold. Buy these and other exotic goodies at the Spice Souq, Deira’s Covered Souqs, Gold Souq, Bur Dubai’s Textile Souq, and Karama Souq. (I tell you what to buy where on Viator.)
8. Souq Madinat Jumeirah - this wonderful air-conditioned, contemporary take on a souq is the place to shop when you can’t face the souq chaos, the heat has got to you, you’re not in the mood for bargaining, or you want a chilled glass of white with lunch. Prices are higher but the quality is better.
9. Dubai’s Homegrown Fashion - Dubai’s fashion scene is blooming; watch cheeky young designer Raghda Bukhash, whose fabulous Pink Sushi label playfully appropriated the red and white gutra (Arab men’s headdress) to produce cute skirts, handbags and clutches, well before everyone started wearing gutras in Europe. Available at Amzaan, owned by princess Sheikha Maisa al-Qassimi. Other hip boutiques stocking local fashion include Five Green and S*uce.
10. Dubai’s Shopping Hours - 10am-10pm daily for malls; stores outside malls close afternoons and on Friday (Muslim day of worship). Shopping is most fun in the evening when locals shop. It means nights end late, but what are days for if not dozing by the pool?

Dubai! Dubai! Dubai! Some tales of a city: Part 1 Once upon a time...

At the shared taxi stand in Abu Dhabi - and other Emirati cities like Sharjah, Fujairah and Al Ain for that matter - taxi drivers yell "Dubai! Dubai! Dubai!" to let potential passengers know their destination. And of course the other drivers shout out their destinations too. But there are always more taxis heading to Dubai and they always fill faster. During our first couple of years in Abu Dhabi, after we moved there in '98, we'd catch shared taxis to Dubai a lot so it seemed. At least once a month or so, to eat out, take in the local sights, stay at a nice hotel, and of course, go shopping. In those days Abu Dhabi only had one shopping mall and Dubai had three decent ones and a few smaller shopping arcades in the suburbs. Once we'd piled into the taxi, we'd each hand over our Dh10 (less than US$3) to the driver for the 90 minute ride then he'd speed off down at a million miles an hour. Crammed in those taxis I learned a lot about the people who'd chosen to live in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I didn't speak Arabic, Hindi, Farsi or Urdu, but I could tell a lot about them by the way they dressed, the things they carried (or didn't), their body language, their eyes, and of course they're smiles... whether a Pakistani driver, Afghani labourer, Sri Lankan maid, or Indian bank clerk, they'd all come here to work, make money, and send it home to a spouse or family to pay for their kids to go to school or university, to buy a house, to one day start a business. Terry and I weren't there just for the money; for us, it was more about the cultural experience and the travel. But all of us were there to make our dreams a reality. And for most of us, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, like fairy godmothers, granted our wishes. For me, the good news stories over the years have far outweighed the bad. My Dubai is a very different one to that I read about in the papers. So I've decided to start a series on this blog called 'Dubai Dubai Dubai! Some tales of a city...' and every now and again I'm going to share a story or two, take you on a ride, and show you my Dubai... are you coming?

