Middle East Diaries – Dubai the perfect picture ?

It’s that time of the year again! My birthday 😊 And like each year I take my map and start making plans.

This year I picked Dubai, UAE! I got questioned a lot about this choice. Some people told me, ‘there’s nothing except sand to see’, ‘people are intolerant’, ‘you’ll need to cover yourself’, ‘you’ll get bored!’, ‘you might end up in jail’, ‘women are not free over there’, ‘It’s a fake country with no history’.

Well… people and their opinions. I went anyway and enjoyed every single of my days over there. People visit places like Las Vegas or Macao for the casinos, Iran and even North Korea! , why not Dubai?

It’s all part of traveling. It’s a different perspective, a different narration. A story of Bedouins camps turned into luxury skyscrapers, by the magic of Oil , and the vision of their late leader Sheikh Zayed. For me, It makes the country interesting enough. What they were able to achieve over 30 years. I can’t help but to compare with my own country, Gabon, whose Oil story didn’t turn that good (I know, I know some will say It’s not comparable, but still).

The perfect picture than ?

I’m not naive the country is not perfect (If you’ve found the perfect one please tell me ) . Still work in progress for women right, labor laws, discrimination, for example. I’m sure the construction workers or maids living there have a lot to say…

But I do want to note that :

I felt very safe, more than in France, the entire stay. I used both public transport and Uber. The metro, buses and tram, are clean( If you live in Paris you know what I’m talking about especially the RER ).
I dressed as I would in France for summer (I saw women in micro short, I didn’t risk It), except when I went to Abu Dhabi, especially in the Mosque. It’s the only time where have been asked to cover myself and I do understand that. When you visit St Peter in Rome, you’re asked to cover too, so It’s fair, It’s a place of worship.
Dubai Especially is a melting pot
There’s a women + Children only area on the Metro

I have been there only for a week, so I don’t pretend to have grasped all the particularities of the country. I would love to hear your opinion about Dubai, especially the people living and working there .

Little tips

Currency: UAE Dirham.
Weather: Tropical Desert weather. Best time to go December to March (temperatures are below 30°)
Transport: Metro and buses, Taxis and Uber are pretty cheap
Visa: Hotels, tourism company or Emirates Airline, helps with the visa process, If your nationality requires a visa.
VAT: Started from January 2018, there’s now 5% VAT. So keep that in mind when booking hotels and activities.