Dubai secrets

Time Out has published an interesting feature about Dubai's 50 best secrets - which are presumably no longer secret now they've made it to print. They include:

1. Dubai’s very best hot chocolate
The hot chocolate at the Avalanche Cafe, Ski Dubai is suprisingly good. It's one of the rare instances where whipped cream actually enhances the drink. Partly because it looks like snow, partly because it acts as a useful platform for the M&Ms. But for more interesting flavours, try the hot chocolate cafe in Abu Dhabi's Marina Mall.

2. Historic Dubai
The archaeological site in Jumeirah. It's probably easier and more informative to visit Dubai museum though. And more comfortable, given the air conditioning.

3. Garhoud Plant Souk
This is a great place to buy plants, and much cheaper than the Dubai Garden Centre place on Sheikh Zayed Road. The ideal place to buy your bougainvillea barricade to keep the peeping toms out. (Interesting note: if you never water bougainvillea, it dies. If you water it too much, it dies. Sometimes it just dies anyway).

4. House of Prose
A great secondhand bookshop. And while they will buy back books for half price, they always seem to be overwhelmed with stock, so they're unlikely to buy everything you bring them if you're having a clear out. It's also a good place to gauge how crap a recent novel is, by the stacks of copies rejected by Jumeirah Janes in the discount shelf.

5. Indoor rainforest
At the Grand Hyatt just before Garhoud Bridge. Just don't try to get there in rush hour. The problem is with this one is that it's high budget only if you want to have a drink. However the deli-cafe there has some interesting imported goods, even if you do need to have your own oil well to be able to afford them.


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Death of a Souqman

Few things are sadder than the wanton destruction of history and tradition, and in the 21st century the loss of an old, working souq is inexcusable:

Abu Dhabi: Residents say they are nostalgic about the good things which the old souq provided and miss the exotic smells and the bargaining.

The old souq was knocked down more than one year ago and residents say they have mixed feelings of the 'mall culture'.

"People just roaming around the malls without purchasing anything," said one resident.

This is UAE culture that has actively, wilfully been trampled into the dust for the sake of lucre and "progress". When people complain that longer time residents of the sandlands - whether expat or resident - sound bitter or negative, this is why. Because the things that people loved and cherished in this country are being destroyed. Disneysouqs such the Madinat are zero compensation.

Jebel Ali's secret cave

A secret cave has been revealed in Jebel Ali, the "mountain" that overshadows Cell Block G. According to Hussain Al Badi, GM of the Emirates Centre of Heritage, History and Culture, the cave's floor is "littered with spent ammuntion":

Al Badi believes that the cave was built by warring tribes and may have been used by the British to store weapons during the Second World War. There are other holes in the side of the hill, but none as large and wide as the cave of Ali. "This can be a major tourist attraction if the authorities pay attention to this place," he says.

Jebel Ali, which translates to Mountain of Ali or High Mountain, is actually a sandy hill only a couple of hundred yards high. But it turns out to be an area with a fascinating and bloody past. According to historians, the assassin of Shaikh Theyab Bin Eisa, a tribal leader killed around 1750, fled here to hide. Dr Faleh Handhal, also from the Heritage Centre, says Jebel Ali also used to be an "area of contention" between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

One can just imagine the hordes of bedouin warriors on camelback swarming onto the hillside with their curved swords gleaming in the sun; the harsh Arabic battle cries as the tribesmen fought to plant their flags on the summit.

Certainly a more appealing vision than today's beer-bellied expats trudging up the hill for a pint at Jebel Ali Cloob, and the satellite dishes that now look down upon us.

Ancient costume drama

DUBAI, 1 April (Reuters) - A team of British and French archaeologists working in Dubai, United Arab Emirates have unearthed ruins believed to date back to Shakespearean times.

Foundations uncovered so far include several Tudor-style cottages and a theatre believed to be a replica of the Globe.

Research leader Professor Pierre de Foutre of the University of Marseilles said several clues helped the team locate the Tudor settlement in the beachside suburb of Umm Seqeim.

"The modern name for the area is Al Wasl Road; this comes directly from its original name, Wassail Road, and there are even several well preserved Tudor houses," he said.

Dubai's minister for arts and culture, Sheikh Jamal Al Majnoon, said he was not surprised by the discovery.

"Dubai has a rich tradition of theatre and drama, far greater than Broadway or the West End," he said.

"We already have as many as two theatres and plan to increase theatre capacity 10% by 2050."

Volunteers at local historical society Jumeirah Archaeological Foundation have supplied the archaeologists with several valuable photographs dating from the early sixteenth century.

They provide a rare glimpse into the lives of Gulf Arabs in Tudor times, before the advent of oil and prostitutes.

Sheikh Jamal says the Globe theatre will be rebuilt once excavations are complete.

"We will open the new theatre with a gala night of stick dancing followed by a performance of Hair by the Sharjah Royal Players."

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Historic houses

According to rumour, the beautiful Bastakia area by Dubai Creek, with its traditional windtower houses and shady courtyards, has Prince Charles to thank for its preservation. While visiting Dubai some years ago, Charles allegedly expressed such horror at learning of the Bastakia's impending demolition that an order was made to save and restore it.