10 Reasons to go to Dubai now

Call me crazy, I'm in Italy and I'm telling you to go to Dubai. But my beloved Dubai has been getting some bad press lately. Call it a backlash, jealousy or - dare I say it? - racism, it's undeserved. Ignore the critics and go look for yourself.
1. AFFORDABLE HOTELS - Hotels have slashed prices up to 50% off rack rates, including includes luxe hotels like Bab Al Shams, Al Maha and Burj Al Arab. If these special luxury packages are still be beyond your budget, there are great deals to be had at the rest of Dubai's 400+ hotels in all price brackets. Check Expedia to see what I mean. My picks: Bastakiya boutique charm at Orient Guest House for $86, sleek business-style at Novotel for $90, stylish BurJuman Rotana for $160, Carlos Ott-designed Hilton Dubai Creek for $170, and Moroccan-chic at Park Hyatt Dubai for $286.
2. SPA SPECIALS - Dubai has some of the world's best spas with a long list of luscious Oriental treatments (a milk bath anyone?) and most are offering summer promotions, including the Angsana, Akaru and Talise.
3. CHEAP EATS - Many of Dubai's restaurants offer great value degustation menus, promotions one night a week, all-you-can-eat champagne brunches on Fridays, and fantastic fixed-priced set lunches, but there are more restaurant deals than ever at the moment. So why is everything so cheap right now? Well, because...
4. DUBAI IS SIZZLING! - I'm talking about the temperature. Right now it's a scorching, sweltering, suffocating heat hovering around the low 40s in Celsius (around 105-110 Fahrenheit). And it's only going to get hotter. It's something you may never have experienced before, and probably won't again, so why not try it once?
5. EMPTY BEACHES - who wants to lie on a crowded Italian lido, only centimetres from the person next to you, when you can have a whole gorgeous white sand beach to yourself? And, um, the thousands of other holidaymakers in Dubai for the summer deals. But seriously, Dubai's public beaches are lovely and wide and rarely far from a leafy park, while the hotel beach is never far from the icy swimming pool, a wet-bar, or your air-conditioned room.
6. STAYING COOL IS A CINCH - you can escape the heat, whether it's in the temperature controlled hotel swimming pool, swooshing down the slopes at Ski Dubai or ice-skating at one of the city's rinks. Everywhere is air-conditioned in Dubai - taxis, malls, hotels, restaurants - so the heat is only a problem when you go outside...
7. PIERRE GAGNAIRE'S REFLECT IS OPEN - this sublime restaurant by three-star Michelin chef Pierre Gagnaire, one of the world's greatest chefs, has just recently opened its gorgeous doors, promising a multi-sensory experience. We interviewed restaurant manager Etienne Haro and saw the the glam space while it was still being decorated. We can't wait to try it!
8. SALES ARE ON! - the city's seasonal shopping festival, Summer Surprises, is on and the bargains are unbelievable. Ordinarily shopping in Dubai is cheaper than Europe, especially when it comes to electronics, designer fashion, shoes, perfume and cosmetics. Why? Because there's no tax. So when the sales are on, the prices are even crazier.
9. THE KIDS WILL LOVE IT - as part of Summer Surprises,, there is tonnes of indoor family entertainment on everywhere, in the malls, libraries, hotels, and at Mohdesh Fun City, named after the festival mascot.
10. THE CITY IS TRAFFIC-FREE - well, not quite, but there are far fewer cars on the road because most expats have gone home or are travelling for the summer and the Emiratis have moved to cooler climes. The sensible people have left town essentially. But that means faster travelling time for you. Traffic is a problem in Dubai; it's the thing residents hate most. So go and enjoy something locals rarely get a chance to - empty roads! - and whizz around the city eating, drinking, pampering, and shopping yourself silly!

Breaking News: Orientalist Dubai Dream Tour Shattered! (part 1)

By Terry Carter*
Dubai is still sizzling as a travel destination, no matter what part of the planet you look at it from. But let’s look at Dubai from an Australasian travel media perspective for a moment. Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald and sister publication The Age love running stories on Dubai, but they've really run out of steam if their latest article is any indicator. But really, what should we expect from a once well regarded publisher that has a blog called ‘The Backpacker’ that explores themes such as 'Joining the Mile High Club', 'Travel cliches (sic): are they worth it?' and 'How to get rid of your backpacker'. Seriously. However, this latest anonymously authored story, which ran in New Zealand’s Dominion Post first, manages to set the bar to an all-time low, appearing like a package tour report that wouldn’t be out of place on TripAdvisor. The 'author' of the article has an odd preconception about Dubai from the start, but then feigns surprise when the destination doesn’t live up to his skewed expectations. So, what does he do? Call the story ‘Truth and Trickery in Dubai’. So, what's wrong with this story?

‘Anon’ as we’ll call the writer, is disappointed to learn the belly dancer on his desert safari is from Egypt, claiming she’s no more a Dubai local than he is (we’ll assume it’s a ‘he’). Last time I checked Egypt was in the Middle East and New Zealand wasn’t. We’re already off to a weird start. I don’t want to get into the much-contested origins of belly-dancing, but if you have an Egyptian belly-dancer in front of you, that’s a lot more authentic an experience than most visitors to any Middle East destination get these days. Even in Egypt itself (arguably the spiritual home of the dance), you’ll probably be confronted by the ‘fake’ shimmying of an Eastern European dancer if you go to an ‘Oriental’ show.

Anon then contradicts himself by saying it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the dancer isn’t a Dubai local as “one is lucky to see an ankle belonging to a local woman, let alone an exposed navel”. Actually, local women do a dance similar to the ‘belly-dance’, just not half-naked, not in public, not in front of men, and certainly not for creepy foreigners like Anon. So, let’s get this straight. He’s saying: the belly dancer is inauthentic because she’s from Egypt, Dubai women don’t do the belly dance, therefore Dubai=Fake. Or perhaps that makes it doubleFake? Can’t argue with logic like that.

To be honest, I debated whether to bother going further to deconstruct this article, but a story as misanthropic, sexist, and filled with thinly veiled racism as this (not to mention being published in such well-regarded newspapers), deserves it. So, let’s just get the attacks on the people that our fearless Orientalist comes across out of the way first. Here are some of Anon's choice quotes:
“…a pock-marked Bangladesh-born wide-boy”
“…one hapless male whose game attempts to mimic her pelvic thrusts are slightly impeded by his fluorescent bumbag and complete lack of coordination”
“…fat-bottomed tourists” and
“It is fun to get lost in the narrow alleyways of the gold and spice souks and get high on the heady mix of cloves, cardamom, incense and armpit.”

