LLWorldTour

Besides the amazing ancient towns all over Turkey, the landscape is rich with diversity—snow-capped mountains, sparkling Mediterranean beaches, and Gaudi-esque volcanic rock formations of Cappadocia.

A sweet bonus for us during our entire tour was the fact that it was May which meant beautiful, warm sunny days and cool, crisp nights untarnished by the soon-to-come smelly, summer hordes that will invade these parts in June, July, and August. Although we encountered many-a-tour bus at some of the more popular stops, filled to the brim with masses of Russian calendar gals or middle-aged Japanese folk dressed in smart traveling outfits and inevitably following just about anyone holding up a flag or umbrella, we also enjoyed a few places all to ourselves—a wonderful delight.

One of my favorite stops was this amazing water-cut gorge just a bit north of the Mediterranean. Saklikent Gorge (”Hidden Valley”) is the longest and deepest gorge in Turkey - 18 km long and so steep and narrow that the sun does not hit the water in most spots, leaving it deliciously icy-cold even in the summer…and of course, we experienced the leg-numbing waters first hand. We tramped over a simple rope and plank bridge and down the hill on the other side right into the freezing river below. First we had to actually cross the water below the bridge, which was a chilling thigh high excursion and a nice wake-up call for a lazy, sunny afternoon. We walked (trekked in Aussie speak) for about an hour into the narrow canyon in and out of the shallow water which carved the path and marveled at its stark natural beauty. The water-sculpted smooth bone-colored limestone canyon walls soared above us as we hiked further and further into the serene and canyon. It was unbelievably beautiful and wonderfully quiet except for our footsteps and the sound of sloshing water against the rocks. No other tour groups were around (hallelujah), not even the ones with pretty Russian ladies.

We really got to experience the freezing waters in a more intimate way as we went tubing down the river for several kilometers for about an hour. These were far from class III or IV rapids but, let’s just say it was enough to spill me out of my tube and plunge me down into the ice-cold rushing waters. Eeek. My butt got a good workout as we had to keep it somewhat ‘lifted’ in our tubes so as to not be bruised by the rocks underneath. Of course I ended up with a few bruises where I sit anyway, but was too numb to notice it at the time. It was good fun…well, besides shivering from cold, oh, and also the fact that my tube constantly would flow toward the banks of the river where dangling, evil bush branches waited to scratch up my arms and face. That was a nice, free exfoliating experience. Although I did have a paddle, it didn’t seem to do me much good as tubes are circular (really?) and I was either going round in circles or just going backwards half the time. But the paddle did allow me to block the branches from completely impaling me.

For some much needed ‘R&R’, we spent the next three sun-filled days on the Mediterranean in the seaside town of Fethiye. It was nice to just relax and walk around the once charming fishing village turned tourism mecca lined with dozens and dozens of small boats lining the marina just waiting to take you on that ‘perfect’ day sailing. One of my favorite memories here was dining outside at the local fish market. It was inside a kind of courtyard with the day’s catches for sale in the middle and lining the perimeter were a dozen or so fish restaurants. It was unique in that you buy your fish from any one of the several fish hawkers displaying their iced fresh prawns, sea bass, or calamari (my fav) and then bring it to one of the many cute restaurants lining the market. They cook it for you how you like it—throw in some tasty garlic bread and a nice salad all for just $4! It was such a great idea and I’ve never seen anything like it. It was so yummy and fun…we went there two of our three nights in Fethiye.

One day, our group took the requisite tour aboard a vessel sailing around the Mediterranean. We all looked forward to a lazy, quiet day tanning ourselves in the warm Mediterranean sun and doing mostly nothing—well, we thought it would be quiet, but the masses of Turkish tourists dancing to the loud, repetitive music of Turkish pop near our heads kind of made it a bit impossible to relax. Nearly all of us had imagined we’d be on our own private boat plying the turquoise waters, but it turned out to be a bit different. But we made the best of it, and I attempted to drown out the hideous music by turning up my ipod all the way, but the grating “thump, thump” still found it’s way to my ear drums.