Since then the Bastakia has become one of Dubai's greatest cultural success stories. The extremely picturesque area is popular with tourists and filmmakers wanting to capture "Old Dubai". It is also an important legacy for future generations of Emiratis.

Now a law is being passed to save other historic buildings:

"Once the law is passed, which is expected in a couple of months, no one will be able to make any change to, or demolish any historic building in the country," said Rashad Al Bukhash, Director of the Projects Department at Dubai Municipality and Chairman of the UAE Architectural Society.

Any building constructed before 1960 comes under the category of historic building in the UAE. There are a total of 1,200 historic buildings nationwide.

The fact that "historic" means pre-1960 is a reminder of just how young the UAE is. But no matter how many Madinats, (as yet unbuilt) "Old Towns" and Lost Cities one builds, they can never replace real heritage.

World's oldest man dies in UAE

Apologies to the late Benito Martinez (126) and Elizabeth Lizzie Bolden (116), both reported to be the world's oldest people when they died.

You weren't. That honour apparently goes to Fujairah's Ali bin Abdullah bin Ezab (140), which also makes him the world's oldest person anywhere ever, beating France's Jeanne Calment who died at a comparatively youthful 122:

FUJAIRAH — A Fujairah resident, said to be the oldest man in the emirate, passed away yesterday. He was 140 years old. The man, Ali bin Abdullah bin Ezab, hailed from the town of Dhadna, 70km from Fujairah.

Ancient Dubai

"It was the Gulf's destiny to choose Dubai as its bride, with the Creek as her necklace."

One of the sandlands' best kept secrets is Dubai museum, tucked away near the traditional Bastikiya windtowers areas of Bur Dubai, in the restored Al Fahidi fort. It is a superb trip for tourists, new residents and longer-term expats alike.

The night-time desert exhibition, with shadowy Bedouin sitting around the glowing embers of a fire, is a must-see. As well as the archaeological exhibits, that date from several thousands of years BC. Some light is also shed on that mysterious ancient site in the middle of Jumeirah, fenced off from public access.

Interesting also to learn that the ancient Greeks called Dubai Creek the River Zara, and to see the many pre-Islamic, snake-shaped talismans found at Serpent Mountain in Al Qusais. Even more fascinating to learn there is (or was) a mountain at Al Qusais, which is mainly an industrial area today.

Farewell to a Dubai princess

Sad news today, with the death of a lady most people will never have heard of.

So hear it now. Sheikha Sanaa bint Mana bin Rashid Al Maktoum was an amazing woman, one of the greatest Grand Old Dames of Dubai. In keeping with custom here, she lived completely out of the public eye. But she was known to have a powerful influence in the Ruler's Court, and was greatly respected and admired.

Assuming these scant references equate, Sheika Sanaa was the daughter of Shaikh Mani bin Rashid, a former education minister described as a "moderniser" by Lienhardt in Shaikhdoms of Eastern Arabia and an "enlightened philanthropist" by Michael Field in The Merchants: The Big Business Families of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. In the 1930s Mani had his young daughter taught to read and write, then an extremely rare thing for women. Lienhardt claims that this accomplishment was "lacked by any of the other shaikhly ladies of Dubai" even in the 1960s.

Sheikha Sanaa married the brother of Dubai's former ruler Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum, according to Adam Smith's Paper Money. The book describes her as a "high-spirited woman who once shot her husband's fourth wife." She also built up a thriving taxi fleet.

The Sheikh of Rams surrenders

Far from being a peaceful sandy backwater, there was plenty of intrigue and action in the sandlands in the 1950s, according to the memoirs of diarist Robin Wilton's father. It makes Sheikh Zayed's achievement of peace and unity all the more impressive:

"There was a general disposition on the part of the seven Rulers to try to enlarge their territories, and hence their prospects, at the expense of their neighbours. Dubai and Abu Dhabi had fought a brief and inconclusive war in 1948, in the course of which the Political Officer‘s car was fired upon. The dispute was, of course, nominally about some camels, but its underlying purpose was lost on no-one."

And pity the poor "Sheikh of Rams", whose guns weren't heavy enough to secure his own sheikhdom:

"In 1951 I had to take a small force of Levies to make clear to the Shaikh of Rams that the [British] Government regarded him as a subject of the Ruler of Ras al Khaima not as an independent Ruler. We were fired upon as we approached his fort but when he saw the speed and skill with which the Levies deployed and brought machine guns and mortars to bear upon his crumbling stronghold he quickly sent out a messenger with a white flag to explain that the whole affair had been a misunderstanding."

Might=right, even back then.

The old era passes away

As a standstorm of rumours and sad realities blows about the sandlands, it will be a strange new world when the dust finally settles.

The death of the UAE's beloved founder Sheikh Zayed and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat just over a year ago, followed by Saudi King Fahd last August, then Dubai Ruler Sheikh Maktoum earlier this month, and now the Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Jaber, are part of a distinct and sad pattern.

Many Arab rulers are growing old: they have served their countries and people for many decades. These men are in their sixties, seventies, and even eighties, and they will not live forever.