Clearly Anon dislikes acne, fluoro bumbags, people lacking dancing skills, fat-bottomed tourists, and people who don’t wear deodorant. I’m still trying to figure out why this is exclusive to Dubai. Really, did anyone edit this? But what Anon really dislikes is how ‘fake’ Dubai is. And he’s in Dubai to separate the truth from trickery.

But if Anon was ‘tricked’ about what to expect in Dubai, who deceived him, and what were his expectations? It’s clear – at least for the purposes of creating an angle for his story – he was expecting some sort of Orientalist fantasy of Bedouin goat-hair tents lining Dubai’s main thoroughfare Sheikh Zayed Road, where there’s a ten-lane camel highway (and perhaps a flying carpet lane as well?) leading to ARABIA, while the score from Lawrence of Arabia fills the air. However, Anon never sets out his expectations at the start of the story. Heaven forbid that would create a narrative! But here’s a hint as to where his desires lay: the belly-dancer is “an exotic apparition” before the spell is broken and he finds out she’s a ‘fake’ from Egypt.

And it gets worse... (read part 2 here.)

* Terry Carter is my partner and co-writer

Dispelling the biggest myth about Dubai

On a budget and want to visit Dubai? Don’t let its reputation as an expensive city of ‘7-star’ hotels and glitzy malls deter you. Nor the opinions of its critics who say Dubai is materialistic and has no soul – they probably didn’t get far from their luxury hotel. Or the nearest mall. So let’s dispel the biggest myth of all about Dubai, that it's prohibitively expensive. Dubai doesn’t have to be expensive at all and is in fact a whole lot cheaper than cities like London, New York, Paris and Sydney. Let’s take the areas where travellers spend most of their money: hotels, transport and food.
* HOTELS: the cheapest rates are online. Visit HotelsCombined and compare the prices in any category in Dubai with other cities to see how favorable Dubai's ratest are. Take a budget hotel chain like Express by Holiday Inn: in New York it costs $397 now, in London it’s going for $290 and in Dubai it’s $113. The Ibis on Sheikh Zayed Road has doubles for $100 while Le Meridien Residence in Deira is $75. A 1-star around the Gold Souq area will cost you between $35-70, Dubai's Youth Hostel is cheaper but lacks atmosphere and is in a terrible location. If you want something with character and charm in a fantastic situation, then a room at one of my favorite Dubai boutique hotels, Orient Guest House (pictured) in the Bastakiya will cost you $96 at the moment.
* TRANSPORT: Stay in Deira or Bur Dubai and stick to Dubai Creek, the souqs, Shindagha and Bastakiya, and you can walk everywhere. Just don't go anywhere without a hat and bottle of water! You can take abras (public water taxis) back and forth across the Creek for AED 1, around 30 cents. There is a public bus service although the routes were devised more for expat workers so apart from the Jumeirah Beach Road line, it’s not that helpful to visitors and can be uncomfortable when stuck in traffic. Many of the 3-star hotels in Deira have free shuttle buses going to the beach and malls, while a taxi from Deira to Mall of the Emirates will cost you about 30 dirhams (around $8) and to Madinat Jumeirah around 40-50 dirhams (between $11-13).
* FOOD: Dubai’s fine dining restaurants are superb and can be expensive, but Dubai has scores of mid-range and budget eateries that are dirt cheap. You can buy a tasty shwarma for AED 3.50 (less than $1) and a freshly squeezed mango juice for AED 6 (around $1.50) from a stall in the souq area. Or you could share a spread of several dishes at a sit-down meal at an Arabic, Pakistani or Indian eatery for as little as $10 per person. Most of these places don’t serve alcohol, but if you want a glass of wine or beer you could go to Noodle House (at Emirates Towers and Madinat Jumeirah), and have a big curry laksa or Peking duck and a drink for around $12-15.

The Dark Side of Dubai: a hilarious must-read parody of the Dubai-bashing genre

A brilliant parody of the Dubai-bashing genre of article of which we've seen a spate recently in the US, UK and Australian media, has been published by The Independent called The Dark Side of Dubai by Johann Hari. (To save me linking to all the stories, see this accurate analysis of the process 'reporters' visiting Dubai appear to go through to produce the trash they've been publishing, by a reader, The Consultant, in the comments at Arabian Business.) A lot of people are getting very upset about this story. Not only Emiratis but expats who have lived in the UAE for a long time who know the place intimately, understand its complexities, and love it for all its flaws. Nobody's dismissing the treatment and hardships experienced by foreign construction workers nor the challenges faced by those losing their jobs that are covered in the stories. They're upset at the ongoing media attacks on Dubai (it's truly baffling) and the lack of objectivity and balance in that media coverage, the publication of factual errors, exaggerations and even lies, and the racist tones running throughout much of the coverage. Dubai is not alone as a developing state and economy, nor is it the only state to experience recession.