We made about four stops during the day at different rocky beaches and islands where we could swim for about an hour. The best part? The crystal clear waters were deep and there was a diving platform high atop the top deck of the boat. Always the adrenaline junkie, I was one of the first ones to jump off into the chilly waters. It was high enough that while in mid air I was able to ‘take a moment’ and contemplate the fact that I hadn’t hit the water yet and wondered fretfully when exactly that would be. I knew it was high when I was able to complete my thought before hitting the sea. That was a daunting, yet exhilarating, feeling and it seemed to last just a couple seconds longer than I anticipated. And then, splash, I was sent into the depths of the Mediterranean. Although I was trying my hardest to keep my legs crossed (the number one rule of jumping into water from high above), I think by the time I went in I had relaxed a bit and also was too preoccupied with keeping my bikini top on and in place. As a result of this, water, naturally found its way “up” into places it does not normally go. To give you ‘too much information’ (which I just love to do), let’s just say I was ‘leaking’ water out of a ‘couple’ places for the next hour or so. Enema, anyone?

The thing I liked most about our tour through Turkey was the variety. We saw ancient towns and modern cities. We walked through dark caves and high atop craggy rock formations. We learned the intricacies of Turkish Carpet making and how to ‘throw a pot.’ We drank Turkish tea and stuffed our bellies full of kebabs and Gozleme (a savory Turkish flat pancake fried full of spinach, cheese, and other tasty delights). We belly danced, smoked traditional Nargileh (Hookah) Pipes, and even got nearly naked, washed, and scrubbed at a traditional Turkish Bath.

There were some requisite shopping stops built into our tour along the way. Leather is a huge commodity in Turkey. In fact many of the leather jackets found in Italy or London are often made in Turkey. One day, we were taken to a Leather outlet to understand the production of these coats. Much to our surprise, we were first treated to an odd little fashion show put on by the shop. We were herded into a room with a catwalk, disco ball, and loud thumping Turk-pop music. Tall, leggy blond gals strutted their stuff in high-heeled boots and micro-mini skirts while a couple young Turks donned big Ray Bans and showed off the latest in Men’s leather jackets. It was hilarious—especially since there were only 13 of us in the room and I didn’t exactly feel like Paris Hilton in the front row at a big Dolce and Gabbana fashion show. I jokingly snapped some photos like a paparazzo and then, to my dismay or excitement, I’m still not sure which, I was grabbed up by one of the Turkish babes and pulled backstage to become one of the ‘models’. At five-foot-four, and a constant ten (maybe 15 after this buffet-laden Turkey tour) pounds more than I’d like, runway modeling has never been one of my top career ambitions. They threw a beautiful brown hooded lambskin jacket on me and I strutted my stuff the best I could in my shorts and Teva hiking sandals. I think a pair of heels might have helped my image, but it was all good fun and luckily my adoring fans (my tour mates) cheered me on, snapped pics and whistled. It is really a brilliant marketing ploy—we all had good fun, and as planned, a few of my fellow passengers dug deep into their wallets and dropped some Turkish Lire on a few jackets and purses. Unfortunately, I did not get a perk for my five minute modeling job and was not offered any deep discounts. Ever being the frugal traveler, I’d rather travel a few more months, than buy more ‘stuff.’ Well, actually, I’d already bought a leather jacket in Buenos Aires months ago!

Well, I didn’t really ‘conquer’ anything except the typical ‘tourist trail’ of Turkey and a lot of meat kebabs. But Julius Caesar certainly did a mere two thousand years ago after the battle of Zela, in what is now Northern Turkey, where he declared these famous words.

This country is chock full of amazing historical sites and ancient wonders. One of our first stops was the important Gallipoli Peninsula. The Dardanelles Strait has always been a strategic point in historical battles for Turkey. The most infamous, of course, were the battles of WWI. Britain’s Winston Churchill organized a naval attack at Gallipoli in hopes of capturing the Ottoman capitol of Istanbul and further access to Eastern Europe. The Turkish military was totally underestimated and in battles that lasted about nine months more than half a million soldiers were killed—the majority of which were Turkish and those from the British Empire—England, Australia, and New Zealand. Despite the awful carnage, records show that the war fought here was actually somewhat friendly with Turkish and British soldiers somehow becoming friends amidst it all. It has become the “Gentleman’s War.”