The younger generation has a big task ahead. A new era is dawning, perhaps more rapidly than many have anticipated or would like.

This year's honours list

"Of course when I first got here, seven years ago, there were no Emirates Towers, and there was no Burj."

In one fell swoop, Mercy earns herself an OBE - Old Boring Expat award. It's an accolade that nobody - Dame Mercy included - ever expects to win themselves: when hiding their yawns as a current OBE drones on about nothing-but-the-trade-centre. If one is really unlucky, "we all used to go out for big nights out in Sharjah! In those days, alcohol was freely available there" and even "there were no supermarkets then, we had to wait for the camel caravan to arrive from Ras Al Khaimah!" are also trotted out.

All terribly interesting, except when one has heard it several thousand times, while politely sipping a lukewarm Lacnor fruit "cocktail" at yet another dreary reception.

The latest generation of expats, the post-20th-century arrivees, can expect to earn their OBE with:

"Of course, in the old days, there were only three buildings at Media City and four at Internet City. Things were so much friendlier then!"

"When we first arrived here, it only took a couple of hours to get from Sheikh Zayed road to City Centre. Of course we pack overnight supplies now."

"Five years ago, one could get a rundown beach-front villa for less than fifty thousand dirhams a year! Our driver now pays twice that every month to share a room with thirty other bachelors in Sharjah."

Open desert, closed city part II

Delving into UAE history, we can find other examples of remarkably progressive men. One was Shaikh Mani bin Rashid, a pearl merchant who travelled to India and had friends in Kuwait and Bahrain, described as a "moderniser" by Lienhardt and an "enlightened philanthropist" by Michael Field in his book The Merchants: The Big Business Families of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.

In the 1930s, Mani had his young daughter taught to read and write, a very rare thing for women. Lienhardt claims that this accomplishment was "lacked by any of the other shaikhly ladies of Dubai" even in the 1960s. The official website of Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed describes Mani as "one of the most educated men in Dubai" before the second world war:

"Sheikh Mani was a major participant in the Ruler’s Majlis and played an important part in Dubai’s fledgling education system in the 1930s. Considered something of an intellectual, Sheikh Mani was informally given the portfolio of education. As Minister of Education, he used his office to develop the schooling system by cajoling local individuals and enterprises into offering the same sort of financial assistance that had been seen before the Great Depression."

Mani formed a reformist party that made several successful demands on the ruling sheikh, including a consultative and legistlative council that would control state revenues, a formal court of law, and a modern schools system. Sadly, some of this early progress met a sorry end when Mani's party was defeated in the Dubai-Deira conflict of 1940.

But is notable that even in the days long before oil, women's education and democracy were not alien notions in Dubai.

Open desert, closed city part I

Bedouin women have traditionally enjoyed fewer restrictions and less segregation than women living in towns and villages, and it is interesting to speculate whether Sheikh Zayed's extremely progressive views on women stemmed in part from his many years of living and working among the bedu around Al Ain.

In his book Shaikhdoms of Eastern Arabia, Peter Lienhardt notes the desert/city split:

"On the social side, we invariably find that settlement is accompanied with the progressive separation of women, in sharp contrast to the free and usually unveiled condition of women of the bedouin. Bedouin tents are open, giving little privacy to their occupants, but privacy is not necessary when the tents themselves are cut off from strangers by areas of desert. In the towns, the houses are built to be as private as possible [...] the women are expected to stay in the house as much as possible. They are expected to avoid almost entirely any social contact with men outisde the members of the family. The life of the women in the towns and villages is more secluded than that of the women of the desert, whereas the life of the men is more gregarious."

The Great Battle of Deira

A short history of Dubai, Vol I, for the many UAE residents and UAE-curious who are clueless about the history of the Emirates. Given that most history books take the form of a Sheikhly hagiography, glossing over details unpalatable to their subject, some ignorance is perhaps excuseable.

Deira, for example, never used to be part of Dubai. It was only acquired after decades of raids and cross-creek warfare, as Adam Smith's 1981 book Paper Money reveals. Excerpt part 1 and Excerpt part 2.

The scene: Deira - that nightmarish winding labyrinth of gridlocked single-lane streets between the Creek and Sharjah - in the dusty, desert days of the mid-1900s. The hero: the white-robed Sheikh Rashid, possibly by this time riding a motorised camel rather than an Arab thoroughbred, but valiant nonetheless.

"Before the oil - the first strike was not until 1957 - Sheikh Rashid feuded with Deira, the rival village across the creek. The weapons used in this feud were the cannons from old ships, some of them hundreds of years old. The cannons were stuffed with rags and pistons from hijacked cars, and since cannonballs were in short supply, a nightly truce after sunset prayers permitted the combatants to comb the battlefields and retrieve the cannonballs.

"One day, in the pre-oil era, Sheikh Rashid accepted a dinner invitation across the creek, and then had his men kill off his hosts. In the best Middle Eastern tradition - and not unlike Richard III - he consolidated this victory by marrying the thirteen-year-old daughter of the vanquished ruler of Deira to his brother."

The book goes on to describe Sheikha Sana as a "high-spirited woman who once shot her husband's fourth wife." She also built up a thriving taxi fleet.