Now don't get me wrong, as someone who moved to the UAE in 1998, I also share their frustration but I don't understand why people can't see that 'The Dark Side of Dubai' is a parody. It's so obvious. Just look at the melodramatic title of the story and the piece is jam-packed with over-used Dubai travel writing cliches ("One Thousand and One Arabian Lights", "Dubai Disneyland", "the architecture of the pharaohs as reimagined by Zsa-Zsa Gabor", a "Neverland built on the Neverland"), gross exaggerations (every expat has maids and whole armies of staff, every expat is a CEO etc), and stereotypical characters (Western expat with a Range Rover, "Filipino girl behind the counter", he meets the Emirati at Starbucks, everyone is drunk and partying all the time, blonde Dutch girl in hotpants... p-lease). It's laden with so many historical and factual errors ("in the mid-18th century, a small village was built here." He should have added 'overnight'!), and racism (just read the thing), that it can't possibly be presented as serious news commentary, certainly not something a high quality paper like The Independent would print as truth.

And it's funny on so many levels. There's a whole parody of the simplistic 90s anti-globalization rhetoric first year uni students might have referenced in a "Modernisation and Globalisation" class: the 'East' being consumed by the 'West' and its junk-food mega-brand pop culture with the references to Starbucks, Pizza Hutt, Nando's... we should be shocked that the Emirati is wearing 'Western clothes' of blue jeans and a Ralph Lauren shirt - and that he drinks a Coke! C'mon, this is 2009! It has to be a joke. We all know globalization is far more complex than that and our understanding is far more nuanced now. I mean, he actually uses the term "third world".

Still not convinced it's a parody? If you were too gob-smacked to notice the dreadful writing the first time around, take another read. An example: "Thirty years ago, almost all of contemporary Dubai was desert, inhabited only by 'cactuses' and tumbleweed and scorpions." And where was John Wayne? The set of a Hollywood Western comes to mind, right? When was the last time anyone saw native cacti in the Dubai emirate? That very sentence is a clue that this is a piece of fiction. And then there's the surrealism: Hari taking notes in Harvey Nichols as he listens to a sales assistant telling him about a £20,000 taffeta dress! And the melodrama: "And I stop writing." This is too funny. Perhaps it was an April Fools joke-story (like the Dubai double-decker boutique hotel bus announcement from Mr and Mrs Smith) and Hari missed the deadline? But I, for one, am hoping it's a series.

Pictured? That's me... looking for tumbleweeds and cactus. I know where to find scorpions.


*** If you see this story and pic elsewhere, it's because the content has been STOLEN. It's appearing on a number of sites without permission, but, trust me, invoices are on the way!

There's more to beaches and malls in Dubai: the case for using a guidebook

Don’t you think there are some destinations where a guidebook is invaluable? There’s been a backlash against guidebooks in recent years, since the rise of freely available online travel content. And while there are certainly cities I’ll go without a guidebook, cities where you can stroll around and stumble across places of interest pretty easily, there are some destinations where you really need to know where to go to have a good time – whether those tips are coming from trusted locals, or if you don’t know anyone, a trusted guidebook or trusted online source, (note my use of ‘trusted’) is up to you. But Dubai so it seems is definitely one of those destinations where you're going to have a far better time with a guidebook.

How to experience Dubai on a budget and dispelling myths about Dubai are topics I find myself increasingly writing about, both for paid assignments and on this blog (see Dispelling the biggest myth about Dubai and Dubai on a budget: the best things in life are free). Yet, I still feel like I have a lot more work ahead of me when I receive comments like those from Gary Arndt of Everything Everywhere to yesterday's post. I wish I could turn back the clock for poor Gary to his arrival at the airport and hand him one of our guidesbooks, because Gary came away thinking: “Dubai is expensive and there isn't much to do other than shop. If you want to sit on a beach, I can think of dozens of other places in Europe or in the Indian Ocean which would be more attractive as a destination. The malls seem very orientated to luxury brands. Every month there is some sort of news story which comes out of Dubai about someone getting arrested over something trivial.” If ever there was an argument for using a guidebook, there it is. Guidebooks may quickly become out of date, but in Gary’s case, our 4-year old Lonely Planet Dubai city guide would have shown him a much better time than he seemed to have. And while some people don’t like shelling out money for a guidebook, there is a lot of stuff freely available on the web, including many of the articles we’re written on Dubai for magazines and newspapers. I’ll pop up another post with links to our Dubai content that's freely available online, and I’ll also write another Dubai myth-busting post. Because seriously, there are few cities in the world where it's easier to have a good time - without lying on a beach or stepping into a shopping mall.