Turkey is possibly home to more ancient Roman and Greek ruins and preserved sites than any other country in world. In fact, this historically rich and diverse country has 33,000 ancient sites scattered all over its vast countryside. Names like Hittites, Mycenaean, Byzantines, Trojans, all distant memories of ‘World History 101,’ are thrown around here daily. On our journey we visited a handful of these sites and tried to imagine life from more than three thousand years ago—a very hard thing to do. In Pergamum, Troy, and Ephesus, we shuffled down marble-paved ancient lanes past ancient baths, libraries, and even toilets. Every town boasted an impressive amphitheatre, from the nearly perfect best preserved theater in the ancient world at Aspendos to some that just looked like a heap of rocks. Some are still used today—in fact the 25,000-seat ‘Great Theatre’ at Ephesus, the best preserved classical city in the Eastern Mediterranean, has hosted concerts of the likes of Madonna, Sting, and even New Jersey’s own, Bon Jovi. Friends, Romans, Headbangers, lend me your ears! The amazing intact library façade at Ephesus took my breath away. It was constructed in 114 AD and once house 12,000 scrolls.

The ancient city of Troy is not as well preserved as Ephesus, but it’s a must see for anyone familiar with Homer’s Illiad and the famous Trojan Wars. Plus where would we be with safe sex today without “Trojan” condoms—apparently the condom of ancient warriors. Even though the ruins of Troy show that this ancient civilization definitely did exist, it is well-known that Homer’s tale is more myth than fact and many believe the town was eventually destroyed by an earthquake. But, we did get to see two “Trojan” horses anyway—one replica built by the Ministry of Tourism and the second was the ‘movie’ horse that graced the screen in the Brad Pitt movie, Troy.
The site at Troy is a bit confusing because it is literally layer upon layer of nine ancient cities built on top of each other, the oldest dating all the way back to the Bronze Age of 3000BC. That long ago is very hard to fathom, especially considering I can’t often remember what happened last week.

One of the most fascinating sites we saw during our tour? Not the ancient sites themselves, but rather, all the scantily-clad Russian ‘models-to-be’ that draped themselves sexily on any ancient relic they could find. It was actually quite comical and was probably the most common thing we saw all over Turkey. Some beautiful and some not-so-much, these ladies seem to have a penchant for straddling ancient columns or arching their backs against centuries old arches. It seems every Russian tourist gal is out to make her own sexy calendar (Svetlana’s Sexy Turkey Tour) or maybe just add more photos to her already popular ‘sexy Russian lady’ website:

www.tatianadoesturkey.com

Before I’d arrived in Turkey I didn’t have any time to do any research or read much about it. Normally, before any vacations I’ve taken in the past I was all about pre-planning and loved reading about the places I would visit and making lists of my ‘must-sees,’ etc. The planning stages always got me excited about the trip and seemed to allow me to prolong my acquired basic need of travel (kind of like oxygen, food, and water for others). I’d often read the guide book three times—I’d skim it when I first bought it, then right as the trip started (often on the airplane on the way there) I’d usually read it more thoroughly for the second time and finally, I’d end up reading it all again for a third time as I would typically read about each place as I was seeing it. I always figured I was learning a lot more this way and hopefully retaining some knowledge about these far-off lands that I’d once “learned” about back in 7^th grade history class. Well, “learning” may be too strong a word—I actually remember yawning through most of it and cramming my brain full of purely memorized data (For example…some Turkish Trivia we once knew: The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers start in Turkey; The famous town of Troy from Iliad’s Homer is in Turkey, the words Turquoise, parchment, angora, and yoghurt areTurkish). It was always really hard to wrap my mind around all the names and dates of places I’d never been to or heard of. Now in Turkey, historical spots like Gallipoli and the ancient cities of Troy and Pergamum were really springing to life right before my eyes.

