I had been on an official trip to Saudi Arabia (Al Khobar) and UAE (Dubai) and to Oman (Muscat) on the way returning back. This trip was on behalf of my employer - Wipro Ltd and it was between 25th of March 2007 and 12th April 2007. I wrote my travelogue in 5 parts and it is now available for your reading.
Here goes the travelogue Part IV....
i couldnt send the next episode of my travelogue till now due to severe work pressue (for people who dont knw what work is, it is something next to god / what you do to earn your living). I wrote my last mail when I was leaving Saudi. I missed out couple of things to write about Saudi, thought I could cover that in this mail..
If you see the world map, saudi arabia and bahrain are neighbouring countries. Bahrain is a very tiny island near Saudi.. They've built a magnificant, mind blogging bridge between saudi and bahrain. This is called Causeway.. (You can think of something similar which could connect Rameswaram (TN) and Sri lanka by road).. This bridge runs to around 30+ kms in the water... that too a 3 way lane on both side with a median in between.. In the centre of this causeway, both the countries' immigration counters are also built. So, obviously this place should be bigger than the road na and both the countries have built towers in their respective border. Tower means like our Anna Tower in chennai, but a smaller tower only with restaurant, view points etc... This area alone spans to some half a kilometer diameter (may be even more).. Just think of something in the sea a gigantic human construction.
They say that if bahrain starts to suck oil from the sea bed, then the oil reserves of Saudi will be drained and flow into bahrain's oil field. I heard that to avoid bahrain from doing this, Saudi pays a hefty sum periodically..(dont knw how far this is true). You might recall myself saying bahrain is a place where saudis go for all sorts of entertainment viz alcohal, pubs, discos etc...
When I went from airport to our office in al khobar, it was night time and i couldnt see anything both the sides of the road. While returning from office to airport only I saw, there was nothing but desert, sand, sand everywhere wherever u see. That place is nothing but desert. I saw a book in Saudi in which they say that US was the one which turned a vast desert into a wealthy nation.. Obviously US wont do this for charity right, they have share in the wealth created in Saudi. Almost all the gulf countries give visa on arrival to US & UK citizens, UAE doesnt even require any visa for UK naitonals.. I read that Israel nationls are not allowed to enter UAE, even if your passport has Israel stampig, then also you are not allowed...
One funny thing here, there is a form which you need to fill when you enter or leave a country, its called immigration form.. The person at Saudi airport who is supposed to give that form to me didnt give it to me at the gate. Only his colleague asked my passport, saw that am not an Saudi national and told him to give me the form.. It seems that he thought that am a Saudi. Dont know whether I should be proud of feel bad about this..
Its enough of Saudi, lets come to UAE.. The most happening place in the gulf.. Things are in total contrast between Saudi and Dubai.. The country's name UAE stands for United Arab Emirates, to denote that its a union of some emirates, (like United States, made of 50 states).. Seven emirates make up UAE, They are Abu Dhabi (Capital of UAE), Dubai, Sharjah (Al sharjah, very close to dubai), Ajman, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain & Ras Al Khaimah. Each emirate has its own ruler. Currently the ruler of Abu dhabi is the president of UAE and that of dubai is vice president cum prime minister of UAE..
When i reached dubai airport, there is something called duty free shop in the airport (Duty free shops are there in all international airports for the use of transit passengers to buy something)... This duty free is very famous and also big, The variety of alcohal items, cigarettes, electronics, mobiles, Gold etc. were amazing.. But one thing, I didnt find the items to be cheaper than in India...
Dubai has a very old history of trade, culture and prosperity. If you see the map (ah, once again?) of UAE, Dubai is in the northern tip, There is a water body which flows into dubai (like back waters) its called Dubai Creek, this creek has travelled a long way in dubai's history.. Trading was flourishing through dubai port, via this creek, even today you can see boats (called Dhow) carrying materials to india, australia and other places. One more important activity is Pearl diving in which dubai earned a lot..
If a city's population is growing and if it cant extend further sidewards, you know that it can grow taller with high rise buildings.. Thats what we know happened in big cities and even in indian cities.. Dubai has gone step ahead.. Its is enlarging its boundary into the sea, (persian gulf).. There is a famous hotel in dubai called Burj Al Aran, (Burj in arabic means tower). It is built in the sea, as a manmade island spanning to a height of 321 meters.. (see picture)
Entry to the hotel (either restaurant / rooms) is only upon advance reservation. U can see that the shape of this hotel is in the form of a dhow (boat)..
Dubai is a very very expensive city.. i found it to be 3 times costlier in terms of the hotel rates.. The visa in which I came and the most prominent one for tourist ppl is the hotel visa.. In this, the hotel has to sponsor the guest and hence, the tourists have to necessarily stay in the hotel and not anywhere else while they are in dubai. Thats how the government is promoting the tourism industry... You can see all country people in Dubai.. some 150 nationalities live here....
Taking a break here to continue later.. and for your info, Tomorrow is my last day in Dubai..
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