Breaking News: Orientalist Dubai Dream Tour Shattered! (Part 2)

By Terry*
So, where were we? If you’re just joining us, see this post about an Orientalist fantasy of an article on Dubai in The Sydney Morning Herald by an anonymous author who I'm calling 'Anon':

Anon writes:
* “The encampment is furnished with modern flush loos…”
Yes, they’re all the rage in Dubai now, the Sheikh apparently has a gold one! Clearly the author wanted to pee in a dark, smelly, open pit. Damn you, oil money!

* “Locals in traditional white dishsasha robes and headdress are commonly seen getting happily loaded on alcopops in hotel bars.”
Alcopops? Probably not a local. Common? Nope. And the robes are more commonly known as ‘dishdashas’ which means robe anyway, so Anon's said they’re wearing ‘robe robes’, but that’s a minor point an editor could have picked up. If there was one…

* “Men from neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which has a much more hard-line approach to liquor, frequently slip over the border for a quaff before driving home.”
Hard-line? It’s illegal in Saudi. And that’s a long way to drive home drunk from Dubai, a round trip of at least 800km (see this map.) Perhaps the author meant Bahrain where Saudis drive across the Johnny Walker Bridge, woops, I mean, King Fahd Causeway to imbibe. But the vision of drunk Saudis driving home all the way from Dubai would probably make a great road movie. Especially if they sang ‘99 bottles of beer on the wall’ in Arabic...

* “Like our ‘desert experience’, much of Dubai is essentially fake. Forty years ago, Dubai was a dusty fishing village on the banks of Dubai Creek.”
Clearly, Anon wanted it to stay like that so he could have an authentic Orientalist experience. How dare they build new ‘fake’ buildings. Damn you, oil money!

* “Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also prime minister, and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, is estimated to have a personal wealth of US$16 billion. Yet he apparently has the common touch: his FaceBook site has 6995 registered fans.”
Clearly a lot more than Anon, but what’s the point? Sheikh Mo also has his own website.

* “The sheikh has bankrolled some of the city's more fantastic constructions, such as the Burj Al Arab hotel - the only six-star hotel in the world - and the world's tallest building, the Burj Dubai, which is under construction.”
None of which is entirely true, and yet another ‘journalist’ gets the Burj Al Arab’s hotel rating wrong. Dubai has a five-star rating system at the moment. The Burj Al Arab is not classified although they claimed to be the world’s first ‘seven-star’ hotel. So Anon isn’t even close no matter which way you look at it.

* “I find myself wondering how New Zealand would spend the money if we suddenly had trillions of dollars injected into the economy: massive rugby stadiums in every suburb, perhaps?”
Really, did an editor – either in New Zealand or Australia – actually read this dribble? Did Anon even realise he typed this instead of just thought it?

And yes, indeed, if you can believe it, it gets even worse.

* Terry Carter is my husband and co-writer.

The Dubai Melting Pot is in the Kitchen Too

Technicalities aside (see my previous post on Dubai as 'salad bowl' rather than 'melting pot') I was pleased to read The Dubai Melting Pot Is In the Kitchen Too in the New York Times. After an abundance of Dubai-bashing in the media recently, it was a relief to see a story by a writer who actually enjoyed himself in Dubai, and to read a well-researched piece of travel and food writing that gave such a scrumptious insight into the place. However, often it's the focused, one-subject stories that are more revealing than the all-encompassing pieces that try to do everything and don't end up covering anything particularly well at all. While cuisine, cooking and a culture's eating habits tell a lot about a place, in this case what's heartening is the fact that the story was centered, that it stayed on topic, that it rang true, and that it dug a little (although perhaps not as deep as it could have), rather than staggered all about the place, scratching here and there at the surface, and scraping together nothing but castles in the sand. During his three-day "odyssey across the culinary landscape of Dubai" writer Seth Sherwood samples an array of restaurants featuring cuisine from North Africa to the Sub-Continent, crediting Dubai’s cosmopolitan population for this culinary diversity, and writing "For devotees of food from the Arabian-Islamic world, Dubai may offer the grandest and most concentrated smorgasbord on the planet." Okay, so they're not really 'Arabian' (he probably means Arabic), but we'll forgive him because at least he was there. You see, I still can't get over Brisbane writer Elizabeth Farrelly's nonsensical piece in which she admitted that she had never been there but strangely for six months had "wanted to write about Dubai as a ruin". In stark contrast Sherwood's piece is grounded in reality: "Though the international economic crisis has raged like a sandstorm through Dubai’s office towers, financial markets and construction sites, a January visit found the sprawling restaurant scene remarkably intact." He concludes: "The upshot is a citywide food bazaar in which restaurants, high- and low-end, serve up tapaslike mezes, aubergine par excellence, fluffy couscous, tangy yogurts, endless kebabs, meats stewed with fruit, fiery arrak liqueur and honey-drenched desserts. All you need is taxi fare and a love of spices." I couldn't agree more. Although I don't always agree with his choices. Sherwood covers everything from the chic Moroccan restaurant Almaz by Momo (pictured) to the gritty Pakistani worker's eatery, Ravi, an expat favorite. The challenge of doing a story like this is that the writer only has three days to eat his way around the city and has to rely on his research abilities as much as his skills at discernment whereas we have had 11 years of dining in Dubai, with plenty of time for repeat visits. Another reason I love guidebook writer - 6 weeks in a city allows you plenty of time to return to places, to wander by on different nights, and to talk to locals. But once again - at least he was there.