On this extended ‘world tour,’ I often am not able to read about my next destination as I can only carry one guidebook at a time and I’m also just too busy seeing the current place to start reading about the next one. So, since I really knew nothing about the Turkish countryside and I wasn’t so sure how draining and difficult it would be to travel around the large country all by myself, I decided to book a two week tour of some of the highlights to make life a little easier. I signed up for a tour with a Turkish Tour company called Fez Travel. In fact, my first day in Istanbul, I realized their office was literally just around the corner from my hotel so I popped in there just to say hello and confirm my trip. After a half hour in the office, I had met Hasan, one of the travel advisors who I’d previously corresponded with by email regarding my trip. Not only was he really helpful and friendly, he also won we over because he had a big panoramic poster of the Chicago skyline tacked up to a bulletin board behind his desk. Right on. I met Vanessa, an Australian gal,m who, like may others I’ve met, came to Istanbul on a vacation…and never left. And I even met the owner. They were all super nice and when I mentioned possibly looking for a job (I’ll get to that later), they even helped me with some leads. It was hard not to notice just how friendly this country is.

Our tour began in the old quarter of the city where we took in the highlights of Istanbul. The Aya Sofya Museum, originally built as a Christian church in AD 527, was later converted into a Muslim Mosque in the 1400s and somewhat ‘recently’ became a museum in 1935. It is, in a word, huge. It is one of the world’s greatest buildings with a massive dome soaring 53 meters (175 feet) above our gaping mouths. But my two favorite sites had to be the famous Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern. The Blue Mosque is an amazingly peaceful and stunning home for Muslim worship. The 17^th century building is a beauty with interior walls that are covered with tens of thousands of Iznik blue tiles (hence its name) and more than 200 windows that give it a bright airy magical luminescence. The Cistern is an architectural marvel built in the 6^th century and was used to store water for the great Topkapi Palace. It was an amazing underground network of symmetrical brick arches and 336 columns to support the roof. Today, it is just a tourist stop, but it once held 80,000 cubic meters of water pumped through 20 kilometers of aqueducts.

I really liked our nice, diverse group of travelers. We had a mother/daughter pair from Melbourne, Australia, two British girlfriends & co-workers, a wonderfully cute and fit Kiwi couple in their 80s with their fun daughter and granddaughter, a young couple from New Zealand who currently live in London, and a well-traveled, active married couple from Canberra, Australia. I hit it off with one of our fellow travelers, who was only with us for a few days. Yukari was a cute Japanese girl who was also traveling solo. After just a few minutes of meeting, we were chatting in both our ‘second’ languages—Spanish. It turns out that she had studied at university in Mexico and lived there for five years so her Espanol was better than her English. Being that I know only about three Japanese words (well, besides all the sushi words—my favorite!), we fell into speaking Spanish. It was so much fun. For many Europeans and others it is normal to speak in English—their second language. But for me this was a new and fun change…for the first time I was conversing with someone in a language that was not native to either one of us. Muy bien.

Astrid was one of the gals from London. She, Dina, and I were walking along the promenade one evening in the cute Mediterranean town of Kusadasi. She was telling us of the time she’d toured the USA for a few months back in the 90s. It was cool for me to hear because most other travelers I’ve met haven’t been able to do this since, overall, the states are just too big and too expensive (especially hotels). She stayed in hostels and picked up odd jobs here and there and loved her time there. She also said she had family in California.

“Where in California?” I asked, wondering which city.

She hesitated for a long pause and then said with a smile, “Beverly Hills.”

“Oh! Really! They must be rich! Are they famous?” I exclaimed, excitedly.

“Have you heard of Ernest Borgnoine?”

“Of course!”

“He’s my uncle.”

How cool is that?

On my first few days in town, I had a bit of trouble really “seeing” Istanbul because I could not walk two blocks without another Turkish man stopping me to “chat.” They are very suave and charming (oh, and hot) so it’s quite hard to be rude. The men here pretty much all fall into the “tall, dark, and handsome” category with their dark sunken Latin-lover eyes, dark coiffed hair, and unabashed confidence. Most are sharp-dressed restaurant hustlers who want you to come inside and eat, or carpet shop owners looking to get another “genuine” handmade rug off their hands, but it doesn’t stop there. It goes a little something like this:

“Hello.”

“Hi.”

“Where are you from?”

“Chicago, USA.”

“Ah, American. Where are you going?”

“Just walking this way.”
“Can I just ask you a question?”

“No, I don’t want a Turkish rug” or “I just ate.”

“No, I just want to talk to you…you are so beautiful. How about some tea or coffee?”

