Nikki and I went to Dubai in May and I have finally gotten around to finalizing the trip report. You can find it on this page http://gardkarlsen.com/Dubai_UAE_trip_report.htm . I have also made this Dubai Google map, posted lots of photos and written about my experiences at Dusit Thani Dubai and Traders Dubai. Maybe I have been a bit too harsh in my conclusion of Dubai and I would love to hear from people that have been to Dubai and how they feel and it would also be great to get some feedback from people that actually lives/works/studies in Dubai – how do you feel about your city? My harsh conclusion is related to the fact that it seems like foreign workers are being exploited on a large scale in Dubai. Well, I hope that you will enjoy the trip report. Get in touch on gardkarlsen@hotmail.com if you have comments or questions.
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4 Responses
Dear – Dear,
A great solute to you both and bet regards of the day!
God has gifted you both with the taste to select and enjoy your trips, have a mountain high patience to jot down all the minor most details, catch realistic pictures of each corner you move to. Then you have the will to convert your pleasure into words and share with all.
I wish to see your next – or upcoming – trips cover the Alps mountain regions – Swiss, Austria, France, Germany and Italy.
Thanks for the nice work and my you both be blessed with more wonderful trips.
Regards
Mohamed
Hello Gard,
I enjoyed reading your report about Dubai. But I expected a better conclusion to be honest with you. You enjoyed skiing in Dubai, you think Wild Wadi is a great water park, you agree that shopping in Dubai is great, and you say that Dubai has excellent resturants, hotels, shopping malls, beaches, etc. But it seems you do not recommend Dubai. I don’t understand that!
The Youtube video that you posted about the dirty secret of Dubai, and saying that Dubai is built on slavery is quite upsetting for me as an Emirati woman who thinks that her country is the best! Well, I do agree that the labours should get better treatment but they are no way SLAVES! I understand that slaves are poeple who have no rights, and get no salary, and are forced to obby. This is not true about the labours in Dubai. They get paid for their work more than they dream for in their own countries, and that is why they are here, they have the right to leave if they don’t like the job, and they can get their rights in the court if they do not get their full salary. Well, this is a big topic and as I say I understand that we are facing a problem with these labours, but they are NOT slaves!
Thanks for the nice report!
Best wishes for you and your wife,
Amna
Hi Amna. First of all…I’m thrilled to get your feedback. I did write some of the things in the trip report to provoke but I have not gotten any feedback before now…so maybe people don’t care or don’t read it.
Yeah, I agree that the conclusion to the Dubai trip report is a bit weird. Let’s start with the exploitation of the workers. I just said that it seems like the workers are being exploited to the point where you can call it slavery. Maybe this is exaggerating but there are number of reports that deals with these issues. When a worker is paid less than promised, when his passport is taken from him, and salary withheld in order to prevent him from leaving, this is exploitation. But it is great to hear that you agree that the conditions for workers should be improved and I hope that this is also the goal of the authorities.
When it comes to Dubai as a tourist destination – I enjoyed the various tourists activities in Dubai but is it enough to attract millions of tourists to Dubai? And what kind of tourists are Dubai looking for? It seems like there is focus on getting just wealthy people in because it is a fairly expensive destination. And it is not really a party destination as there are restrictions on alcohol. And due to the religious gap I’m also quite unsure how to approach the local population and with so many foreign workers it is hard to get a grasp of the local emirati culture. So I’m sorry if I have offended you by not recommending your country – I just said that I think there are many other places that I would rather go to. There has also been a few cases in the press over the last months of tourists being arrested for not following the law. I agree that all tourists should adapt to the local customs and law but it feels a bit like overreacting when a couple gets arrested for kissing in public. At the same time it is very obvious that there is a large prostitution scene in Dubai – is the authorities doing something with that? In my opinion it would make more sense to focus on that compared to arresting unmarried couples that are kissing.
Yes, the shopping malls are amazing but the prices are similar to back home so it makes more sense for me to just buy things here. The restaurants are great but if you want wine you have to go to hotel restaurants and they are quite pricey.
But don’t worry, Dubai is still a popular destination and lots of people wants to visit your city.
Thank you for getting in touch – did you see that I stopped by Dubai recently by the way: http://gardkarlsen.com/blog/?p=696
Regards
Gard
I would just like to react on Amna’s post above. She said “they have the right to leave if they don’t like the job”, this is totally false. Workers’ passports are confiscated by their employer upon arrival and are under contract and the slave-like so called sponsorship, which allows the employers to exploit their employees. If you look at Dubai, all you could see is opulence but if you dig deep and peel its covers, you will find its true identity. If you go to the outskirts of the city far from the maddening crowds and tourists, you will find the oppressed laborers that have helped built the city but are being kept anonymous.
I have been to Dubai and sad to say I didn’t like it. I found it pretentious and no genuine culture. Beauty of a city/country is not about tall skyscrapers or massive shopping malls but in my opinion, it is in the culture, the over all vibe and the people.
Compare Dubai to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Berlin, New York and Paris and you will know what