Top 10 things to buy in Dubai, pt 2

Oh yes, there are more exotic goodies to buy in Dubai...
6) Carpets and kilims - the UAE has a reputation for having the finest quality carpets in the region at the lowest prices. This is because there is a discerning audience of locals and expats who know their carpets (and know how to bargain!), there's no tax, and because Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are just across the sea, so the carpets don't have far to travel. Carpet come from far and wide but the best buys are obviously Persian carpets.
7) Gold and gems - after carpets, gold is the next best value buy, while diamonds are increasingly becoming a good buy. The gold market is huge in Dubai with locals and wealthy Indian and Arab expats being the biggest buyers. They're mostly buying for wedding dowries, as well as investment. Rarely do tourists walk away without something sparkly either. You'll find anything that glitters at the Gold Souq. The Gold and Diamond Centre is also a great place to shop but the Souq offers a quintessential Dubai experience.
8) Textiles - most of the fabulous fabrics at Bur Dubai's textile souq come from India, Bangladesh and East Africa, so you can expect to find lots of vibrant fabrics. Bur Dubai’s Textile Souq is the place to shop, but the sari stores in the back streets are also worth a look - the Indian saris make wonderful curtains and bed throws.
9) Middle Eastern souvenirs - Dubai has it all: spangly sequined slippers from India and Pakistan to the more exotic curly-toed Aladdin slippers from Afghanistan; colourful glass lanterns and chandeliers from Syria and Morocco; exquisite mother-of-pearl inlaid wooden furniture from Syria; Egyptian cotton sheets and clothes; the softest pashmina shawls and colourful embroidered coats from Kashmir and Nepal; gorgeous beaded cushion covers and bedspreads from India; miniature paintings from Iran and Turkey; bellydancing outfits from Egypt; sheesha pipes from everywhere... and I could go on...
10) Kitsch souvenirs - if you're a collector of kitsch or you want to buy a dozen little trinkets for the staff at the office, then you'll go out of your mind trying to decide what to buy as Dubai just has so much of this kooky stuff, from mosque-shaped alarm clocks that play the call-to-prayer when they go off to keyrings dangling with tiny iconic Dubai buildings, to Sheikh Mohammed coffee cups and t-shirts, and a million things that come in the shape of a camel. And I hear you can still pick up a Saddam Hussein cigarette lighter (which sends an electric current up your arm when you flick it!) if you're prepared to pay for it.

The Dark Side of Journalism

A debate over the Hari article and other Dubai-bashing stories, such as a recent piece in the Toronto Star titled 'Dubai how not to build a city' (this one in the whole "city of superlatives" sub-genre, and equally as bad as Hari's, laced with just as many cliches and factual and historical errors) is raging in the blogosphere, particularly on UAE blogs such as Grape Shisha, who posts about the Toronto story; Secret Dubai Diary (a blogger who surprisingly liked Hari's piece); and the UAE Community Blog, where SamuraiSam posts a hilarious piece titled Dark Side, in which he writes: "Dear international media, You need to write more articles that reference the 'dark side of Dubai', there are clearly not enough." Sam links to 12 articles, including stories by the BBC, The Guardian, ABC News, The Times, Time, and Bloomberg, which all use the 'Dark Side' in their melodramatic headlines. This is exactly why I thought Hari's piece was a parody. There's the 'Dark side of the Dubai dream', the 'Dark Side of Dubai's Boomtown', the Dark side of Dubai’s economic boom..., Carole Cadwalladr explores the dark side of Dubai, and - my favorite - 'The Dark Side of Splendor." What about 'The Dark Side of Journalism'?

Terry has written a particularly fine post on the subject (his last), 'This is my last Dubai goodbye', over at his blog Wide Angles Wine & Wanderlust. Do take a read.