My first day walking around I wasn’t completely hardened yet and already had tea in the morning with some random middle-aged, gray-haired carpet salesman (who actually lives in New Jersey part of the year). He asked me to dinner. I said no. Then I met another carpet guy who wanted me to chat and have tea. I said no. Then I met an Egyptian cardiologist who lives in Dubai (where I just came from) who is here for business. He just asked me to take a photo. I said yes (see, he doesn’t really fit this equation. He was from Dubai—totally harmless). Then while looking for a place to have a quiet, relaxing lunch, a cute guy offered me a mixed mezze platter (Turkish appetizers) that I couldn’t refuse. And of course, while I dined alone, he chatted me up and asked me to go for coffee during his break. I said yes. Ooh, I guess I let my guard down. If nothing else, the guys here are keeping me quite caffeinated, I’ve never been more alert. In Asia the poor salesladies badger and guilt you into buying something, here in Turkey, the dark sexy Turkish men charm and seduce you into buying something…or more. And, of course, they are all single…I’m sure.

Wow. In most of my travels recently, I’ve gotten to a new country and needed a day to adjust and transition. I’m usually feeling sad about leaving the last place and saying goodbye to new friends while I try to adjust to the good and bad ‘differences’ of my new “home.” Sometimes I don’t have a great first impression, then I scratch beneath the surface, meet the people, and usually ended up liking each place after all.

I fell in love with Istanbul the moment my taxi dropped me off in the old town. My first night I went out, had a beer, ate with brand new friends, and even spoke with some other expats about finding a job here. I always know if I like a city if I still drag my ass out at night even after a very long, jet-lagging day on a plane. I did the same thing in Hong Kong—another city I really liked. Istanbul had cast its spell on me in about thirty minutes. The old quarter is quintessentially just that—it has that old European vibe with narrow medieval, cobblestone streets full of bars and cafes that spill out onto the sidewalk. The night air swells with sounds of clinking glasses, romantic whispers, and laughter. Plus the high summer season has not really hit yet so the small crowds are just my style. I find it so much easier meeting people as a solo traveler when there are not hordes of backpackers and other travelers mobbing through the streets at full volume.

Turkey is one place where “East meets West” literally. It’s especially true here in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, because here the continents of Europe and Asia actually come together, separated only by the Bosporus Strait, which flows 18 miles from the Black Sea in the north to the Sea of Marmara in the south. And in the less literal sense–on the vibrant streets of this city of 12 million people, miniskirts and trendy boots mingle with Muslim head scarves and prayer beads. Turkey is a secular country that is 99% Muslim, but you might not know that in trendy Istanbul.

For sixteen centuries Istanbul, originally known as Byzantium, played a major part in world politics: first as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, when it was known as Constantinople, then as capital of the Ottoman Empire, the most powerful Islamic empire in the world, when it was renamed Istanbul.

Today, Turkey is no little chick. It is roughly 815,000 square kilometers - 3% of which are on the European continent and 97% are in Asia. This diverse land of 70 million people shares its borders with Greece, Bulgaria, Armenia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Georgia. With 7000 kilometers of coastline, snow capped mountains and volcanoes, natural wonders; Turkey seems to have it all.

The bad news? Turkey sits directly on at least three active earthquake faults. Thirteen major quakes have rocked Turkey since 1939—the latest was a 7.4 magnitude whopper in 1999 which killed more than 18,000 people. I’ll try not to think about that part.

Information. Communication. Entertainment. What more could you want? (Well, there are a couple other things…)

As I flew from Dubai to Istanbul on my Emirates Air flight, I was amazed to discover an enlightened airline that still treats flying “the friendly skies” like an old-fashioned luxury in a modern world. The ICE system is their in-flight entertainment extravaganza packed into the screen in the seatback in front of you. You control it with your own remote and chose from over six hundred (600!!) channels of movies, TV shows and video games. There are hundreds of music albums to choose from and of course you have your own remote to control it all. It’s like having your own stereo system/DVD player at your seat. Oh, and of course, I’m sitting in Economy Class.

Not only that, there’s the information side with a map of our route PLUS two live cameras—one with a frontward view (pretty fun to watch during take off) and a downward facing camera to watch the city and clouds go by at full speed.

Finally, there is phone service, email capability, and even a way to chat with your friends and family in other seats on the plane. You can literally send a text or email message to someone on the ground somewhere and when they reply it will show up on your screen. Well, I’d write more, but I really want to take advantage of this system and start watching…the latest Grey’s Anatomy episode, the movie “Dreamgirls”, and then maybe listen to some sweet radio hits from 1983 like “Der Kommissar,” “Cuts Like a Knife,” and “Electric Avenue” by Eddie Grant. Pure classics.

Once again on my travels I’ve been able to meet some wonderful locals thanks to friends back home. My friend Kal is the Head of the Engineering Department at ABC7 Chicago. He hooked me up with his cousin, Mehro, who lives here in Dubai with her husband, Zahid. They are originally from Pakistan, but have lived in Dubai for about a year now where Zahid is a regional director with Lloyds Registry.

We had a wonderful time at their house and savored a great home cooked meal. Their daughter was in town for a visit from London where she is studying law at university. They also invited some of their neighbors from their very-worldly expatriate ‘compound.’ We spent the afternoon having wine with some fun Pakistanis, Italians, and Danish. It was a blast and interesting to see how those who move to Dubai for work live and play. Mehro and Zahid were a super cute couple who seemed to compliment each other nicely. Mehro told us a story from when she was a young lady growing up in Pakistan. Her father owned a hotel where they hosted guests from all over the world. One guest was a man from Japan whom she befriended. He wanted to learn Urdu (the official language of Pakistan) so she began by teaching him the standard greetings. That night he was meeting a very important man for the very first time. He extended his hand and said proudly in his new Urdu dialect, “Hello, I am a goat from Japan.” Mehro, of course, was in the corner snickering. She was already a trouble maker! Of course, the way she told the story was better than I am writing it here. I’ve never met a Pakistani that wasn’t very friendly and super funny—they always leave me in stitches.

Besides darting from air-conditioned shopping mall to shopping mall, and gazing up at all the amazing buildings going up in Dubai, we also got to do some fun activities under the hot desert sun. One day we paid about $45 to spend a lazy afternoon at the plush One&Only Mirage Resort. It had one of the most beautiful pools I’d ever seen. First of all, it was huge and seemed to wind around the entire resort grounds. There were huge palm trees virtually growing from the middle of the pool. It was quite tranquil and we spent the afternoon reading, sun bathing, swimming and going for a dip, perhaps for the only time in our lives, in the Persian Gulf.

We spent another day at the Wild Wadi Water Park. This was another fabulous way to stay cool in the hot desert sun. We jumped in tubes and slid down waterslides and even slid up them—these were my first slides in which water actually propelled you upwards! And, being the somewhat fearless one, I took on the tallest, fastest waterslide outside of North America. Of course half-way up the stairs to the top of the tower, my heart started pounding and I was wondering why I was doing this. I convinced myself to “take the plunge” and hoped my swim suit would stay in place. The ride lasts about five seconds, maybe. And as you shoot down the 33-meter slide on nothing but your back, you can reach speeds of up to 40 MPH. Well, after the common instructions of keeping my legs crossed and arms crossed over my chest—away I went. Wooooooooo… it was over before I knew it, but a blast and worth it! And everything stayed on and in its place. Phew.