Looking at the bright side of Dubai

The story 'The Dark Side of Dubai' apparently wasn't the parody I had hoped it to be, however, while I was disappointed to see The Independent (a paper I have written for before - on Dubai) print such an appalling piece, I'm pleased to see that in an effort to provide some balance they have printed Emirati columnist Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi's 'If you think Dubai is bad, just look at your own country' (although Dubai of course is not a country, it's a city-state or emirate). Also see the reprint of the story at The Huffington Post just to read the articulate comment from SAS. You might also want to read Al Qassemi's piece 'Looking at the bright side of Dubai' in Arabian Business. The British government's response to Hari's piece, the BBC's recent Panorama story on Dubai, and a slew of other stories, is also interesting - read 'UK Government distances itself from Dubai criticism', the result of a Foreign Office-organized press conference in Dubai, which has appeared in a number of publications. It will be fascinating to see if the debate continues in the media, especially the news media. We all know media organizations have agendas. Editors carefully weigh up whether and how to run with stories. Essays like Hari's don't slip in accidentally. So it will be interesting to see if and how this discourse impacts the travel media where advertising plays a powerful and pivotal role. Airlines like Emirates and Etihad spend huge dollars on advertising.

Dubai: a first-timer's guide

If you're heading to Dubai for the first time, take a look at my comprehensive first-timer's guide to Dubai, just published on nineMSN travel:
Dazzling Dubai... endless sunshine, superb eating, great shopping, and a glam nightlife — what's not to love? And yet Dubai is a polarising place. As the world's fastest growing city expands at a frenetic speed — and with its growth comes gridlocked traffic, pollution and inflation — Dubai has become one of those love it or hate it destinations. While its critics argue the place has no culture or soul, Dubai's rich heritage and Emirati traditions are the very things its fans adore about this exotic Arabian city. First-time visitors should make experiencing Dubai's fascinating local culture and history a priority, followed, of course, by some of that fine food, fantastic shopping, and fabulous nightlife...

Offbeat Guides part 1: my findings

As the new travel product Offbeat Guides intrigued me and I'd been invited to try their beta, I decided to test them out with Dubai, a place few people know better than Terry and I. My shorthand notes based on the exercise:
* After signing in, selecting destination & inputting travel details, site promises I'll "build my own personalized travel guide". Seconds later my 'guide' appears:
* Intro - very general, not written by someone who knows city well OR visited in recent years; misleading ("It is essentially a desert city"), out-dated ("A relatively new tourist destination, Dubai has gained in popularity in recent years."; probably written 6 years ago); & spookily familiar: "It is a city of superlatives: for the fastest, biggest, tallest, largest and highest, Dubai is the destination." Googled that phrase & discovered thousands of sites with exact same content! Probably one of our old Lonely Planet Dubai books there somewhere too!
* False travel planning advice, eg. "While Israeli passport holders are not welcome, having Israeli stamps in your passport is not a problem." Not true! Officially it is a problem. This could get travellers turned away at airport.
* Lots of incorrect info & evidence author hasn't visited places. Examples:
"Express By Holiday Inn Dubai-Internet City... this modern hotel is downright luxurious for a Holiday Inn Express..." Confirms author hadn't been here. We've stayed here. It's comfy for budget hotel, doesn't come close to luxury.
"The Terrace Bar, Park Hyatt... a chilled out bar touching the Dubai Creek... Plays light music." No idea what 'light music' is. Obvious author hadn't been when DJ's spin weekend afternoons.
"Cafe Chic... ran by Michelin star chef Michel Rostang." Mon Dieu! It's been many years since Monsieur Rostang was around... last time we ate here Chef Pierrick Cizeron was still at helm (has been for years) & Michelin 2-starred chef-patron Philippe Gauvreau was still overseeing Cafe & visiting frequently from Lyon.
"Basta Art Cafe... sandwiches-and-salads menu is aimed squarely at tourists." Not true! Basta was very much locals-only cafe til few years ago, until writers like us & Time Out mag team encouraged tourists to go here. Customers still mainly locals/expats. Menu hasn't lost focus - we eat sandwiches & salads in Dubai too. Um, shwarma (see below) is actually an Arabic 'sandwich'.
"Shawarma is the most available (and cheap!) food in Dubai. It is meat that has been cooked on a skewer and then cut into thin strips and placed into a pita bread with vegetables and dressing." Um, no it isn't.
"Ravi Restaurant... excellent Pakistani food that is incredibly cheap. This is a must see for anyone with a spicy tooth." It's cheap, it's Pakistani, it's not pretty to look at, it's far from excellent. It's just cheap grub for those looking for a bargain meal. Nothing more. Spicy tooth, hey?
I could go on but I won't. I skimmed the rest, but generally: writing was weak & badly structured, choices were usual suspects, and it was clear writer hadn't been to most places.
While the site enabled me to incorporate my own notes, why would I want to add them to the trash that was on the page? And why I would want to pay to then have this printed (and bound?) was unclear...