One of the ‘must-dos’ here in Dubai is a Desert Safari. For about $40, we did an afternoon Safari with Orient Tours. We were picked up from our hotel in a white Toyota 4WD SUV and proceeded to pick up an Italian couple and their son and speed out to the desert to begin our ‘safari.’ The first thing we did was stop at a gas station to refuel our bellies with snacks and also to literally let the air out of the tires of our SUV to get it ready for some real ‘off-roading.” Once in the desert we started some good ol’ “Dune Bashing.” We sped up and over the sand dunes, our wheels spinning and our truck skidding. It felt like some kind of out of control roller coaster. We dipped and sped up hills and slid down sideways. It was a blast and luckily the truck was completely padded inside just in case of any ‘roll-overs.’ After about an hour of this my stomach had just about had it with all the jumping and bumping, we head off to our oasis in the desert–an outdoor BBQ with cushions all around tables low tables with candles. Here we tried some sandboarding, which is much easier than the snow variety for the sheer fact that the sand slows you down as opposed to the slick snow. Oh yeah, plus it was the tiniest of baby camel slopes. Speaking of camels, we also got to take a slow ride on a big camel. Ours was named Shelia and she was sweet and tame. It felt similar to horse back riding except when it was time to get off she’d sit down, but this is a two-step process. First her front legs go down and you are thrown forward like on a carnival ride, then her hind quarters go down and you can climb off to low ground. For dinner we had some succulent barbecued chicken and beef—it seems that any kind of grilled/barbecued meet is beloved ‘round the world. The evening ended with a belly dancer whose hips certainly “didn’t lie” (Shakira, Shakira). It was great fun and the weather was so wonderful once the sun went down—it was just delightful. I, of course, was in awe of the thousands of stars twinkling above. Just amazing and probably a highlight of our time in Dream-world Dubai.

Dubai is super hot and very dusty. The combination of the hot sun, dry desert air, and constant construction dust give the place an overall ‘whiteout’ look. You can tell the sky is blue somewhere straight up, but anywhere near the horizon it just looks like a gray, hot haze.

Dubai has become one of the world’s fastest growing cities over the last thirty years. In fact it’s already tripled in time since then. Since the discovery of oil here in 1966, the city took off on one of the fastest growing spurts in history. Its oil reserves are actually quite modest, but this ground breaking, industrious city used the quick oil wealth as a springboard to create a market for tourism, real estate, trade, and manufacturing. It’s over-the-top style, ‘in your face’ wealth, and larger-than-life playground for the rich puts it in a class on its own. Five-Star beach resort hotels, year round sunshine, and dozens of modern, humongous, open ‘til-midnight shopping malls keep the tourists coming. Also the incentive packages for employees—including free homes and cars, plus NO taxation, and, of course, rock bottom gas prices—keeps the expats moving in.

This completely new urban landscape virtually rises out of the dry desert with what appears to be hundreds of skyscrapers and literally dozens upon dozens currently under construction. They claim that right now Dubai is home to one quarter of the world’s building cranes—and I believe it. This modern city is home to the world’s tallest hotel, the iconic sail-shaped Burj Al Arab (Arabian Tower), the self proclaimed world’s only 7-Star hotel. It has become the symbol of the city. The one thousand-foot-tall hotel (taller than the Eifel Tower) has become the symbol of the city and sits on a man made island just off the main beach strip of Jumeirah. The all-suite hotel has 202 duplex suites starting at nearly $2000 a night, each with floor to ceiling windows giving you a breathtaking view of the city and sea. Well, we actually didn’t get to see this view because when we approached the gate of the hotel we were actually turned away because we were Jews.*

*Just kidding. We were really turned away because we didn’t have ‘reservations’…oh, and we were Jews. No, actually, no non-guest can enter the hotel at all without a dinner or bar reservation and those need to be made weeks in advance of course. Oh, and no blue jeans….that’s what I meant ‘no jeans,’ not ‘no Jews.’ We were out on the street.

Another superlative in the dreamland that is Dubai–the new “Burj Dubai” (Dubai Tower) going up right now. Yep, you guessed it—when it’s complete it will be the world’s tallest building. And in it? The first ever Armani Hotel. At 160 stories, this modern, sleek needle tower will be twice the height of New York’s Empire State building. Riding down the main drag, Sheikh Zayed Road, we found it hard to miss it towering over the already tall wildly-designed towers on all sides…and it’s only half built. Oh, and of course it will have the world’s fastest elevators rocketing up to the observatory decks at 40 mph.

Also coming soon to a Dubai near you—the first ever underwater hotel. Hydropolis will be a complete ‘submarine’ getaway for you to lay your head…or drown while sleeping if there are ever any major leaks. Sweet dreams under the sea.

You may have already heard of these man-made island developments happening just off the shores of Dubai. The Palms are three man-made islands groups resembling palm trees. And the “The World” is exactly just that—a group of man-made islands completely representing the globe. You can buy the ‘country’ of your choice. Prices for the islands range from $15 million to $45 million. In fact, there are rumors that British celebrities Rod Stewart and David Beckham have bought into this project, but neither of these have been confirmed. Becks already does however own a villa on the nearby Palm Jumeirah development. And just recently, rocker Tommy Lee announced that he was buying the Greece Island for ex-wife Pamela Anderson. How sweet. Now they can run around naked on their very own island and film videos of the whole thing. All these crazy dreamlands are made of sand dredged from the ocean floor.

It seems here in Dubai that neither the sky nor the sea is the “limit.”It’s 100 degrees outside and you want to cool off? Pop over to “Ski Dubai” the huge indoor ski resort at the Mall of the Emirates. Leave it to Dubai, to build a ski resort in the desert. I think Vegas needs a ski resort about now, don’t you?

It’s hard to miss all the consumerism going on around me here. Abaya-cloaked women stroll up and down the mall corridors with bags from DKNY and Tiffany. Sitting in Dubai traffic (urban planning seems to be an afterthought in “the world’s tallest this” and “the world’s biggest that” city) it’s hard to miss the huge Hummers lumbering past. As a wealthy nation, the UAE enjoys some great benefits—free healthcare, free education, and even a marriage fund. Overall, the city is more expensive than many other places I’ve been on my trip and seems to hold par with prices in many big American cities. A stay in one of the resorts can set you back at least a couple hundred a night. Budget lodging is pretty tough to find, and without any real efficient public transportation (a Metrorail is currently under construction, like everything else) taxi cabs add up when you have to ride all the way across the spread out town just for dinner. We spent $5 for a small bottle of water at The One&Only Mirage Resort where we spent the day lounging at the amazing pool and fabulously landscaped and lighted grounds. And then I bought a 1.5 liter bottle of water at the Deira neighborhood grocery for about 25 cents. The big kicker? One amazing incentive to living here is there are virtually no taxes whatsoever—no income tax, no sales tax, no capital gains tax, and no property tax. That makes living in this desert oasis a much more viable option.

Of the 1.4 million people in Dubai only 10% are Emirates. The other 90% are actually expatriates—Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Lebanese, British, and other Europeans—who make up a good part of the workforce. And many of these are here working in construction. Dubai appears like a pure utopia, but underneath the surface there, of course, are some dark spots. From what I’ve heard the thousands of construction jobs are here for the taking, but sadly, the working conditions are quite poor. It sounds like there’s been some improvement, but just working outside in this heat alone seems unbearable.

Also, it has been said that a lot of September 11th money may have flown through here apparently unbeknownst to the government. There is no question that the UAE may have a mixed record on terrorism. But they have been our ally and cooperative in certain respects.

Do you know Dubai?

Religion:
Islam is the official religion of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. Non-Muslims are not allowed into most mosques. We even saw a store display of copies of the Koran with a big sign saying “Non-Muslims are not allowed to handle the Koran.” Muslims pray five times a day: at dawn, around noon, when the sun is in the position that makes the shadow of an object equal to the length of the object, at the start of sunset, and finally, at twilight, when the last drop of sun disappears over the horizon. And Muslims don’t need to be in a Mosque to pray, they just need to face Mecca, so they will just stop whatever they are doing and wherever they are and pray. All public buildings—airports, libraries, shopping malls—have prayer rooms.

Alcohol:
In Islam, it is forbidden to eat pork and also to drink alcohol, therefore it is only sold at hotel restaurants here. No other restaurants serve any alcohol whatsoever. You can NOT purchase alcohol from any store or supermarket unless you have an official “alcohol license.” Only non-Muslims can be issued this license by the police department. For a tourist, this makes vacationing here even more expensive—when you want a drink you have to go to an expensive hotel bar or restaurant because there is no such thing as a “cheap beer” here. In line with this, any kind of drunk driving is forbidden—it is completely a zero tolerance policy—you are not allowed to drive with ANY quantity of alcohol in your system. If you drink and drive and are caught you will go to jail.

Mail:

There is still no direct service mail delivery as of yet in Dubai (read—no mailmen). All residents must have their mail delivered to a Post Office Box.

Government (see also Religion):

In each Emirate (state) of the UAE, the power rests firmly in the hands of a ruling Muslim tribe. In Dubai the Maktoom family is in charge. There are no political parties or elections.