Goodbye Dubai

We spent our last night in the UAE in Dubai - stuck in a traffic jam, checking into our fully booked hotel, shopping for last minute necessities at busy Dubai Mall - packed with shoppers laden with shopping bags as late as midnight - and strolling the waterfront overlooking the new Burj Dubai, where tables at the outdoor restaurants and cafes were crammed with families, despite the 45 degree heat. It was the same old Dubai - not the 'ghost town' I'd be reading about in the media while we were in Australia. Ironically, summer has historically been the time of year when Dubai is usually a ghost town, when locals and expats who can leave the country for a couple of months evacuate for cooler climates for their summer vacation.

Pictured: the enormous aquarium at Dubai Mall.

Our latest travel writing: in print and online

The sun is shining here today in Antalya, Turkey. The sky is cobalt-blue, there's a clarity to the light, a crispness in the air, and bird-song everywhere. It feels like Spring again!
I've been so preoccupied with the Lonely Planet scandal, I've forgotten to share some things with you: our 'Dhows, Dolphins & Cigarette Smugglers' story on the magical Musandam Peninsula, Oman (pictured), a favorite weekend getaway of ours, is in the latest issue of one of our favorite Aussie travel magazines Get Lost. While currently in store down under, I'll also pop a PDF in my media bistro portfolio (see link to right), along with recently published stories, such as my shopping-focused Dubai guide for Ritz-Carlton magazine, a feature on Dubai's audacious architecture for Canvas, and a Macau piece for MGM's M Lifestyle. The April issue of Gulf Life, Gulf Air's in-flight mag, has a special on Entrepreneurs for which we interviewed four young go-getters in Dubai, Sheikha Maisa Al Qassimi (a real life princess and fashion entrepreneur), Shehab Hamad (a club, culture, life-style-setter) and Sunny Rahbar and Claudia Cellini (contemporary art gallery owner-curator-groundbreakers). The next issue features the Gulf's seven wonders of the contemporary world and a story on Abu Dhabi's Masdar initiative and Norman Foster-designed Masdar eco-city written by my co-writer Terry. We also have a 'Beyond the Beach' guide to Cyprus coming out in Jazeera's Airway's groovy J Magazine. Terry has written a three-day itinerary covering the Top Things to do in Dubai for Viator which just went live today, and there are more to come. We've also been doing destination guides to cities around the globe for Triporati. If you're planning a trip to Dubai, print off our exhaustive Best of Dubai guide which we wrote for National Geographic Traveller's Places of a Lifetime series, for which we spent several weeks collecting opinions, advice, tips, and even recipes, from chefs, sommeliers, food critics, cultural experts, DJs, music critics, shopping gurus, fashion experts, magazine editors, and other travel writers, on their favorite spots in Dubai; it's now up on the NGT website.

Dubai: best backstreets vol 1

Travellers to Dubai tend to come for sun, sand and shopping. Few seem interested in exploring anything more than the hotel beach and nearest mall. Yet, like Hong Kong, Dubai's backstreets are endlessly fascinating. While the city's critics complain that Dubai has no culture or soul, they only need to get out of their five star resorts or luxury apartments and wander the backstreets to find the 'real' Dubai. On weekends we like to stroll around Satwa, a laidback neighbourhood of vibrant-coloured houses with gates painted with palm trees. Only a block behind the sleek skyscrapers of Sheikh Zayed Rd, Satwa has a narrow main street lined with second-hand stores, Indian sweet shops and Pakistani eateries, and in the evenings it's just as bustling as the busiest souqs. In the side streets you'll find hole-in-the-wall Afghani bakeries and on Fridays the expat Filipino workers play volleyball on the vacant sandy lots just behind the plush luxury hotels. Not far away, Karama's gritty backstreets are some of Dubai's poorest and yet some of the city's friendliest. Shopkeepers chat on the footpath outside their stores and neighbours stand around on street corners sharing news from home late into the night - the guys, freshly-showered and relaxed, with just a sarong wrapped around their waists. Nowhere in Dubai will you find such community spirit. And such great Goan curries.

The Ultimate Dubai Shopping Guide

When we arrived in the UAE over 10 years ago, the guy from my company who picked us up from the airport chatted all the way into town, giving us a detailed intro to the country while extolling the virtues of living in Dubai compared to Abu Dhabi – where we’d just moved! “… and Dubai has a shopping festival!” he proclaimed proudly. In those days, Abu Dhabi didn’t even have a mall so we’d have to drive to Dubai to do real shopping, like buy an espresso machine for the apartment. A shopping festival was something else! If a little weird… what kind of country had a festival dedicated to shopping, we wondered. Abu Dhabi now boasts several swanky shopping centres, but Dubai, with its scores of malls and souqs is still the King of Shopping, and according to my husband Terry, I’m the Queen of Shopping, which is why I’ve written the Ultimate Dubai Shopping Guide, or 10 Reasons to Shop Dubai for Viator. You can read the full story here.